NESA has a small team deployed permanently to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), led by the NESA Center’s KSA Program Director, Mr Matthew Holbert. The team is embedded in the Saudi National Defense University (SNDU) in Riyadh, as part of a continuing FMS case to deliver Professional Military Education (PME) support within the MOD transformation and development of the SNDU. The team has a dedicated 2-year Capability Development Plan (CDP) of 20+ major PME events, including delivering the Joint Staff Course (JSC). The Course Director was Thomas Wagstaff. The JSC was specifically requested by the SNDU in recognition that officers taking up future ‘Joint’ assignments in both the MOD and their 3-star Joint Force Command (JFC) would benefit hugely in preparing individuals to be competent in the Joint environment.

JSC was attended by fourteen Saudi Officers (rank ranged: Lieutenant Colonel to Brigadier General), who were represented from all Services (Royal Saudi Navy, Royal Saudi Land Forces, Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal Saudi Air Defense Force, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force). NESA was extremely fortunate to have two faculty from the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC), Norfolk to deliver the weeklong program. Col Eric Fowler (Dir JAWS) and LTC Joseph Breedlove (Senior Faculty JCWS) kindly lent their valuable time and effort to the preparation and delivery of the JSC. Based on NESA’s training needs guidance, the JSFC faculty used all their knowledge and experience and designed a bespoke program with all relevant learning outcomes. The program format used established adult learning practices, including central lectures, syndicate discussions and also provided an appropriate reading list. All activities were designed to be challenging and more deliberately the overall effect was to demonstrate the exceptionally high standard of teaching, so that Saudis were exposed to US PME ‘best practices’. The program included a group exercise, requiring syndicates to plan and analyze joint scenarios and then deliver verbal briefs to the class. The final exercise was a tabletop wargame, Ex TITAN’s FORGE, adapted from the JAWS program. All lessons were delivered through a translator, and the slide packs were in both English and Arabic. The aim of the exercise was to identify, analyze and produce workable options to ‘real life’ strategic military options. The wargame involved role playing between CJCS, Service Chiefs and COCOM Commanders. As a ‘pilot’ program, there was no official assessment but the consensus from the JFSC faculty and NESA team determined that overall, the Saudi Officers were very engaging, inciteful and had demonstrated a reasonable standard of intellectual rigor.

JSC 1/26 was another significant recognition in the role NESA plays as a trusted government-to-government partner with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. More significantly, having a team embedded at the Saudi NDU, is a force multiplier as they can reach back to US PME institutions, enabling far greater effect in supporting the Saudi NDU PME development. The Saudi Officers are the future senior leaders in the Saudi MOD, the relationship NESA continues to build through PME support is essential as part of the US strategic objectives, both in capacity building but also, more importantly, ‘burden sharing’. Finally, building on the success of JSC 1/26, the plan will be to deliver an improved JSC 2/26 later in the year.