Senior Course 120’s fourth stop on their third and final field study was in Norway.
On Monday 18th June the NDC delegation travelled to Akerhus Fort, for a series of briefings from our Norwegian hosts. The course was extremely privileged that the day started with a briefing from the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Mr Espen Barth Eide. His presentation was most enthusiastically received, and he graciously agreed to stay longer than planned to answer the many questions from Course Members; this session was one of the highlights of the entire field study.
The rest of the morning was taken up with presentations by Rear Admiral Louise Dedichen, who covered education in the Norwegian Armed Forces, and by Mr Øistein Knudsen Jr (an NDC Ancien), who gave a candid and moving presentation on the 22/7 terrorist attacks that took place in Norway last year.
After lunch Course Members moved to the Norwegian Parliament building (the Storting) and were given an excellent talk by Ms Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, who is a Member of Parliament and the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. On this occasion too the question-and-answer session generated a discussion of superlative quality. Unfortunately this could not go on past the scheduled time as the NDC group had to dash to the airport for its flight to Bodø, which hosts a major Air Station and the Norwegian National Joint Headquarters (NJHQ). On the morning of Tuesday 19th June the course was welcomed to the NJHQ by the Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Major General Rune Jakobsen, an Ancien of Senior Course 110. Briefings followed on the NJHQ itself, Norway’s role and interest in the High North, and Norwegian cooperation with Russia. All presentations were followed by lively and wide-ranging question-and-answer sessions.
The following morning Course Members visited Bodø Air Station, where they were briefed on the Station’s activities by the Station Commander, Brigadier Per Egil Rygg. It was then time to board plane for the flight to this field study’s final destination, Iceland.
More about the Field Study:
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN 