From the 3rd to the 5th of December 2024, the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) hosted the first edition of the Advanced Seminar for SFA Strategic Advising within SSR at the Italian Air Force’s “Casa dell’ Aviatore” in Rome.
The aim of the Seminar is to enhance the capabilities of both civilian and military participants and provide strategic-level military guidance for NATO in Security Force Assistance.
After the welcome by the Director, the Commander of the Army’s Command for Training, Specialization and Doctrine (COMFORDOT), LTG Lamanna, took the floor emphasizing the importance of integrating civilian and military organizations to address complex challenges in today’s geostrategic environment and the need for advisors to have a diverse skill set, technical knowledge, and excellent interpersonal skills to succeed in their roles.
The main topics of the Seminar focused on:
- the role of the stability policing in the military contribution in the SSR, emphasizing on its peculiar aspects comparing them with SFA activities with a special attention to two important SFA missions (Afghanistan and Iraq);
- an overview about the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) and the proposed SFA Capability Code considering the NATO’s strategic path of modernization based on the new Strategic Concept;
- the UK approach to SFA Missions highlighting the way the forces are generated, managed and sustained through the analysis of a Case Study in Africa;
- the process of measuring the effectiveness of Security Force Assistance with assessment, monitoring and evaluation within the framework of Defence Capacity Building at Institutional level;
- the importance of SFA role in NATO operations delving into capabilities, Cross Cutting Topics and Human Security, examining how NATO can conduct an effective analysis of Host Nation gaps and how to maximize programs and resources;
- the consideration of a possible evolution of the SFA Concept across all stages of the continuum of competition and specifically as a force multiplier in the warfighting scenario.
At the end of the lessons, the NATO Senior Mentor, LTG (retd) Lollesgaard, who supported the seminar guiding and enriching the debate with his hints and expertise, summed up the main concept exposed in the lessons, underlining that a key element for success in SFA is local ownership and the need to insist on local ownership and establish processes that supports a continued senior local engagement.
After that, the Lieutenant General and the Director delivered the certificates of accomplishment and thanked all the attendees and lecturers for participating and contributing.
