From 4 to 6 March 2025, the Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE) hosted the first Combined Annual Discipline Conference (CADC) at its headquarters in Hoyo de Manzanares, Madrid.

Each year, NATO identifies education, training, exercises, and evaluation (ETEE) disciplines that are essential to the Alliance’s strategic goals. For each of these disciplines, NATO designates two key authorities to implement the objectives set by the NATO Global Programming framework.

The first is the Requirement Authority (RA), typically from Allied Command Operations (ACO), responsible for defining the Alliance’s ETEE requirements within a given discipline. The second is the Department Head (DH), usually from Allied Command Transformation (ACT) or a NATO Centre of Excellence, tasked with identifying, coordinating, and, when necessary, developing training solutions to meet these requirements.

As the designated DH for the Counter-IED discipline, the C-IED COE Director is responsible for organizing the Annual Discipline Conference, working in close coordination with the RA and ACT to support NATO Global Programming.

On this occasion, the C-IED Annual Discipline Conference was held jointly with the conferences for the Military Engineering (MILENG) and Energy Security (ENSEC) disciplines, creating the first-ever Combined Annual Discipline Conference. Due to the success of this integrated format, it is likely to be repeated in future editions of these conferences.

Over the three-day event, 32 experts from 17 NATO and partner nations reviewed recent NATO training developments and proposed solutions to enhance both individual and collective training capabilities. The conference focused on ensuring that NATO’s training programmes remain aligned with evolving operational needs, technological advancements, and available resources.

Participants included representatives from NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Supreme Allied Command Transformation Headquarters (SACT HQ), the Spanish Joint Staff, Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS), various Centres of Excellence, and members of the Communities of Interest for the three disciplines.

Focusing on the C-IED domain, Colonel Javier Corbacho Margallo, Director of the C-IED COE, highlighted the rapidly evolving strategic landscape and the need for NATO to develop updated requirements that reflect emerging threats and capabilities.

Among the key challenges identified were the increasing use of 3D printing, encrypted communications, hybrid threats combining physical and cyber elements, and the growing collaboration between insurgent and terrorist groups to develop innovative tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

For more information on CADC 2026 and to view more from this years event, click here.