Senior Course 115 was in London, England to get a first hand look at the defense and security issues facing the United Kingdom.
The visit started with a Government Reception for the NDC hosted by Mr. Jon Day, Director General for Security Policy, and attended by several Anciens of the NDC, Defense Attaches and UK government officials. The next day, Captain Luca Ceccobelli, Italian Navy on exchange to the UK, moderated a series of lectures hosted by Mrs. Gloria Craig, the Director for International Security Policy, UK MoD.
Mrs. Craig gave a detailed analysis of how the United Kingdom sees the world and how they fit into the international system. She discussed the UK’s traditional view as an outward looking nation with strong economic and security concerns overseas, the flexibility of British forces to deploy, and discussed several of the current strategic issues such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, and Cyprus.
Next, Mr. Roger Hutton, Head of Strategy Development, UK MoD, discussed the policy making process for the United Kingdom. He also talked about the subsequent planning and programming methodology used to ensure the UK’s military forces are capable of meeting the security and defense issues.
Mrs. Tracy Lerpiniere, the Job Share Head of NATO European Policy then spoke about how the United Kingdom works through both NATO and the EU to shape its security environment. Emphasis was place on synchronizing the planning efforts between NATO and the EU.
Mr. Nick Pickard, Head of the Security Policy Group of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spoke about British foreign policy and European security goals, such as countering terrorism, preventing and resolving conflict, and promoting a low carbon, high growth world economy.
The session ended with a Q & A session that included the previous speakers and Brigadier Chip Chapman, Head of Counter Terrorism and UK Operations, and Mr. Peter Watkins, Director Operational Policy.
LtGen. Wolf-Dieter Loeser, Commandant of the NATO Defense College, wrapped up the session with his remarks about the outstanding presentation received and pointing out the importance of UK as one of the key actors of the Alliance.
More about SC115 Winter Field Study:
First day – Italy
Second stop – Albania
Third step – Greece
Fourth visited country – Germany
Fifth stop – Spain
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN