On the 2nd of December 2022 the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) and the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) signed a Letter of Cooperation in Sanremo.

NATO SFA COE Education and Training Branch representatives joined the annual NATO Individual Training and Education Conference (NITEC) and the NATO ITEP Planning Board (IPB) Conferences (“Shaping training through engagement”), conducted by the NATO HQ – Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ-SACT) – Joint Force Development (JFD), from 15th to 17th November 2022 and hosted at NCI Academy in Oeiras (Portugal).

This “NATO Selected” course satisfies NATO performance gaps identified within Military Contribution to Peace Support Discipline throughout the System Approach to Training process and represents a suitable training solution aligned with performance gaps.

The International Concept Development and Experimentation (ICD&E) conference was held from the 25-27 October 2022 in Budapest, Hungary hosted by the Hungarian Defence Forces Command.

NATO SFA COE participated in the Annual Discipline Conference (ADC) organized by the Centre for Integrity in the Defence Sector (CIDS) that took place on the 12 of October in Bruxelles. The CIDS is appointed by Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT/JFD) as the Department Head (DH) for the Building Integrity (BI) Education and Training (E&T) Discipline.

From 3rd to 7th of October 2022, personnel from Doctrine Development and the Standards Branch took part in the Course 25000 “Drafting Production and Maintenance of NATO Standards” held at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre (NMIOTC) located in Souda Bay, Chania, Greece. The aim of the course was to provide comprehensive knowledge to facilitate understanding of the procedures for development, production and maintenance of NATO standardized documents, including doctrines.

This “NATO Selected” course satisfies NATO performance gaps identified within Military Contribution to Peace Support Discipline throughout the System Approach to Training process and represents a suitable training solution aligned with performance gaps.

On the 30th of September 2022 the ESDC Steering Committee decided to accept the NATO SFA COE as an Associated Network Partner of the ESDC following the presentation that was held on the 8th of September by the representatives of the NATO SFA COE to brief the Executive Academic Board on their organisation, planned projects and potential thematic areas for courses to be run together with the ESDC. 

From the 27th to the 29th of September 2022, the NATO SFA COE Lessons Learned Subject Matter Experts joined in the 17th NATO CA2X2 (Computer Assisted Analysis, Exercise, Experimentation) Forum, organized by the NATO Modelling and Simulation Centre of Excellence in Rome, Italy.

From the 12th to the 23rd of September the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger held the MEL/MIL (Main event list/Main incident List) Scripting Workshop for the exercise “Steadfast Jackal 22”, that will train and evaluate NRDC-ITA as NATO NRF 2022 in conducting a non- article 5 Small Joint Operation.

The NATO Security Force Assistance (SFA) Centre of Excellence’s Director, Col. Massimo DI PIETRO, is pleased to announce that “The SFA Advisors' Enhancement Seminar” will take place from the 12th to 15th of July at the Italian Army Infantry School Officers’ Club (423, Via della Stazione di Cesano, Cesano di Roma).

“Insights on Strategic Advising for Security Force Assistance”

On the 11th of July 2022, NATO SFA COE will present its second publication titled “Insights on Strategic Advising for Security Force Assistance” prepared by the International Group of Experts and aimed at defining the behaviours, best practices, and training methods for SFA operators engaging in complex scenarios, while preserving a comprehensive approach.

NATO SFA COE representatives joined the SFA Training Needs Analysis (TNA) Analysis phase Workshop (WS) connected to the Military Contribution to Peace Support (MC2PS) NATO Discipline at Finnish Defence Forces International Centre (FINCENT) from the 14th to the 16th of June 2022 in Helsinki, FINLAND.

A NATO SFA COE representative joined the co-located Annual Discipline Conference (ADC) for Civil-Military Cooperation & Civil-Military Interaction (CIMIC & CMI) and the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre (FINCENT) as Department Head for Military Contribution to Peace Support (MC2PS) from the 7th to the 9th of June 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands.

From the 31st of May to the 4th of June 2022, a NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence delegation met a Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance (JCISFA) team, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

On May 16th, a NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) Subject Matter Expert participated in the virtual “Maritime Critical Infrastructure Protection” (MCIP) workshop organized by the NATO Maritime Security Centre of Excellence (NATO MARSEC COE).

On 12th of May the NATO SFA COE Director, Col Massimo Di Pietro, joined the third annual meeting of the Intelligence and Security related Centres of Excellence (COEs) organized by the Joint Intelligence and Security Division (JISD) of the NATO International Staff (IMS) with the NATO Intelligence Enterprise (NIE) to accelerate the cooperation and exchanging of views in the area of Education and Training (E&T) and to further strengthen the link between the NIE and relevant COEs.

On May 04th, a NATO Security Force Assistance (SFA) Centre of Excellence (CoE) SME briefed the audience of the “New peace operations as a stabilizing factor for EU” Course – organized at the Italian Centro Alti Studi Difesa (CASD) in Rome under the patronage of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC) - on the impact of SFA in Crisis Response Operations.

From the 4th to the 5th of May 2022, the NATO SFA COE joined in the NATO Lessons Learned Conference organized by the NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC).

This “NATO Selected” course satisfies NATO performance gaps identified within Military Contribution to Peace Support Discipline throughout the System Approach to Training process and represents a suitable training solution aligned with performance gaps.