Historical Overview of the Development of the Baltic Defence College and its’ Courses

 

The original roots of the courses are the experience of the first Commandant, Michael H. Clemmesen. From 1988 to 1994 he served first as Director Joint Operational Studies and then the combined Director of Strategic Studies and of the Joint Senior Staff Course at the Royal Danish Defence College. From mid 1994 until autumn 1997 he served as Defence Attaché of Denmark to the Baltic states.

 

He realised that there was an urgent need for Western type general staff officer education. It was also clear that the different foreign staff courses then being offered would not be able to develop the necessary common understanding and thinking among the best officers of the three national armed forces. During the winter of 1996-97, the possibility of creating a College that could form the framework for such a common staff course was discussed with Denmark, Sweden and the three states. Both Denmark and Sweden gave their tentative support to the idea, and in May 1997 first the heads of the three Baltic Defence Ministry Planning Departments and then the three Baltic Commanders of Armed Forces endorsed the idea, and in the Nordic-Baltic Defence Ministers' meeting in Kuressaare, Estonia, 9-10 June, the ministers "... considered that the establishment of a Baltic Defence College would be a progressive way to develop the military education system in the Baltic countries. To that end the Ministers decided to set up a working group." Sweden offered to lead the support of the project, and Denmark agreed to second Colonel Clemmesen as the common "Project Officer" of the internal Baltic states deliberations. He had outlined the project and the course in a letter to the three ministries on 11 May (see annex 1).

 

During the summer months of 1997, Clemmesen conducted rounds of bilateral coordination and fact-finding conversations in the three capitals, and after that chaired two common meetings at Ilmatsalu outside Tartu, in August and September 1997. During the 10 September meeting, the way ahead was outlined (see annex 2) and three states agreed on the basis for the follow-on work, their "Common Position" (see annex 3). When the project was presented by Sweden and Clemmesen two weeks later at the first "BALTSEA" Group meeting in Copenhagen, the non-Nordic states offered their support to the College and the staff course, and the legal and practical work could start with all the states that would be involved in the project. The most important part of this work was concluded with the signing of the Memorandum of Support on 12 June 1998 in the Swedish Delegation to NATO.

 

The first 1999-2000 "Senior Staff Course" (SSC) was scheduled to start on 16 August 1999. The Estonian and Danish Management Staff arrived in Tartu during the summer and autumn of 1998, however, the international faculty that was to develop the "Common Position" into a fully developed, detailed staff course curriculum with tactical exercises only arrived one by one during the winter, spring and summer of 1999. Therefore the first SSC of 32 students had a course that developed its concrete form just prior to the actual teaching or exercises being conducted. Due to the dedication and enthusiasm of both the faculty, the "Directing Staff", the College succeeded, and thus the second, 2000-2001 SSC of initially 37 students could start with a stronger foundation of preparation than the first course.

 

During the second school year it had become clear that the three Baltic states had a number of officers too senior to be considered as staff course student candidates, but were otherwise qualified, and their countries had a requirement to have them educated. This issue was raised in the 2000 White Book and led to the three, small "Colonels Courses" (CC) that were conducted during the school years 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. The courses were conducted in parallel with the staff course, using most of the same lectures and exercises. However, the tasks and the pedagogic format was different, giving more flexibility, and the CC course members had education and discussions that specifically prepared them for Chief of Staff work. A total of 19 officers graduated from the CC.

 

As early as at the graduation of the first SSC it had become clear that the future course would be likely to outgrow the available physical limits of the College. Many non-Baltic states were willing and interested in sending their officers to study at the Baltic Defence College. The host nation, Estonia, accepted the challenge, and during 2001 the attic of the College wing of the Estonian National Defence College building was developed into a new and larger education area. Even earlier, Estonia had developed the basement of the wing to become an integrated part of the common Estonian-BALTDEFCOL war gaming installation, the "Tactical Trainer". The 2001-2002 SSC of initially 41 students and the CC moved into the new education area in the early autumn of 2001.

 

The school year 2002-2003 and its staff course of initially 50 students became a period of transition in several ways. The College had become aware that the name of the staff course did not properly underline the character and level of the course to users of normal military English, and it did not clarify the increasing joint armed services education. Therefore the new staff course was named the "Joint Command and Staff Course" (JCSC), which was approved by the College boards. The curriculum in operations was developed towards increasing emphasis on the brigade level, and the Deputy Commandant and Course Director, Colonel Olle Broman from the Swedish Army, used his experience from the 2001-2002 courses and from observations during international visits to reorganise and focus the curriculum. During that school year the Baltic states, using BALTDEFCOL graduates, established "Junior Staff" or "Captain" courses, thus decisively improving the professional levels of the candidates to future staff courses. The College had always been educating in English using NATO procedures. However, during the spring 2002 it had become increasingly clear that all three states would be invited to join NATO in 2004. So when the invitations actually followed at the 2002 Prague Summit, the College was already working hard to adapt the staff course.

 

However, the full transformation of the staff course only took place in the 2003-2004 staff course of 51 students initially. It had now decisively changed away from its initial territorial and Nordic State type "total defence" focus to one with generic staff and tactics education at brigade level moving on to Joint Expeditionary planning at the operational level of war in the second course semester. In order to underline the level of the course to continental Europeans, the name of the course was adjusted again. With approval from the College boards, the 2003-2004 and later staff courses at the BALTDEFCOL are named "Joint Command and General Staff Course" (JCGSC).

 

In December 2004 Brigadier General Michael Clemmesen handed over the command of the BALTDEFCOL to the new Commandant, Brigadier General Algis Vaičeliūnas.

 

BALTDEFCOL Long Term Development Plan 2005-2012, prepared in 2005, proposed new directions for College’s development. It was suggested to create a Combined Baltic Officers Professional Development System and its Programme, in order to integrate courses of the BALTDEFCOL into a common system of military education. It also called for increasing the number of civilian academic staff by adding lecturers of conflict studies and defence studies. The plan envisaged expanded teaching in joint combined operations and a revised Civil Servants Course (CSC) with a greater emphasis on the planning and conduct of peace support and crisis response operations.

 

The first CSC started already in the spring 2001 and five courses with 61 graduates in total have been organized ever since. The previous courses were oriented to strengthening the students' capacity to understand and administer the complex build-up and reform, maintenance and management of national defence structures within the Baltic states' context. Hence, new requirements for the civil servants as well as changes in the political environment created a need for a reformulation of the CSC`s curriculum.

 

The new and revised CSC aims at enhancing the knowledge and skills of civil servants necessary for an effective and active role in the development and implementation of national security and defence policy through successful civil-military partnership and cooperation at the operational and strategic levels. To achieve maximum synergy among the courses of the College as well as to increase the exposure of the CSC students to the military environment and culture, most of its classes are conducted jointly with the JCGSC. This should provide the students of both courses with the best possible understanding of the development of security and defence policy as the interaction and inter-dependence between political decision makers, civil servants and the military.

 

In autumn 2005, after Baltic Military Committee and Ministerial Committee endorsed the proposals above, the BALTDEFCOL recommended further measures in order to bring officers education in the Baltic states to a new level of development. It was advised to establish a common Navy Junior Staff Officers Course (NJSOC) in the Latvian National Military Academy for officers from the navies of the Baltic states. Within the BALTDEFCOL remit, it was proposed to remove brigade level instruction from the JCGSC by establishing a separate 5-month Army Intermediate Command and Staff Course (AICSC), focusing the JCGSC instruction entirely on the joint operational level. Specific elements of the CSC revision and development were also identified.

 

In April 2006, Baltic Military Committee approved the Combined Officer Professional Development Programme. Under this programme, a new format of the JCGSC was mandated, consisting of a 5-month AICSC and 11-month JCGSC. With these changes well underway, the Ministerial Committee requested the Commandant of the College to draft a new BALTDEFCOL Development Plan 2007-2012.

 

In January 2007, Ministerial Committee endorsed a policy paper on the BALTDEFCOL outlining the need for the Baltic states to continue developing it into a high quality and widely respected international military educational institution based upon Western values and standards. The policy paper also stressed the necessity to sustain wide multinational character with regard to the teaching staff and students.

 

From January 2007, implementation of the Combined Officer Professional Development Programme of the Baltic states commenced, with the launch of the AICSC at the BALTDEFCOL and the NJSOC in the Latvian National Military Academy. In August 2007, the developed JCGSC was started. On 14 September 2007, the Ministerial Committee approved the BALTDEFCOL Development Plan 2007-2012 as well as a new Memorandum of Understanding Concerning the Operation, Administration and Funding of the BALTDEFCOL.

 

In recognition of the significance and relevance in training leaders for transformation, Higher Command Studies Course (HCSC) received partial accreditation by the NATO’s Allied Command Transformation as a NATO course at the beginning of 2007.

 

The first HCSC was launched in 2004 at the request of the Ministers of Defence of the Baltic states. The aim of the course is to prepare military and civilian defence officials at NATO OF-4/5 level or equivalent, to be ready to initiate, lead and implement transformation in the defence institutions of their own states, NATO and the EU in the context of current and future military operations. Many graduates of the HCSC, which has been conducted on a yearly basis since 2004, have received important and demanding postings in their home countries and international organizations.

 

Since the beginning the HCSC has used the usual war college learning methodology, emphasizing active learning and the full participation and contribution of all students in an open and positive environment. A high reliance is placed on individual and group study and requirement for the students to share their knowledge, experience and learning with others. The HCSC relies on the external contributors. Since its establishment the course has developed group of numerous competent and experienced guest speakers. Since autumn 2005 the course has introduced a concept of Visiting Senior Mentors who are widely recognized authorities in their fields of expertise. They mentor students and assist the course Directing Staff with the course development. Drawing upon experiences with applying this concept on the HCSC, Visiting Senior Mentors scheme was also introduced into the JCGSC in autumn 2007.

 

From 2005 until 2007, the College focused on revising and developing design of its course documentation, adopting new formats and introducing various new elements. Each course is now governed through a standardised set of documents, consisting of the course plans, compendia and weekly schedules, which together comprise a course programme. During the same period, the College put considerable effort into reviewing and developing its educational methodology, especially with regard to expanding the range of active learning methods used in the educational process. As a result, all courses draw their methods from a standard methodological toolbox, but combining them in the way that best meets the aims and required outcomes of a particular course.

 

BALTDEFCOL has also had a number of various research activities aimed to enhance the wider understanding of military and defence affairs in the Baltic security and defence community and, at the same time, to sustain the high level of academic education within the institution. Several broad directions of research have been identified including trends in war and warfare, new security issues and their implications to armed forces, strategic culture, military transformation and defence reforms as well as armed forces and society.

 

Since founding, the BALTDEFCOL has been publishing an academic journal The Baltic Defence review which was renamed, in 2006, into The Baltic Security and Defence Review to better reflect the spectrum of research topics. The publication serves as a facilitator for individual research of scholars investigating topics of relevance to the security and defence community of the Baltic states.

 

The College has held a number of conference and seminars since its establishment, exploring the issues ranging from global and regional security, NATO integration, defence transformation and military reforms to defence planning and development of military concepts and doctrines.

 

In recognition of its importance as a hub of intellectual debate, in 2006 the College was chosen to host the Annual Baltic Conference on Defence (ABC/D), which is co-organized together with the ministries of defence of the three Baltic states. The conference is directed to policymakers, military officers, defence analysts, academics and media representatives with the aim of raising discourse on conceptual and practical issues on defence reforms and military transformation. The idea of ABC/D developed from the Baltic Security Assistance (BALTSEA) forum founded in 1997. It was a forum of 14 Western nations with the intention of helping the Baltic states gain admission to NATO. After the Baltic sates had become members of NATO, the BALTSEA had outlived its purpose. In 2005, Estonia made a proposal to turn the forum into an annual international conference on defence. The first conference was dedicated to the challenges of transforming NATO and national armed forces to match the current and future security threats. The second conference, held in September 2007, focused on analyzing NATO’s role and success in Afghanistan.