Senior Course 115 and the Staff delegation of NATO Defense College visited Madrid and the Spanish Armed Forces on 9 December 2009. The NDC was welcomed to Spain by Admiral D. Rafael Sanchez-Barriga Fernandez, Commandant of the Spanish Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN).
Course Members attended a brilliant lecture about Spain’s Foreign Policy delivered by Counselor Luis Francisco Martinez-Montes, Advisor of General Secretariat for Defence Policy, who described the transformation of Spain’s strategy in foreign policy from the end of World War II to current days. He described how NATO membership, economical growth, immigration and changes in Spanish demography are the key factor that transformed the Spanish foreign policy approach from a trilateral into a global one.
The next briefing was presented by Brigadier Juan A. Moliner Gonzalez, Chief of the Cabinet of the Secretary General for Defence Policy. The briefing focused on the Spanish Defence Policy. The audience was given a comprehensive description of the main Military Operations the Spanish Armed Forces are involved in within both EU and NATO framework, and an overview of the Spain’s Geopolitical Areas of Interest.
Vice Admiral Juan F. Martinez Nunez, Chief Strategy and Plans at the Spanish Joint General Staff, concluded the morning session with an overall description of the structure, mission, organization, and the commitments of Spanish Armed Forces.
A 75 minutes long Q&A period covered many aspects of the three mentioned lectures and left the Course Members with a deeper understanding of Spain’s strategic security and defence issues.
LtGen. Wolf-Dieter Loeser, Commandant of the NATO Defense College, delivered the final remarks of the day thanking all the speakers for their outstanding presentations.
More about SC115 Winter Field Study:
First day – Italy
Second stop – Albania
Third step – Greece
Fourth visited country – Germany
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN