French Army Colonel Franck Faubladier, JFC Naples J9 Military Partnership branch head, and his team were joined by representative of the NATO International Staff Political Affairs & Security Policy Division and Supreme Headquarters Allied Power Europe Partnership Division. The team was received at the Kuwaiti Armed Forces Headquarters by personnel from across the KAF and Kuwait National Security Bureau. 

Topics of discussion included a review of NATO partnership processes, the Operational Capability Concept Program, Operation Sea Guardian and 2018 & 2019 NATO-Kuwait military partnership activities.  Discussions were open and frank as all present contributed to the meeting’s success.  The NATO military partnership with Kuwait has seen a steady growth in numbers of Kuwait Armed Forces personnel participating in NATO activities over the last several years.  In fact, in 2018, Kuwait will see a record number of Kuwaiti military personnel receiving NATO training since the beginning of the 14-year partnership. 

 

Earlier in the week, the JFC Naples Military Partnership Branch visited the NATO-ICI Regional Centre for its first annual review.  This meeting saw both NATO and Kuwaiti entities discuss the events hosted in the Centre since the first event that occurred in September 2017.  Both sides evaluated the success of the fourteen NATO events hosted in the Centre and discussed the feedback received from both the students and trainers.  At the center of the disucssions were the six JFC Naples’ mobile training teams executed by J4, J7 and J9 over the last 12 months.  His Excellency, Sheikh Fawaz Al Sabah, Head of Information and Security Follow-up Sector at the Kuwait National Security Bureau, lauded JFC Naples’ efforts to meet the Centre’s desires and lead all the NATO organizations in providing the bulk of the training events.  The annual review also looked at the next 12-months of NATO events, in which JFC Naples will excute four mobile training teams and have worked with both NATO Land Command and the NATO Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre of Excellence to deliver another four. 

Kuwait is an active NATO partner country and was the first nation to become a member of the ICI Framework in 2004. It currently participates in numerous NATO initiatives including various courses at NATO Centres of Excellences, NATO School Oberammergau, the NATO Defense College, Senior Executive NATO courses and other Key Leader Engagements.  The Expert Staff Meeting is a vital part of the annual military cooperation between NATO and Kuwait, as it ensures the military partnership is meeting the needs of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces’ and generates partnering activity that is in-line with NATO’s Military Committee’s Direction and Guidance.  It also supports NATO’s broader aims to help build the trust and understanding that will lead to better cooperation in the region while increasing military interoperability for future NATO missions.