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Supreme Allied Commander Transformation visits the Slovenian Armed Forces
On Wednesday, 25 January, the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) General Stéphane Abrial visited the Slovenian Armed Forces.
In the beginning of the visit, Chief of the SAF General Staff Major General Alojz Šteiner acquainted SACT with the development of the Slovenian Armed Forces, while the talks within the working visit mainly concentrated on the implementation of the so called Smart Defence concept. The current Smart Defence concept is based on prioritisation, specialisation and international cooperation. It works on the basis of three principles: affordability (mutual cooperation opens possibilities for the development and acquisition of certain capabilities), availability (trust among participating countries is crucial) and compatibility (compatibility of projects and complementarity – avoiding duplication of the formation and preserving the possibility of combining capabilities).
SACT describes Smart Defence not just as an initiative on austerity measures in the field of capability formation, but also as an initiative on an effective formation of the necessary capabilities, which arise from the Lisbon conclusions and experiences from recent operations.
General Stéphane Abrial received appointment as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation by the North Atlantic Council on 29 July 2009. He is the first European to be appointed permanently as head of a NATO strategic command. Prior to his appointment, he served as Air Force Chief of Staff from 2006 to 2009. The Allied Command Transformation (ACT) based in Norfolk, USA, was established in 2003 upon NATO's transformation. National Liaison Representation of the SAF to the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is responsible for the implementation of interests of the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian Armed Forces as well as for the provision of support to the Allied Command Transformation in the preparation and implementation of concepts and solutions regarding the transformation and development of allied capabilities. The SAF have since 2004 contributed a National Liaison representative to ACT and a servicemembers to the subordinated Joint Warfare Command in Stavenger, Norway.
Photo: SFC Tomaž Harle, General Staff
