The Chief of Defence gives the final lecture of the Refresher Course for the Performance of General Officer’s Duties

• Admiral Lopez Calderon spoke to the future general officers about the evolution of the Armed Forces in the current strategic context.

The Chief of Defence Staff (JEMAD for its Spanish acronym), Admiral Teodoro E. Lopez Calderon, has imparted the final lecture of the XXV Refresher Course for the Performance of General Officer's Duties at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (CESEDEN for its Spanish acronym).

The JEMAD divided his speech entitled "The evolution of the Armed Forces in the current strategic context" into three blocks: the current strategic environment; the evolution of the Spanish Armed Forces; and the challenges to be overcome.

On the current strategic context, Admiral Lopez Calderon explained that "the drift of the war in Ukraine is leading to a radical change in the security and defence paradigm and, in turn, to a more polarised world, as we see with the rise of the BRICS countries, which are openly proclaiming a new world order, and where countries in South America, Africa and Asia will find themselves at the crossroads, having to choose between one bloc or the other".

In view of this new scenario and regarding the evolution of the Spanish Armed Forces, the JEMAD stressed that "the future configuration must be able to respond effectively and efficiently to the contribution demanded by our allies, but without ever losing sight of our autonomous defence needs".

The Admiral concluded his speech by encouraging future general officers to promote defence culture "at your level, take advantage of the opportunities you have to motivate and raise awareness among our citizens".

JEMAD then proceeded to officially close the course.

The XXV graduating class of this course is made up of 122 colonels and navy captains from the three armies, the Common Corps and the Civil Guard. Among them there are 6 women, one from the Navy, two from the Military Legal Corps, one from the Military Intervention Corps and two from the Military Medical Corps.

The course ran from 15 January to 7 March. For eight weeks, the future general officers were trained to "exercise command in the organic and operational structure of the Armed Forces and in the senior administration and management of its material, human and financial resources", according to Instruction 49/2017, which establishes the current format of the course.

During the course, students updated their knowledge in five modules: leadership, strategy, defence planning, operations and intelligence. In addition to acquiring knowledge and skills, the course also reinforced cross-cutting skills: critical, creative and forward thinking; effective communication and teamwork; and self-control and self-confidence.