On January 7 three officers of the Lithuanian Naval Force (LITHNAVY) started 5-month studies in the International Baltic Naval Intermediate Command and Staff Course (NICSC) at the National Defence Academy of Latvia (located in Riga). The course will also be attended by 3 Estonian and 8 Latvian delegates of the respective national Navies.
The core objective of the NICSC is training Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian naval officers for efficient service in national and international military staffs. The course is organised on the basis of a methodology of the Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) (based in Tallinn, Estonia), NICSC working language is English.
Attendees of the course improve their knowledge of military subjects, command and planning areas, study NATO documentation and procedures. Lectures on the NICSC syllabus are delivered by experienced military experts from Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, U.S.A., Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, France and Germany.
The knowledge accumulated during the course is applied in practice in planning, organising and conducting the annual naval Baltic Fortress exercise at the end of the course.
The Baltic NICSC has been organised for Baltic naval officers at the National Defence Academy of Latvia since 2007. More than 70 naval officers (49 Latvian, 19 Lithuanian and 8 Estonian representatives) have successfully graduated from the course over the period. Lithuania posts an officer of the Lithuanian Navy as course coordinator annually.
Photo by Gatis Dieziņš
