On 29 November 2016, the 13th edition of the NATO Lessons Learned Conference was attended by presenters and guests from NATO and non-NATO nations as well as from various organizations and NGOs. Participants were welcomed by the JALLC's Commander, Brigadier General Mário Barreto (Portuguese Air Force). The theme of this year’s conference is, “The Future of Lessons Learned: Innovation and Improvement” which will be discussed and explored by NATO's Lessons Learned Community during a series of compelling briefings and panel discussions.
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), General Denis Mercier (French Air Force), opened the conference by video, stating that, “Learning lessons is a starting point for [NATO's] Transformation. Transformation, however, is not an end in itself but rather a process that delivers a tangible output: NATO's posture.”
After some introductory words by the JALLC's Commander, the conference then kicked off with two NATO updates, the first of which was presented by Lieutenant Colonel Scarabotto (HQ SACT CAPDEV CEI IDLL). He began by presenting an overview of where the NATO Lessons Learned Process currently stands, providing suggestions on how to move forward to ensure the Alliance’s transformation. Lieutenant Colonel Scarabotto further noted that NATO's Lessons Learned Process faces the challenge of capturing lessons throughout the wide array of training events, exercises, and operations. Finally, he suggested the way ahead may be to share our Lessons Learned more effectively with each other, utilize the same process, and ensure shared awareness of each other’s Lessons Learned.
The second update was presented by Brigadier General Von Sandrart (SHAPE ACOS J7) who focused on Lessons Learned from the perspective of Allied Command Operations (ACO). Although NATO, in terms of both strategic commands, faces many challenges, as, the Brigadier General stated, “We can mitigate these challenges and be better, but it is all about working together and not against one another.” NATO increasing its efforts in this area will allow the Alliance to improve and focus on the strategic level in the changing global security threat environment. Finally, he suggested that an exercise could be developed, as a high priority, that would allow NGOs to participate, thereby increasing NATO's civil-military cooperation.
The updates were followed by the conference’s first panel which covered SACT's six key focus areas— Command and Control (C2), Logistics and Sustainability, Training and Exercises, Partnerships, Capabilities, and Human Resources—and how key lessons can be used to cultivate the transformational mindset and ultimately build NATO's capabilities. Lieutenant General Lofgren (HQ SACT DCOS CAPDEV), key speaker of the panel, emphasized that NATO needs to build on the momentum created by people attending exercises through capturing lessons and ensuring an integrative approach to transformation. Each of the panel members then spoke on a different key focus area. For example, Lieutenant Colonel Szmuck (HQ SACT JFT JETE) highlighted NATO's integration of previous exercises into current and future training missions and Colonel Malessa (HQ SACT CAPDEV C2DS) spoke on the future of C2 and a closer relationship between ACO and Allied Command Transformation in order to work towards the same vision.
The NATO Readiness Action Plan (RAP) was the topic of the second panel which was introduced by Brigadier General Corell (HQ MND SE) who spoke on the importance of a strong training process for the staff tasked with the setup of a new HQ. Among the other panel members, Mr Mark Laity (STRATCOM SHAPE P1) discussed the value that STRATCOM has gained from incorporating Lessons Learned and the way forward to continue increasing the capability and Lieutenant Colonel Lis (DTC PAF) and Colonel Pappal (US CALL) gave their Nations’ perspectives on Exercise ANAKONDA-16.
The first day of the conference closed with the third panel, which was presented by Professor John Louth from the Royal United Services Institute and Mr Enrique Martin from E&Q Engineering who gave the audience their insights on Lessons Learned from their respective organizations’ perspective.