The 10th Annual Partnership for Peace Training and Education Centres (PTC) Commandants’ Conference (CC) chaired by the Commandant of the NATO School, Colonel Mark D. Baines, USA A, was hosted by the Commandant of Austrian Centre for Operations Preparation Col Claus Amon on October 5 to 8, 2009 in Baden, Austria.

    14 PTC Commandants (CMDTs), representatives from the NATO School (NSO), International Staff (IS), International Military Staff (IMS), Allied Command Operations (ACO), Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and observers from Defence Institute of Foreign Languages from Kazakhstan (KAZ), Peace Keeping Centre (PKC) from Moldova (MDA) and Mountain Training School Sachkhere from Georgia were also present in Baden.

    This annual event enables PTC commandants to meet in order to develop the common frame of reference, make decisions that advance an intellectual interoperability, expertise and resources sharing, education and training synergy between NATO and PfP countries as well as between and among the PfP countries and also provides the platform for sharing the experience.

    The conference comprised of two distinct parts. Plenary sessions, where PTCs and representatives from NATO command structure made updates on recent development in their institutions, and separate meeting of the PTC Commandants, which led to definition of tasks for the 2009 Working Groups (WGs). The agenda was developed on the basis of decisions taken at 9th PTCs Commandants’ Conference held in Monterey, USA, in October 2007, as well as on the conclusions of the two PTC WGs held in Bosna end Herzegovina in March 2009 and in Slovenia in June 2009.

    During plenary session Deputy Commandant of Slovak PTC, Col Juraj Vyrostek (SVK A), Vice-rector for military issues of the Armed Forces Academy (AFA) confirmed that the 11th PTC CC will be held in Slovakia in 2010. Lt Col Miroslav Fazik (SVK A), Commandant of the International Staff Officers’Course (ISOC) made update on recent development of ISOC.

    At the end of the conference, the PTC CMDTs tasked the 2010 WGs to discuss a future cooperation development of PTCs regarding its effectiveness, interoperability and resources sharing between NATO and PfP countries, as well as between and among the PfP countries.