Reflecting NATO EOD COE effort to increase and bring together the EOD family, Director of the NATO EOD COE Colonel Lubomir Mrvan accepted invitation for visiting the Hellenic Engineer School in Loutraki, Greece. Base on agreement with BG Ilias Arsenos, Commandant of the Hellenic Engineer School, visit of the Greek engineer education and training facility was held from 03 APR to 05 APR 2017.
The institutions bilateral meeting was launched by sincere welcome of Commandant and introduction of the engineers’ school staff. To be familiar with the Hellenic Engineer School activities, CPT Ioannis N. Chasapopoulos, elaborated NATO EOD COE delegation in Hellenic military engineers’ broad history, the current organizational structure, task and responsibilities, capabilities and Greece military engineers training which covers the EOD related proficiency.
To initiate cooperation, COL Lubomir Mrvan explained meeting participants the NATO EOD COE vision, mission and task as a catalyst in EOD area which reflects NATO policy in establishment of the NATO’s Centres of Excellences. Moreover, Colonel Mrvan emphasized the conditions for joining of the NATO EOD COE by nations, as a potential result of their interest to fill in the free NATO EOD COE Subject Matter Experts (SME) positions.
Completing the NATO EOD COE inputs, LTC Alexander Hugyar performed Education and Training Department presentation about NATO’s system approach to training and available NATO EOD COE on place courses.
To get more information about capabilities of the Hellenic engineer school, BG Ilias Arsenos and his staff demonstrated the Hellenic Engineer School well-orchestrated facilities and the Greek EOD education and training spectra of deliverables.
At the end BG Ilias Arsenos and COL Lubomir Mrvan agreed to extent institutions’ future cooperation focused on sharing, exchanging of EOD related information as well as on exchanging of EOD SMEs.
For future cooperation development, both of the institutions leaders labelled the visit as “fruitful” and as a “promising starting point”.
Author: LTC Alexander HUGYAR, SVK A
Photo: Hellenic Engineer School, Loutraki, Greece