STAVANGER, Norway – NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) hosted the second annual NATO Senior Mentor Seminar on June 20-21, 2022.
The NATO Senior Mentor Programme is composed of former Flag or General Officers, recommended by their respective Chiefs of Defence to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), to support NATO commanders and commands as they train and prepare for operations.
The seminar’s intent was to exchange views on how the Senior Mentor Programme could further support the JWC’s Programme of Work to deliver NATO’s most complex operational- and strategic-level exercises and contribute to the long-term objectives in warfare development.
Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC, in addressing the senior mentors, highlighted the significance of the JWC’s partnership with the Senior Mentor Programme, led by General (Retired) Sir James Everard KCB CBE, the Lead Senior Mentor.
“With your extensive military knowledge and invaluable experience leading NATO’s senior leaders, I am convinced that together we will improve training audience and exercise outcomes and maximize NATO readiness,” Major General Malinowski said.
During the seminar, General Everard, who previously served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) from 2017 to 2020, provided his future goals and guidance.
The General said: “The Senior Mentors have the experience, the access, and the time to support Allied Command Operations' (ACO) commanders and their staffs during these challenging times – and do so extremely well.”
General Everard also commended the JWC’s role in multi-domain operations: “Multi-domain operations will change the way we operate and fight, and the Senior Mentors can help capture best practice as we develop our thinking.”
The seminar’s intent was to exchange views on how the Senior Mentor Programme could further support the JWC’s Programme of Work to deliver NATO’s most complex operational- and strategic-level exercises and contribute to the long-term objectives in warfare development.
Brigadier General Douglas K. Clark, the JWC Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, opened the discussions on the first day of the seminar.
“As we deliver our high calibre exercises, we demonstrate that the JWC is able to achieve a tremendous amount assisting NATO forces. The relationship that we have with the Senior Mentor Programme is a key part in our fortune for delivering these exercises,” he said.
Brigadier General Clark then explained that the feedback from the Senior Mentors and the JWC’s Advisory Team to the exercise control (EXCON) group during the execution phase, as well as both parties’ early engagement with the training audience headquarters, were “instrumental in helping the training audiences achieve their training objectives.”
During the seminar, senior leaders and the JWC staff attended a myriad of briefings and took part in discussions focusing on the NATO exercise programme, the Warfare Development Agenda to implement the NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept, synergies between the senior leaders and the JWC’s Wargaming Branch, and the impact of NATO’s initial concept for multi-domain operations on JWC-directed exercises.
In addition, initiatives to further strengthen the relationship between the NATO Senior Mentor Programme and the JWC moving forward as “one team” were also discussed.
The programme at the JWC also included a briefing by NATO Command and Control Centre of Excellence (NATO C2 COE) on multi-domain operations and interviews with General Everard and Vice Admiral (Retired) Paul Bennett, by the JWC’s Media Team.
Photos from the NATO Senior Mentor Seminar 2022
The Senior Mentor Conference at the JWC, June 20-21, 2022
Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC
Brigadier General Douglas K. Clark, the JWC Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff
General (Retired) Sir James Everard KCB CBE, the Lead Senior Mentor, during his interview with the JWC Media Team
Multi-domain operations briefing by NATO Command and Control Centre of Excellence