SWEDINT has been appointed as the NATO Department Head for Land Operations

SWEDINT – 24 April 2025 kl: 10.57

“It is an important task that Slovakia and Sweden are jointly undertaking for NATO, as we have been appointed NATO Department Head for the discipline of Land Operations. This gives us access to key forums and interest groups within NATO, and we will have a significant role in the development of NATO Land Operations, which can also contribute to the Army’s reestablishment of the capability for large-scale land operations at the divisional level,” says Colonel Richard Gray, Commandant SWEDINT.

Överste Richard Gray lämnar över Letter of Appointment för rollen som NATO Department Head till chefen för Natos förmågeutveckling (MDFD), konteramiral Placido Torresi.
Överste Richard Gray lämnar över Letter of Appointment för rollen som NATO Department Head till chefen för Natos förmågeutveckling (MDFD), konteramiral Placido Torresi.
Colonel Richard Gray, Commandant SWEDINT, hands over the Letter of Appointment for the Department Head role —signed by the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters — to NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in Norfolk, USA. Rear Admiral Placido Torresi, Head of NATO’s Capability Development, Multi-Domain Force Development (MDFD), receives it. Photo: Maximilian Schultz/NATO ACT

NATO has 29 disciplines, and Sweden is now Department Head for two of them. Back in 2013, the other international center in Kungsängen, the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations (NCGM), was appointed Department Head for the discipline Gender in Military Operations. The center has an excellent international reputation, particularly within NATO.

Earlier this spring, the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters signed the appointment letter that the Head of Allied Command Transformation Multi-Domain Force Development had previously presented to NATO’s Military Committee.

Responsibility for leading education and training in the field

NATO identifies and decides on the training needs within the alliance and defines the objectives these trainings should meet. It is then the Department Heads who are responsible for leading, coordinating, and developing education and training within their respective areas.

SWEDINT’s NATO Land Tactical Planning Course (NLTPC) is already in high demand. Four iterations are currently conducted each year and involves several corps headquarters, as well as division-level headquarters. The responsibility for providing higher tactical staff training for operating in a NATO headquarters is normally national. However, regarding NATO’s doctrine for tactical planning of land operations, APP-28, the alliance has expressed a need for international training to ensure the ability to conduct effective operations with land forces.

Shared responsibility with Slovakia

Sweden will share the responsibility as NATO Department Head with Slovakia. It is unusual for two countries to share this responsibility, but both Sweden, Slovakia, and NATO see synergy effects in this arrangement.
“Initially, Slovakia will take the lead and Sweden will support during the first two years. After that, we will switch roles and then evaluate the concept. It feels really good—together we have the resources required to help rebuild and secure an important capability within NATO,” says Richard Gray.
What happens now is that relevant NATO functions, training centers, and interest groups are being invited to an Annual Discipline Conference, which will be held virtually in April. There, NATO’s identified needs are addressed and existing courses are reviewed in order to develop or create new training solutions to meet those needs.

Strengthening NATO’s land operations capability

“At that point, we can assess how well the identified needs align with the solutions currently available within the discipline. We then present this in the annual report, which we submit to NATO ACT in Norfolk in June. In the report, we can also recommend a possible review of the 2019 Strategic Training Plan, which NATO ACT would then carry out in collaboration with us as Department Head — all with the goal of strengthening NATO’s capability in land operations,” says Richard Gray.