NATO Defense College


NATO Defense College is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy.

History

The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who identified very early on the need for a new international institution with a unique education mission. On 19 November 1951, the NATO Defense College opened its doors to Course 1 in Paris. In 1966, France withdrew from the Alliance's integrated military structure and the College moved to the EUR quartier of Rome, where it continues to fulfil its mission. On 10 September 1999, the new College building, twice the size of the old one, was inaugurated in Cecchignola Città Militare, a military zone 2 km from the former site. On 13–14 October 2016, the NATO Defense College celebrated the 50th anniversary of its move to Rome and the 65th anniversary of its foundation.

Mission

In response to Strategic Guidance issued to the NDC by the North Atlantic Council and the NATO Military Committee, the NDC Mission is:
The commandant is an officer with the rank of Lieutenant-General; on November 29, 2016 Lieutenant-General Chris Whitecross assumed command.
To accomplish its mission the College is organized into four main divisions that perform education and research tasks coordinated by the dean of the College.
The divisions work closely together to provide breadth, flexibility and quality of high-level strategic education.
The Director of Management supervises management of the NDC's financial and technical resources with the aim of improving the quality of life in the College and creating the best conditions for work and study.

Core business

Education

Six regular courses are held at the College:
Research at the NATO Defense College, carried out by the Research Division, provides the NATO's senior leaders with timely analyses and recommendations on current issues concerning the Alliance. The activities of the RD can help to convey NATO's positions to the wider audience of the international strategic community. The RD performs its tasks mainly through research papers – short academic essays and academic reports, and forum papers – in-depth studies, analyses and reports.
Over the last year, the Research Division published about 20 studies and analyses, about 30 articles in journals, was regularly quoted in the New York Times, Newsweek, Le Figaro and news agencies, etc. The RD also organized 8 conferences and workshops and co-facilitated Reykjavik Conferences on Arctic Security and a Military Committee workshop on the Strategic Concept.

Outreach activities

The NDC has four main outreach activities:

The Conference of Commandants (of Defence Colleges)

Which has a dual purpose.
NATO's support for senior military education in Ukraine started with the first "International Week", held in February 2001. Since then a similar course has been running every year involving more than 500 participants at a time.
The formal aims of the International Week are:
Was established in 1999 at the Washington Summit as a Consortium of the Willing and founded in the spirit of Partnership for Peace. By Military Committee direction, the NATO Defense College "is the focal military point of contact within NATO" for the consortium, composed of 300 organizations in 46 countries. The NDC is actively involved in 6 of the 10 working groups.

Advanced Distributed Learning

ADL's goal is to provide learning systems that are both more effective and more cost-effective. Course members must follow at least one of the three different ADL courses, to ensure that they have all attained the same level of knowledge before embarking on the Senior Course.
The Introduction to NATO ; European Security and Defence Policy, and RMA - the Revolution in Military Affairs.

Commandants

The NATO Defense College commandants have been: