international staff officers` course

INTERNATIONAL
STAFF OFFICERS’
COURSE
ARMED FORCES ACADEMY OF GENERAL MILAN RASTISLAV ŠTEFÁNIK
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Welcome to the International Staff Officers’ Course
The International Staff Officers´ Course is one of the wide
spectrums of the career courses, organized by the Lifelong
Education Centre of the Armed Forces Academy of the General
Milan Rastislav Štefánik in Liptovský Mikuláš. The course started
to write its own history and educate its first students in April 2008
with the Pilot Course for Slovak officers only. Regardless to the
course we have been recognized as a member of the 29 PTECs
family (Partnership Training and Education Centre).
The Course is based on the grounds of the 10th PfP training centre Junior Staff
Officers´ Course (JSOC CEE) which aims at provision of a course for junior staff officers
from Central and Eastern Europe and was signed in 2004.
After termination of the JSOC course in March 2007, new initiative to continue
with education based on the knowledge, study material and experiences of the JSOC PfP
training centre arose on the part of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic and
the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Memorandum
of Understanding concerning the Netherlands support to the ISOC was signed.
The aim of the 11-week course is to provide command and staff training of
officers in ranks of First Lieutenants, Captains and Majors - to enable them to participate
more effectively in exercises, peacekeeping, humanitarian and military operations in
multinational environment, and thus to enhance interoperability between the allied and
partner countries under the umbrella of NATO and the Partnership for Peace.
We invite you to browse through our course brochure and to attend our efficient
courses. Our goal is to provide you with the basis necessary for a discharge of
international duties that await you in the future.
Jozef WESSELÉNYI
Lieutenant Colonel
Commandant
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ISOC staff members
Syndicate Instructor - Maj Jozef KUCHTA
Syndicate Instructor - Capt Roman KRÁĽ
Syndicate Instructor - Capt Martin CHOVANEC
Syndicate Instructor - Capt René HEČKO
TWO - warrant officer 1st class Rastislav HELDÁK
QMS - staff sergeant Martin KUZIEL
PA - Mrs. Magdaléna URSÍNYOVÁ
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ISOC ACTIVITIES
The course aim is to provide staff training for officers in English in order to enable them
to participate in planning and conducting of military activities throughout the full spectrum
of conflict in multinational environment twice a year. This year, there was only one ISOC
course, ISOC 13, since ISOC 12 was cancelled.
ISOC 13 – start
The International Staff Officers' Course (ISOC 13) was officially opened by rector of
Armed Forces Academy, Brigadier General Assoc. Prof. Boris ĎURKECH Ph.D. on 22
September, 2014 at the Armed Forces Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš.
ISOC 13 took part 22 officers in ranks of First Lieutenant, Captain and Major from
Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Ukraine and Slovakia. The aim was to enhance their
military capabilities in order to work within multinational environment.
However, this course was an exceptional one, since the officers from Ukraine and
Mongolia are the first participants who are taking part in ISOC within Defence Education
Enhancement Program (DEEP) in which the Armed Forces Academy has been engaged
since 2013. The exercises were focused on decision making and planning of defensive
and offensive operations. Since the Armed Forces Academy is one of the Partnership
Training Centres within NATO, the general idea of the course is to increase the
interoperability within the NATO and PfP Countries concerning to training and education.
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Diversity Icebreaker on ISOC
The historically first Diversity Icebreaker in Slovakia occurred on 26 September 2014
in ISOC. The aim of this event was to help ISOC students with a self-awareness
improvisation and understanding of other team members as well as to support
communication and collaboration in teams created in multinational environments within
the different situations.
Diversity icebreaker was led by Managing Director Bjørn Z. Ekelund Certified
Psychologist, MBA, from Human Factors AS, Oslo Norway (Research Fellow Centre for
Global Workforce Strategy, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.) as
a discoverer and author of Diversity icebreaker idea, and supported by Professor Doctor
Kazuma
Matoba,
Universität
der
Bundeswehr
München
Fakultät
für
Humanwissenschaften Professur für Interkulturelle Bildung with Mr. Alexander Petzold
both from Germany.
Workshop was divided into two parts. First part started at 08:00 and finished with lunch.
Second part continued at 13:00 with end at 17:00 with after action review (AAR).
The aim of first part was to organize Diversity icebreaker seminar with learning about
“yourself” based on fulfilled questioners and by division participants into the three groups
recognized by colour – blue, red and green. Seminar continued with communication
activities across diversity - with exercises how to approach blue, red and green persons –
model communication followed by Team pyramid and personal development.
Second part was mostly orientated to these topics: how team members, especially in
multinational environment, can be influenced by their culture and how to get know
important differences and how to work in sensitive multicultural conditions. Exercises
were designed to improve Empathy, Relation skills, Knowledge and Tolerance as well.
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ISOC students had learned about how to work in teams with respect of each other, how
important team building is in multinational conditions, also how to communicate with
different types of people with different cultural background and experience with different
thinking and behaviour.
The Diversity Icebreaker was successfully finished with shifting of unnamed collection
of bunch of people to “family” of ISOC students.
The International Day at ISOC
It has already become a good tradition to organize this kind of event with the aim to
build social relations, to learn something about other cultures and to improve the language
skills. The International Day was held within International Staff Officer’ Course on
9 October 2014. The event was officially opened by ISOC Commandant LtCol Jozef
Wesselényi and Vice Rector for Science Assoc. Prof. Dipl. Eng. Marcel Harakaľ, PhD.
The ISOC students were presenting their countries, offering typical meals and
beverages. The other way of presenting, showed for example the Czech students who
were giving knowledge quiz about their country, or the Slovak students who showed the
Slovak typical folk dances and music.
The event is not only opened for ISOC students and ISOC staff, but for all the
employee of the Armed Forces Academy and students from other courses, who would like
to enhance their communicative skills or learn something about other cultures.
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Long weekends
The students, coming to International Officers’ Course have to spend almost three
months in foreign environment and therefore the ISOC staff wants them not only to study
for their exams, but also to show them our beautiful country. For this reason, long
weekends are organized twice a course for the students who are interested in our culture
and history. During ISOC 13, they visited our capital Bratislava, visit of High Tatras was
planned, but later cancelled due to health problems of one of the students.
ISOC 13 – closing
The 13th International Staff Officers’ Course held in the Armed Forces Academy
(recognized PfP Training Centre) finished on the 27th of November 2014 after eleven
weeks of officers’ preparation conducted in English language.
Twenty-two officers in ranks of 1st Lieutenant up to Lieutenant Colonel from nine NATO,
PfP and DEEP countries (Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Ukraine and Slovakia) attended
the training to be prepared for staff work within multinational teams in the area of
planning and conducting of military operations. Under the guidance of the Slovak
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instructors they participated at several exercises focused on the Estimate process during
the defensive and offensive operations.
Brigadier General Assoc. Prof. Boris Ďurkech Ph.D. (Rector of the Armed Forces
Academy of general Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Commander of PfP Training and Education
Centre), Director of Lifelong Education Centre Colonel Tomáš Novotný, Commandant of
the International Staff Officers’ Course Lieutenant Colonel Jozef Wesselényi, Defence
Attaché of Azerbaijan Colonel Kamil Guliyev and Defence Attaché of Germany
Lieutenant Colonel Rüdiger Heinrich participated closing ceremony.
They congratulated to all graduates after successful accomplishment of the course. The
best student in the course, Capt. Anja Blümel from Germany was awarded by the ISOC
Commandant LtCol Jozef Wesselényi.
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Short-term courses
Military Police at ISOC
In the period from 10th to 21st February 2014, the members of the Multinational
Military Police Battalion (MNMPBn) took part in the fifth course conducted by ISOC.
The aim of the course was to orientate the members of MNMPBn in planning procedures
and principles of the Decision Making Process at the tactical level.
The course was divided into 2 weeks. 16 military police participants from Poland,
Czech Republic and Slovakia took part in the first week (10th – 14th February 2014) and
other 11 participants from Poland, Croatia and Slovakia took part in the second week (17th
– 21st February 2014). The course was led in English language by ISOC instructors Capt.
René Hečko, Capt. Roman Kráľ and Capt. Martin Chovanec.
Director of Lifelong Education Centre Col. Róbert Totkovič and ISOC Commandant
LtCol Jozef Wesselényi handed over certificates to course participants during conducted
closing ceremonies.
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3 weeks course
There were also organized short term courses and one of them is 3 weeks course which
was organized in ISOC from 10th to 28th March 2014. The course is organized for Slovak
Armed Forces students only, and is provided in English language with the aim to
introduce Decision Making Process at the tactical level. In this year the 3rd one was
attended by 13 officers in ranks of Lieutenant, First Lieutenant and Captain.
Course participants had an opportunity to deeply understand and to exercise/play
different roles of key players during the planning process at BG or Bde level. Students
could also enhance their military terminology and were introduced to different tasks
which can be met within the international environment during the deployment in
peacekeeping missions or during occupying of any position within NATO or EU
structures.
Director of Lifelong Education Centre Col. Róbert Totkovič and the ISOC
Commandant LtCol Jozef Wesselényi handed over certificates to course graduates during
the official closing ceremony.
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International visitors at ISOC
French cadets at the Armed Forces Academy
Armed Forces Academy was visited for four weeks by two French students from École
Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr. Second Lieutenants Maxime Brackenier and Thomas
Fauvelliére arrived on 14th January 2014 and attended theoretical and practical training at
the Department of Social Sciences and Languages and the Introduction to Estimate
Process provided by ISOC instructors. The last week was devoted to simulation
technologies that were practising at the Simulation Centre within Armed Forces
Academy.
The Ukrainian and Mongolian visitors at ISOC
The Armed Forces Academy hosted the conference on the Security Systems
Management during the period from 24th February to 28th February 2014.
Within the rich programme of the conference, the foreign participants from Ukraine
and Mongolia visited ISOC (International Staff Officers´ Course). ISOC Commandant
LtCol Jozef Wesselényi welcomed visitors, introduced the ISOC course and made them
familiar with the curriculum of the course as well as description of the future visions and
aims of the ISOC as one of the active member of the NATO DEEP programme (Defence
Enhancement Education Programme).
They also discussed benefits of the DEEP programme and possible involvement of the
Mongolian Armed Forces in this programme.
The fruitful discussion was mostly focused towards a future participation and
cooperation in the course among the Slovakian, Ukrainian and Mongolian military
educational institutions.
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The Romanian visitor at ISOC
The Armed Forces Academy was visited by Lieutenant Colonel Sorin Nistor from the
Department of Defense Resources Management Studies (DRESMARA) in Brašov,
Romania from 17th November to 21st November 2014.
The guest’s participation was organized within the ERASMUS programme and also
included visit of the International Staff Officers´ Course (ISOC) where he delivered
lecture about "Decision Making Process Theory". The topic was presented from different
angle but the basics of the process remained the same. By the presentation ISOC students
achieved deeper understanding of DMP and its practical application at the strategic level.
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International activities
PTEC Commandants’ Conference 2014
14th
The
Partnership
Annual
Training
and Education Centres
Commandants’
Conference
CC)
was
Warszawa,
(PTEC
held
in
Poland
from 3rd to 6th February
2014. The conference
was attended by two members of Armed Forces Academy Col Róbert Totkovič and Capt.
René Hečko (ISOC).
PTEC CC participants had the opportunity to interact with the other meeting attendees
including the Combined NCS and NFS Training Community Meeting, the NATO
individual Training and Education Conference (NITEC) and the NATO Training and
Exercise Conference (NTEC) participants. The aim of the PTEC CC was to integrate
efforts in education and training and to strengthen practical co-operation in order to meet
future requirements.
Marketplace in Brussels 2014
From 17th to 21st March 2014, the two representatives of the Armed forces academy,
LtCol Jozef Wesselényi and Capt. Roman Kráľ took part in the Partnership Training and
Education Centres (PTEC) Marketplace at NATO HQ,
Brussels.
The main aim of the annual marketplace was to strengthen
the relations and to promote the activities of the institutions,
taking part in the event. Our representatives approached the
colleagues from other PTEC centres about future cooperation.
From the total amount of twenty six, the sixteen PTEC took
part this year.
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Partnership Training and Education Centres (PTEC) was launched in 1999 to develop
training and education activities with Euro - Atlantic partners and these have since been
opened to participation of all partners.
Training CJEX Hamburg 2014
From 10th to 14th May 2014, the three representatives of the Armed Forces Academy,
LtCol Jozef Wesselényi, Major Jozef Kuchta and Capt. Martin Chovanec as observers
took part in the CJEX (Combined Joint Exercise) 2014 held in Hamburg – Germany.
The main aim of the exercise was to enhance student knowledge about EU Combined
and Joint Operations to practise operational level planning using NATO COPD
(Comprehensive Operation Planning Directive) to improve students’ working skills in an
interagency and international environment to address developments in the Common
Security and Defence Policy.
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ERASMUS Brašov
The three Armed Forces Academy representatives Col. Róbert Totkovič, LtCol Jozef
Wesselényi and Capt. Martin Chovanec visited the Regional Department of Defence
Resources Management Studies of the National University Brasov to enhance mobility for
teachers and support staff within the ERASMUS program from 19th to 21st May 2014. The
main aim of the visit was to enhance and share knowledge about participation within the
PTEC community with the main focus on the non- NATO countries participation.
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Editor:
Design&Cover:
Photo:
Print:
Rastislav Heldák, Magdaléna Ursínyová
Robert Kandrik
Danuša Spilá, archive AFA
Printing Office AFA
© Armed Forces Academy of General Milan Rastislav Štefánik
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