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U.S. Army NATO hosts readiness event for senior officers

Photo By Troy Darr | Col. Jason Lojka, the senior Army officer at NATO Joint Force Command-Brunssum...... read more read more

SEMBACH, GERMANY

08.07.2025

SEMBACH, Germany – The U.S. Army NATO Senior Army Officers’ Training and Readiness Week kicked off July 29 with an Army Fitness Test at Miesau Army Depot in Germany.

The purpose of the readiness week was to provide a venue for senior Army officers, brigade command teams and staff to meet, discuss, receive targeted briefs, and develop organizational cohesion.

“The main value of this week was being able to touch base with the other SAOs and really getting the opportunity to talk through our shared experiences and hearing and engaging with what they've seen, and the lessons learned from some of the more senior ones,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Conlin, the senior U.S. Army officer at NATO Force Integration Unit – Latvia, headquartered in Riga. “It's really a great opportunity to bring the SAOs together, which is especially useful for those of us who are essentially alone in our NATO units.”

This focus on improving communication extended beyond the senior leaders, proving to be a valuable opportunity for junior leaders as well. The event helped create a clearer picture of the overall mission.

“The value of this event for me as a first sergeant is to better understand the SAO’s mission and their involvement in NATO, so that we can better support them,” said 1st Sgt. Philip Pleasant, Company C, Allied Forces North Battalion, stationed in Szczecin, Poland. “So, I thought it was good that we got to kind of see behind the curtain and see what their focus is. The best aspect of the event as a whole is that we get a chance to sit down with our command team and our SAOs all together, so we can see what they need from us.”

"And then we can also communicate to them things that we need from them so that we can be successful and so that we can accomplish the battalion’s mission and ultimately U.S. Army NATO’s mission.”

Pleasant also highlighted the benefit of sharing experiences with peers.

“It's a great opportunity to meet your peers and see some of the challenges that they're encountering, because what you'll find is a lot of our challenges are similar.”

He found the briefings on available resources especially helpful for his company in a remote location, saying they were a big issue for Soldiers and their families.

This collaborative environment was particularly helpful for new company commanders, who were able to establish key relationships and better understand their roles.

“As an incoming commander, this was my opportunity to meet the SAOs for my three locations, and it was really beneficial to hear their needs and kind of figure out the dynamic of how the company commander is supposed to interact with them,” said Capt. Amanda Pustelniac, commander of Company B, Allied Forces North Battalion, stationed in Mons, Belgium. “Figuring out what their needs are and how I can support them is like a puzzle and all the pieces are finally coming together, because you see what the senior leaders, the SAOs, are asking for and what role they play in the big picture.”

Pustelniac said she appreciated the semi-annual training briefs on the first day and having all nine company commanders brief the entire audience.

“It wasn't just each battalion doing theirs by themselves,” she said. “It was almost collaborative because all the command teams were able to hear the other briefings, what is working for other units, whether it comes to quality of life or how they are getting after fulfilling logistical requirements.”

Pustelniac said she believes this kind of information sharing allows commanders to "get ideas to fulfill our own requirements and maybe improve quality of life for our own Soldiers and their families.”

For Pustelniac, the event’s greatest strength was its ability to connect people and ideas.

“I think for me the best part of the event was the networking opportunities and finally getting to put faces to names and sharing notes with each other.”

She concluded that the event provided a "big picture" perspective.

“I think that's beneficial for everyone,” she said. “If you're trying to find purpose in your day-to-day work, events like this are kind of what brings it all together.”

Conlin noted that he gained some invaluable, specific insights to take back to his unit.

"I've got a few action items addressing improving communications with the company," he said. "I had a nice long conversation with our new company commander, our new first sergeant. And we're going to implement a new TTP or reestablish an old one to kind of re-energize communications.”

Conlin reiterated that the entire event reinforced the importance of connection.

"I think the theme of this whole event was improving communications up, down, left, right, establishing those linkages and making improvements."

He added that a briefing from Gen. Christopher Donahue, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commanding general, was particularly valuable, as it allowed him "to hear it directly from the decision maker without filtering through so many different layers.”

U.S. Army NATO includes about 725 U.S. Soldiers assigned to NATO billets across 21 countries in Europe and at the NATO units in Norfolk, Va. U.S. Army NATO also includes another 75 U.S. Soldiers assigned to the Military Personnel Exchange Program and as students at schools of other nations.

These 800 Soldiers are supported by a cadre of some 275 national support element Soldiers who conduct mission essential training to achieve and maintain rapid deployment readiness, improve interoperability with allies and partners and protect U.S. personnel and interests.