KUWAIT CITY – A team from Allied Joint Force Command Naples J5 conducted a NATO Comprehensive Operational Planning Process course in Kuwait from Sept. 16 to 20.
The four team members, led by Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Plug, conducted the first Mobile Training Team course focusing on the NATO-Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Regional Centre, which is the NATO’s training and professional development hub for the region. Officers from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman security services, attended the course. It was the first time that representatives from Saudi Arabia and Oman, both Gulf Cooperation Council members, participated in a NATO event at the Centre.
The aim of the course was to introduce the participants to the NATO crises response planning and the Comprehensive Operational Planning process. During the five-day course, the participants were introduced on the different levels of planning within NATO, with the main focus at the operational level.
At the end of the course, a ceremony was carried out and certificates were presented to all the participants.
During her closing remarks, the Deputy Director of the ICI Regional Centre expressed her gratitude to JFC Naples MTT for such committed assistance for the comprehensive course. Also, Lieutenant Colonel Plug, during his speech emphasized the value of military partnership between NATO, JFC Naples and ICI Regional Centre. The ICI’s initiative to invite 23 participants to this course, is a substantial milestone in the relation and interoperability between Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and NATO and will be of outmost importance for the future collaboration between our organisations.
The NATO-ICI Centre is a Kuwait funded initiative that was accepted by the North Atlantic Council in 2012. The intent was to create a regional centre to focus on NATO’s partnership with the ICI nations and GCC members. The Centre opened in January 2017 and was attended by the NATO Secretary General. Events selected to be hosted in the Centre are ones that meet NATO and Kuwait agreed areas of cooperation. The JFC Naples' MTT activity conducted in partnership with the NATO-ICI Regional Centre marks a tangible and inspiring step in bringing NATO closer to the Gulf region, with practical cooperation and shared expertise strengthening a bridge of dialogue and regional security cooperation.
Story by JFC Naples J5 Branch