Photo By Angela Fry | NEW ORLEANS -- Strategic Leaders International Course graduates from Angola,...... read more read more
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – The Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS) recently honored 12 graduating officers from the international training command’s Strategic Leaders International Course (SLIC).
The officers, representing Angola, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, and Thailand completed the five-week course of instruction designed to build partner capacity by offering allied and partner nation senior military leaders and government officials new perspectives, methodologies, and opportunities for thinking strategically and for designing strategies that successfully address complex challenges.
During ceremony opening remarks, NAVSCIATTS Cmdr. Robert LeClerc welcomed the new graduates into the historic command’s global network of partners.
“Through your commitment to learning and collaboration, you embody the very essence of what it means to be strategic leaders,” LeClerc expressed. “The relationships forged here transcend mere camaraderie…they set the stage for collaborative problem-solving that will address the transnational challenges facing us all. As you return to your countries, each of you carries with you not just the lessons learned within these walls but also the promise of an ongoing global network of partners.”
SLIC mentor, Mr. Harry Thomas, retired U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, provided closing remarks to the audience.
“As I look into the audience, I see representatives from four continents who have come together with a common purpose: to enhance your professional capabilities, strengthen the bond between our nations, and also teach us about yourselves,” Thomas explained.
“To our lone graduate from Europe, you bring with you centuries of military tradition, and the hard-earned lessons of a continent that has learned the value of cooperation over conflict,” Thomas addressed the officer from Hungary. Your participation here reflects the enduring partnership between our nations and your commitment to collective security.”
“To our colleagues from the Middle East and Asia, you represent some of the world's most dynamic and strategically important regions,” he continued. “Your presence demonstrates the growing importance of transpacific partnerships, and the sheer challenges we face in maintaining stability and peace across vast oceanic distances. To our officers from Africa, you embody the rising potential of a continent rich in resources, talent, and strategic importance.
Thomas, who currently serves as a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, closed his remarks by highlighting the immense responsibilities of today’s global leaders.
"You have the responsibility to be excellent," he stressed. "The challenges facing our communities from terrorism to cyber threats that you covered in this class, from humanitarian crises to great power competition, require the kind of collaborative approach that you have practiced here. Your generation of leaders will be called upon to navigate these challenges with wisdom, restraint, and cooperation."
Throughout the course, strategic leaders are introduced to methods and processes for design thinking, systems thinking, and public interest communications and apply the methodologies in hands-on exercises in various case studies and in a capstone exercise designed to address a current strategic challenge relevant to partner nations.
NAVSCIATTS operates under U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command in support of geographic combatant commanders’ theater security cooperation priorities. To date, more than 14,000 international military students from 130 partner nations have trained with the security cooperation training center, located at the John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi.
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2025 11:41 |
| Story ID: | 500801 |
| Location: | STENNIS SPACE CENTER, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 339 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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