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Editorial
The Editorial Team
AS MEMBERS OF THE Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) 26, we have been fortunate to put together the 26th Cormorant Journal covering the last academic year. Compiling the journal has allowed the editorial team to reflect on the course as whole, and we each have our own favourite part. They were all different, but we agreed on 2 things: that very few of our favourite parts occurred in Cormorant Hall, and that most of the more memorable aspects are associated with the life-long friends we have made.
ACSC 26 saw a lot of change. We changed as people, as a course and, for members of the Commonwealth, we saw the change of our head of state with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II who had headed the UK Armed Forces for our whole lives. Not a small number of offspring were either delivered or conceived during the course (leading to suggestions by some that the volume of homework would be increased for ACSC 27). After a course which was at times (and often concurrently) educational, challenging, fun, confusing, frustrating, and inspiring, in theory at least, we are now properly prepared for our future roles.
We have been able to include a wide range of articles that we believe give a good feeling for
the development opportunities offered to the Civil Servants and members of Navies, Armies, and
Air Forces of the over 50 countries represented
who were selected to attend. While the journal is ACSC-heavy, we are not the only course that has attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College or the Cormorant Building over this time period. We have seen members of ACSC (Reserve), ICSC (Land) (under the Land Command and Staff College), ICSC(Maritime), the full range of RAF Intermediate Officer Development (IOD) courses, the Higher Command and Staff Course and others come through the college on their way to the next steps
in their careers. In light of the volatile and uncertain
(L-R): Ben Lonsdale (UK), Rebecca Sharp (UK), Gustavo Thomé (Brazil), Øyvind Nilssen (Norway), Jeremy Tan (Singapore) & Tim Andrews (UK).
state of the world, all of us, irrespective of rank or branch, will need every bit of the intellectual and educational edge afforded us by JSCSC.
At the time of writing this editorial, matters in Ukraine following Russia’s (most recent) invasion have not shown signs of drawing to a close, while Israel and Palestine are on the front pages of newspapers. These are just 2 of the conflict zones drawing the focus of military headquarters worldwide. With
international course members now having returned to their home countries or to staff jobs in the UK and overseas, and UK course members spread around the country and the world, many ACSC 26 alumni are already away from their families, on exercise or on national or multinational operations. For the latter in particular, we hope that the arrival of Cormorant Journal 26 will be a fairly lighthearted reminder of our time together, when lighthearted moments are increasingly rare.