When the United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) began a work of transforming the educational requirements, which must be followed in order to fulfil the criteria for an UN-accredited course, staff officers from SWEDINT were early involved in the work. Major Thomas Gillman has on behalf of SWEDINT participated in the development of the new training modules. The development of the UNSOC was lead by staff from DPKO over the Internet and through meetings in various locations around the world. The new modules that were produced were tested by DPKO in March in Ghana during a pilot course, in which Thomas Gillman served as instructor.
Since Thomas Gillman has been so deeply involved in the development of new training modules SWEDINT can as the first training center in the world conduct the UNSOC after these new modules. The ongoing UNSOC therefore differs considerably from the previous courses conducted at SWEDINT. According to Thomas Gillman there are several important aspects to highlight in the developments taking place at SWEDINT: "It is a fantastic opportunity for Sweden being the first country to test and validate the bulk of the new UN Senior Staff Officer training package. The main module that is tested in this course is the Military Component Planning Process (MCPP), which is the UN's new planning tool at brigade and division level. For both the students and us it has been interesting to see how the UN is now standardizing everything from planning to how the reports and orders should be written in an UN-led mission. Our work in the development group within the UN, and also internally at SWEDINT, will continue throughout the summer and provide even more material for the UNSOC course at SWEDINT this fall. It's incredibly stimulating to continue to development an already established course and make it even better! "
Major Raul Arbinus have as course director of the UNSOC been as involved as Thomas Gillman in the development of the UNSOC. "There have been many long days, and even late nights, during the past months. But it is all worth it when you see the results of all the work we have done. There is still much to continue to refine, and there is also some more changes to do as well, but the students are very satisfied so far and we look forward with great interest to their course evaluations. For us it is very important to know that we reach out to the students with our education, and that they understand and can adopt accordingly with the main messages from the United Nations in the new training modules. It is important to never be "really satisfied", one must always strive to improve oneself in order to stay on top!” Said Raul as conclusion before he disappeared into one of all the joint meetings between civilian, police and military personnel that is the main focus during the three courses common staff exercise.
LtCol Jerker Sundström,
C Academics,
SWEDINT