{"id":13070,"date":"2020-07-16T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/we-did-it\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T09:29:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:29:50","slug":"we-did-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/we-did-it\/","title":{"rendered":"We did it!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/136-CoC-Dean_1_1.jpg\" alt=\"We did it!\" \/><figcaption>We did it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Dear Friends and newest Anciens of the NATO Defense College,<br \/>\n  We did it!<\/p>\n<p>  I am so proud  of Senior Course 136, the Faculty, staff, and supporters of the College who made  graduation this week possible! Each course is unique in its own way but no one could  have expected COVID-19 to affect us the way it did. Senior Course 136 is likely  to go down in the history of the College as its most resilient class. COVID-19  challenged the College in many ways, but staying the course, delivering the  Senior Course curriculum on-line for three months and getting SC 136 &ldquo;across  the finish line&rdquo; this week was an incredible demonstration of adaptability,  grit, and cohesion. \n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"650\" height=\"366\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MiW2gtTtm2M\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Committee 6 won  the highly coveted Eisenhower Prize for its Committee Study Project on Projecting  Stability. Dutch Navy Captain Bart Stoelinga was the Faculty Advisor for this Committee  which included, Colonel Julien Moreau, (Committee Chairman), Colonel Edward  Corrigan, Lieutenant Colonel Memduh Dere, Lieutenant Colonel Csaba Moravek,  Lieutenant Colonel Claudio Papagano, Chung-Hsaio &ldquo;Thomas&rdquo; Peng, and Commander  Vasileios Theodorou. Dr Cynthia Salloum, from the Research Division was the  Academic Mentor and Mr Marc Di Paola, Director of Defence Institution Building in  NATO&rsquo;s International Staff, served as their NATO Headquarters Sponsor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">In addition, we  identified five Senior Course Individual Papers as being worthy of publication: \u00a0<em>&ldquo;Partnership: A Source Of Cohesion Through  Turbulent Times,&rdquo;<\/em> by Norwegian Navy Commander Pal Gudbrandsen; <em>&ldquo;Russia&rsquo;s Modern Warfare Challenging The  West: The Ukraine Case Study,&rdquo;<\/em> by Finnish Army Colonel Jarmo Keskinen; <em>&ldquo;Solving The Russian Puzzle \u2013 Adopting  NATO&rsquo;s Strategic Warning Capabilities To A New Security Landscape,<\/em> by Norwegian  civilian, Director Henning Sveum Kristensen<em>;  &ldquo;Counter Terrorism In Counter Hybrid Warfare?&rdquo;<\/em> by Danish Navy Commander  Niels Markussen; <em>and \u00a0&ldquo;Increasing The Cost For Russian Hybrid  Activity: Opportunities For NATO Success,&rdquo;<\/em> by British Ministry of Defence civilian  Mr Marten Molloy. Please look out for these papers on the website in the  future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">We also said  good bye to Lieutenant General Christine Whitecross who is returning to Canada  and retiring from the Armed Forces after 38 years of service. She initiated structural  changes that will posture the College for the future and also deftly steered the  College through the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, she initiated the development  of the College&rsquo;s first-ever strategic communications framework, created the College&rsquo;s  first-ever code of conduct, established the College&rsquo;s first-ever respectful  workplace council, appointed the first-ever gender advisor, and conducted the first-ever  NDC Commandant senior leader engagements in Taiwan, Pakistan, and New Zealand. That&rsquo;s  a lot of firsts! As our navy colleagues say, &ldquo;fair winds and following seas&rdquo; LGEN  Whitecross!<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">We also  welcomed French <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/download\/bios\/COMMANDANT_ENG.pdf\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lieutenant General Olivier Rittimann<\/a> as the 30th Commandant of  the NDC. He comes to us from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe  (SHAPE) where he served as Vice Chief of Staff. He&rsquo;s no stranger to NATO and  you can read more about his career here. Bienvenue, mon G\u00e9n\u00e9ral!<\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">Latest  COVID-update: we are finalizing preparations to welcome Senior Course 137, NATO  Regional Cooperation Course 24 and all the other NDC courses in the fall. We&rsquo;ve  made a short video to show you some of the measures we&rsquo;ve taken to prepare for  the next semester and protect ourselves from a potential &ldquo;second wave&rdquo;. The  team has been working hard and demonstrated that we&rsquo;re all in this together. <em>Unitatem Alentes<\/em> \u2013 for unity we strive, so  let&rsquo;s strive together. <\/p>\n<p class=\"eplus-wrapper\">And stay in  touch!<br \/>\nBest Regards,<br \/>\nStephen<\/p>\n<p><em>Stephen J. Mariano, Ph.D. <br \/>\nDean, NATO Defense College<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We did it! Dear Friends and newest Anciens of the NATO Defense College, We did it! I am<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"post_badge":[],"class_list":["post-13070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"modified_by":null,"author_meta":{"display_name":"NDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/author\/admin_3rwqf6tj\/"},"featured_img":null,"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","trp-custom-language-flag":"","morenews-featured":"","morenews-large":"","morenews-medium":""},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":0,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/category\/news\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">News<\/span>"]}},"relative_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 6 ans il y a","modified":"Mis \u00e0 jour 6 mois il y a"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le juillet 16, 2020","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Publi\u00e9 le juillet 16, 2020 16:00","modified":"Mise \u00e0 jour le janvier 15, 2026 09:29"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13070"},{"taxonomy":"post_badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ndc.nato.int\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_badge?post=13070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}