Mr Oystein Bo, Secretary of State for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, made his first visit to NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) on Tuesday, 3 March 2015.

He was accompanied by Commander Hans Christian Smith-Sivertsen and Lieutenant Colonel Martin Holmemo, delegates from the Ministry, as well as Navy Captain Tor Fredrik Johannessen, Commander of the Naval Basic Training Centre Harald Haarfagre (Camp Madla).

Mr Oystein Bo and the delegation were given a warm welcome upon arrival by German Army Major General Reinhard Wolski, Commander JWC, and senior officials of the Centre.

Before his appointment to the Secretary of State in 2013, Mr Bo served as the Head of International Department and Permanent Secretary of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence at Stortinget (the Norwegian Parliament).

The visit programme included a bilateral meeting with Major General Wolski, followed by a comprehensive briefing on JWC’s mission and tasks as NATO’s premier operational-level training provider. The visit then continued with a tour of JWC’s state-of-the-art training facility where further briefings were provided on JWC’s exercise design, planning and execution as well as its unique in-house media simulation and computer-assisted exercise (CAX) capabilities for training.

Mr Oystein Bo reaffirmed the strong bilateral ties between Norway and NATO and praised the active collaboration between both parties. He said: “I have wished to visit JWC for many years. Today’s visit has surpassed my expectations and I now have a better understanding of the work done here. And I am very happy that JWC is considered as one of the most successful establishments within NATO.”

Following the tour, Mr Oystein Bo also met with senior Norwegian civilian personnel and uniformed officers to exchange views on key issues and share insights.