UK Higher Command & Staff Course Visit JFC Brunssum

Joint Force Command Brunssum welcomed 41 students and staff of the UK’s Joint Services Command and Staff College, in a delegation led by Brigadier General Charles Herbert, as part of the curriculum of the Higher Command and Staff Course (HCSC). HCSC is designed to prepare selected officers and officials for command and staff appointments at 2* level and above (the highest levels of the British military structure). The visit was part of the course’s familiarization with NATO and other international organizations.
The delegation was welcomed by the Commander JFC Brunssum, General Salvatore Farina. Briefs were provided by the Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Fernando Alejandre, and senior members of the HQs. Topics discussed covered a range of subjects including: NATO’s trajectory since the Wales Summit; progress made in adapting NATO to a new security environment; examples of how a Joint HQs delivers NATO’s core tasks at the operational level; and, continued operations in Afghanistan.
In addition to the Commander and Deputy Commander, visitors were able to talk in detail with Mrs Catherine Royle (Political Advisor), Major General Scott Smith (Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations)), Major General Hans van Griensven (Deputy Chief of Staff (Plans)), Air Commodore Andrew Huggett (Director of Management and Senior British Officer at JFC Brunssum), and Group Captain Anthony Beasant (Director Joint Operations Centre).
Immediately following the visit the Deputy Commander stated: "I was delighted to host students of the UK Higher Command and Staff Course at Joint Forces Command Brunssum. I find it immensely encouraging that the UK, together with many other Alliance member states, considers it beneficial for their senior military leaders to explore NATO’s operational level of command here at Brunssum. As always with such a group, we enjoyed a professionally stimulating discussion which, I trust, offered an insight into the vibrant, multinational and strategically relevant environment that characterizes the HQs.”