The formal agreement that commits Norway’s Centre of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations has been signed by the Minister of Defence Kristin Krohn Devold and SACT admiral Edmund Giambastiani.

On July 14 the Norwegian Minister of Defence Kristin Krohn Devold and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation admiral Edmund Giambastiani signed the agreement where Norway place it’s Centre of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations (COE-CWO) at disposal for NATO and allied nations. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) took place at Allied Command Transformation (ACT) HQ in Norfolk, USA.

Admiral Giambastiani and Norways MOD Krohn Devold

The Minister of Defence stated during the ceremony that “Situated as we are on the North Atlantic Ocean, Norway has always had to cope with severe weather conditions. If you can fight and survive in the extremes of the Arctic, you can fight anywhere in the world. Being trained and equipped for cold weather operations make these adverse climatic conditions a strong ally. Being unprepared will significantly reduce our combat effectiveness and ultimately lead to defeat.”

The Norwegian COE-CWO is so far one out of three competence centre’s that has signed a formal agreement with NATO. The COE-CWO, which has been an interim-organisation the last year, is decided established as a permanent organisation under the Norwegian National Joint Headquarter in Stavanger from August 1, 2005. The organisation will initially have a staff of four officers. This staff will coordinate and make use of all Norwegian cold weather competence to support NATO and allied nations. This staff will also coordinate education, training & exercises for all foreign units in Norway.

The COE-CWO has through the interim period established connections with Norwegian military and civilian units and institutions that have different kinds of winter-competence. There has also been established connection to competence centres in some other countries. The COE-CWO will make use of this network to provide the “customers” with the best available service and products. The customers in this connexion can be NATO staffs, NATO Response Forces (NRF) and units and staffs from allied nations.