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- An important contribution to Nato
GARDERMOEN: The northern climate makes norwegians experts on cold conditions. Now the experiences are shared with the other Nato-countries.
By Kristoffer Thoner and Jon Anders Skau (photo), Norwegian Defence Media Centre
| | SEMINAR CREW: From the left major Siri Cecilie Løken, lieutenant-colonel Svein Rødland and major Per Kristian Dahl. |
And the experiences are exchanged through The Centre of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations (COE-CWO) – during their variated and comprehensive seminar at Gardermoen this week. Approximately 65 participants from ten countries were present.
Imparts knowledge
There are about fifteen different Centres of Excellences within the Nato-organisation, both multinational and national. The norwegian centre's main task is to develop a well-defined level of competence on operations in cold environments.
- The aim is to gather all the competence into one centre, which again has the responsibility of imparting and sharing this within Nato. Hopefully this will result in a good international collaboration, in which the norwegian centre makes out an important base of information on cold weater operations, says COE-CWO's leader, lieutenant-colonel Svein Rødland.
COE-CWO trains instructors that can return to their respective contries and teach their soldiers based on the impulses and experiences they have aquired through the CWO-project.
- For the spirit of community
And that was exactly the main goal during this week's seminar. The participants got to experience and share what they had learned during operations in cold environments – for instance in Afghanistan.
- I reckon it is very important that Norway shows genuine commitment towards community. We have also recieved much positive feedback on the project, says Rødland.
| | SATISFIED: Major Chris Bergeron from Canada. |
- Helpful and informative
- This is a very positive initiative, since it is important that we develope qualifications on this subject. The lectures were aslo very interesting and informative, says major Chris Bergeron from Canada.
He was one of the many participants that during the seminar got to listen to polar explorer Rune Gjeldnes and Mount Everest climber Tormod Granheim. Lecturers from Sweden, Canada and Great Britain did also contribute.
- I look forward to sharing the experiences from this seminar with my colleagues in Canada, says Bergeron.
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