The course is a pilot course and the first of its kind to be conducted and is a result of the close cooperation with the NATO School in Oberammergau in Germany. The Swedish Armed Forces and the NATO School have, since June 2009, an MOU detailing the conduct of a common course in Sweden and the current plan is to run the course twice every year.
The NATO COPC is aiming at training individual staff officers from NATO and PfP in operations planning according to the new NATO planning directive, ACO Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive (COPD). The COPD is replacing the Guidelines for Operational Planning (GOP) and is designed to allow for a more comprehensive approach in terms of planning for operations.
In complex operations the non-military and military aspects need to be harmonised to much larger extent than has been the case in the past in order to be successful. The COPC will contribute to the individual staff officers understanding of the operational planning process and the principles of a comprehensive approach, subsequently contributing to better trained personnel for current and future Crisis Response Operations, either in a NATO or an EU context.