On Thursday 25 October 2012, participants attending the eighth NATO Regional Cooperation Course (NRCC 8) at the NATO Defense College (NDC) visited the Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa (CASD) in Rome.
The NDC delegation was headed by Dr Richard Hooker, Dean of the College, and accompanied by Col Giuseppe Morabito, Director of the Middle East Faculty. The group was greeted upon its arrival by the Vice-President of the Centre, MajGen Antonio Venci. While Course Members visited the Centre’s premises in the fine historic setting of Palazzo Salviati, Dr Hooker and Col Morabito, paid an office call on Air Marshal Orazio Stefano Panato, President of the Centre.
The visit to the Centre afforded Course Members the opportunity to attend two briefings. The first was given by MajGen Antonio Venci, who introduced the audience to the history, the structure and the mission of the CASD. Founded in 1949 as a vocational training centre, the Centre later specialized in training high-ranking Officers of the Italian Armed Forces and in research on topics concerning the organization of national defence.
The second lecturer of the day was Vice Adm Me, who provided an exhaustive overview of the “5+5 Initiative” created in 2004. This Initiative is based on a Declaration of Intent signed by the Ministers of Defence of Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal and Tunisia: its aim is to develop multilateral co-operation through practical activities, with the overarching objective of contributing to solutions for common security and defence concerns in the Western Mediterranean.
The visit concluded with a challenging Q&A session.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Eleonora Fuser, ITA C)
NATO Defense College 