Preparing Mauritanian officers for national and international operations

  • 04 Dec. 2015 -
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  • Last updated: 04 Dec. 2015 11:05

NATO and Mauritania completed the annual review of the Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) in Nouakchott, Mauritania, in November. This programme has developed ties between the teaching faculty of Mauritania's Staff College (École Nationale d’État-Major de la Mauritanie, ENEM) and NATO institutions.

Mauritania's Staff College hosts representatives from the French National Staff College and NATO Headquarters for the DEEP annual review.


The NATO DEEP Team held meetings with the 3e Bureau at the Mauritanian Ministry of Defence in Nouakchott on 16 November 2015.

“DEEP supports ENEM in its mission to prepare officers to conduct peacekeeping operations in Mauritania and elsewhere, to dissect problems and propose solutions,” said Colonel Mohamed Moustapha Sakhaoui, acting Commandant of ENEM. 

The Mauritanian Staff College has undertaken the modernisation of its core curriculum and exercise programme under the first phase of its programme under DEEP, which was initiated in 2012. The Mauritanian Chief of Army Staff, General Mohamed Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed, has proposed to launch a second phase, aimed at achieving sustainability for ENEM’s newly developed curriculum modules and bolster the faculty's role as a provider for NATO and partners in educational development.

This work has been facilitated by the partnerships that DEEP has helped to build with institutions such as the U.S. Army War College, the French National Staff College (École d'État-Major, EEM) in Saumur, the Italian Centre for Defence Higher Studies (Centro Alti Studi per la Difesa, CASD) and the Spanish Centre for National Defence Studies (El Centro Superior de Estudios de la Defensa Nacional, CESEDEN). To support its professional military education system, DEEP Mauritania receives support from experts from these and other NATO member states, as well as from the NATO International Staff and NATO Defense College.


The acting Commandant of the Mauritanian Staff College, Colonel Moustapha Sakhaoui, discusses the outcomes of DEEP with Chef d’escadron Serge C., Dr Juliette Bird and Ms Amanda Sellers.

As part of the programme review, meetings were held at ENEM, the Ministry of Defence and the Chief of Army Staff’s office.

Assistant Chief of Army Staff Général de Brigade Hanana Ould Sidi underlined the criticality of DEEP’s work and called for reinforced cooperation. “Your expertise is important in preparing officers for their duties,” he said. “We have seen that terrorism knows no borders. We have to work even more closely together at present. And I am determined to reinforce our cooperation.”

DEEP is active in NATO member states and partner countries. Through tailored support, it provides a platform for the sharing of methods and lessons learned, as well as exchange of expertise in counter-terrorism, operational design, exercise planning and crisis management.