REPORT ON THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND ARMED FORCES COURSE (Security and Defense: National and International Framework Programme) 1. PROGRAMME 10:15-11:30 Opening: Vice-Dean of CEU Faculty of Law, JESÚS AYLLÓN 10:15-11:30 The technical dimension of the armed forces Army: Captain JUAN FRANCISCO GIL SORIA Navy: Frigate Lieutenant GONZALO ESCUDERO GARCÍA Air force: Commander JOSE LUIS ISIDRO Moderator: Lieutenant General Luis Feliú 11:30-12:00 Questions 12:00-12:30 COFFEE BREAK 12:30-13:10 Second roundtable Army: Sublieutenant DIEGO BONILLA Navy: Sergeant SALVADOR CARRIÓN HERMIDA Air force: Corporal VANESA GARCÍA CAPARROS Moderator: Sergio Ortiz, COAJE 13:10-13:40 Questions 13:40-15:30 LUNCH 15:30-17:30 The parliamentary sphere and the Armed Forces Civil advisor to the Director of CESEDEN, JORDI MARSAL MUNTALÁ Legal advisor for the Parliament: VICENTE MORET Moderator: Rubén Pérez, ELSA 17:30-18:00 Questions 18:00-18:15 Closing roundtable Defense Minister (1996-2000) and President of Spanish ATA, EDUARD SERRA REXACH Dean of CEU Faculty of Law: ANA BELÉN CAMPUZANO LAGUILLO Moderator: Claudia Peña With the collaboration of Report created by COAJE Communication Team Marta del Campo Jiménez (Vice-president for Communication) Gemma Gálvez Novoa Paloma Garrido González Andrea Rodríguez Díaz 1
2. INTRODUCTION On April 8, COAJE (YATA Spain) organized, together with San Pablo CEU University and ATA Spain, the First Edition of the Course on National Security and Armed Forces in the Faculty of Law of the collaborating university. A conference lasting for 6 hours consisting on oral expositions by young soldiers (Corporals, second lieutenants, captains) and technicians, as well as NATO representatives, who explained what the Armed Forces are, how they work, the career opportunities they offer, why some young people decide to serve their countries and some of the most remarkable missions in which the Spanish Armed Forces have participated. 3. CONTENT FIRST ROUNDTABLE Lieutenant General Luis Feliú was in charge of opening the first roundtable as a moderator, introducing the Armed forces to the participants of the conference. His contribution could be summed up in the following quote: Security is an objective to be achieved by the Government as State responsible. Lieutenant Feliú explained how vulnerabilities affecting the society turn into risks and how these risks can turn into threats. He pointed out that Spain is currently facing both global and regional threats, shared or not with other NATO members and the European Union. One of the main threats is International yihadism, which acts mainly through terrorism. He also transmitted the following ideas: 2
The State organizes defense. Therefore, when risk becomes a threat, and all diplomatic and political means fail, Military Defense must be used. The Ground Forces, the Navy and the Air Forces compose the armed forces. Their functions, according to the directive of National Security, are: exercising deterrence, defending the national territory, control the aerial and maritime spaces, project national interests abroad and support civil authorities in case of emergency, as well as being prepared for combat and battle. The only constant in war is permanent change, was the opening sentence of Captain Juan Francisco Gil s speech, from the Army. He focused on the organization of the Army, the capacities it gives to collective national defense, and the training for officials and subofficials. Besides, he pointed out that the common structure for the three armies is the one that follows: the General headquarters (organ assisting the Commander-in-Chief that is in charge of the general organization and sets the guidelines for all units), Force (operation that receives all resources. This is composed by the brigades, the main maneuver component: Land Forces, Canary Command, Operative Logistic Force and Land General Headquarters) and supports the force (human resources, finances and material management). Frigate Lieutenant Gonzalo Escudero García spoke on behalf of the Navy. His presentation started talking about what working in the armed forces means. For him, a soldier works to guarantee the defense, security and well-being of the Spanish society in any condition. He also participates in an institution with a series of values, in which he lives some interesting experiences, in both the personal and professional grounds. He mentioned that being part of the Navy means belonging to an institution with a long historical background, with 25.000 people, more prepared every day. This institution organizes different missions such as humanitarian aid in Haiti or the War in Libya, and is characterized by the different means it counts on: ships, helicopters, planes, submarines and infantry. Commander José Luis Isidro has a long professional background as a lieutenant and captain in the Air Forces, as well as a professor. After his activity in the Armed Forces, he reached his current position in the International Relations section, coordinating the overflight and relations with other countries. His presentation gave an answer to the following questions: What are the armed forces? Two specific bodies such as the Ground Forces and the Air Forces, as well as the Navy compose the Armed Forces of a State. Therefore, the mission of the Air Forces is to guarantee the sovereignty and defend the legislation, according to article 8.1 CE. This way, in the International ground, the Air Forces contribute militarily to the preservation of the security of the countries, as well as the maintenance of peace and humanitarian aid. What does it mean to be a soldier? For him, it means to be a good working environment, where one can rely on the knowledge of great experts in creating a future for you. Besides, he remarks the acquired values as something important, being compromise, the permanent 3
disposition to defend Spain, discipline, and comradeship, key for the correct development within the working team. Then the participants asked their questions to the speakers. After more than half an hour in which students and attendants set out their doubts, a brief coffee break took place. SECOND ROUNDTABLE The second part of the event was started with the speech of Sergio Ortiz, president of COAJE, who highlighted the need of engaging the youth in the study of security and defense issues, and to do and effort from both the Armed Forces and the Academia in order to overcome the generation gap, and the dichotomy between civil and military society. Sub-lieutenant Diego Bonilla opened this roundtable. He entered the Armed Forces in 2009 as a soldier, and he is nowadays about to receive the post of Lieutenant in the Army. He developed his interest for the Armed Forces thanks to a friend of his, starting by the mountain survival unit, but the values learnt in the Academy convinced him to stay. One year later he decided to join the Ground Forces Academy, focusing on the telecommunications area. For him, life in the Armed Forces is based upon a series of values, considered by him as important, such as bravery, comradeship and sacrifice. After Diego Bonilla, the floor was given to Sergeant Salvador Carrión, who joined the Marine Corps in 1998. Then, in 2007 and thanks to his civil studies, he became sergeant. In 2011 he was sent to Bosnia, and he actually carries the post of instructor at the Marine Corps of El Salvador. Like other speakers, his life suffered a great impact when joining the Armed Forces; but at the same time he believes that this change is important for anyone to grow as a person, and therefore he tries to transmit this to his students. 4
His two fundamental pillars are: comradeship, which according to him distinguishes a soldier from the civil population, and education, which gave him the opportunity to get the post he nowadays holds. The Marine Corps have always been subordinated to the Spanish Navy, collaborating in an active manner. It is divided into certain sections, in charge of different functions. There are the protection Forces, in charge of the security of the Navy facilities in case of mission; the Special Naval War Force, constantly collaborating with the Ground Forces; and the Marine Corps School. Then came Vanesa García s time to speak. She is currently working at the office for Communication of the Air Forces. Nowadays she is part of the State Gabinet of the Air Forces, in charge of the image of the Air Forces received by the population. Regarding her life in the Armed Forces, she has not participated in any international mission, but she knows how they feel. She is a mother, and when her child was one year old her husband was sent to Afghanistan. Her presentation can be summarized as follows: The Communications office is nowadays the main filter between the population and the Air Forces. It is in charge of any doubts the citizens may have. The way to communicate is changing, and this is reflected in the civil sphere. However, there is still a lack of consciousness towards the armed forces and the soldiers great sacrifices. When working in the Armed Forces, it is always possible to be promoted, as look as one keeps on studying. Regarding the permanence of the soldiers, physical and written exams are taken periodically. After this second roundtable, the floor was open to the assistants, after which the session was closed and the lunch break started. During this time, speakers and representatives of the organizing associations had some rewarding conversations. 5
THIRD ROUNDTABLE Jordi Marsall, civil advisor to the Director of CESEDEN was the first speaker of this roundtable, offering his perspective on the defense commission. He explained the existence of important limitations: a. The Spanish political system is a parliamentary democracy, but in practice it should be described as government-owned. In the case of defense this is extremely visible, as the competences of the defense commission are virtually inexistent. b. Spain has little culture on defense; defense-related issues are not interesting for the population. He explained that this situation brings about the formation of commissions in the Congress and Senate. There is no interest from political parties on these topics. Besides, one of the fundamental elements of a parliamentary commission is the approval of the Defense budget. The government presents its budget, and once this is in the process of approval, the different groups ask the authorities in case of doubt. In the case of Defense, these are not asked to the Minister, but to the Secretary of State. The two main issues of the defense budget from the parliamentary point of view would be: a. Members of the parliament think only on the initial budget, but throughout the year this budget can either grow or become smaller, and in the end what has actually been spent has nothing to do with the initial idea. b. All budgets are annual, but expenses are not. There is a budgetary instability problem that makes the organization of defense even more difficult. The relationship between the defense commission and the Armed Forces is not regulated anywhere. It would be good to formalize this process. Despite all these things the defense policy in our country has witness a process of consensus. What is more, it has been characterized by certain continuity, and in practice, no Government has had a doubt on the implicit agreements set by the two big political parties. The only lack of consensus would have been the war in Iraq. The legal advisor to the Parliament, Moret intervened, explaining that for him the concept of Defense has been conceived as an executive matter. His presentation could be summarized as follows: The existing connections between the Parliament and the Government in these terms are related to legislative relations, referring to the existing laws, and to executive control. Having said that, in order to comprehend the function of the Parliament regarding the Armed Forces abroad, in the context of Defense policy, we must differentiate between two groups of countries. The Parliament has been given a popular endowment, so the population of each country can be conscious of international affairs concerning their country. Law 5/2005 obliged the Governments to limit their action procedure, pointing out three kinds: 6
o Ordinary, where the parliament receives the detailed petition, transmitting it in the plenary session. o Urgent, where the parliament must act once the petition has been made, transmitting it in first session. o Maximal urgency. The course was closed with a Closing Roundtable gathering the Dean from the San Pablo CEU University and the former Minister of Defense, Eduard Serra, moderated by the Secretary General of COAJE, Claudia Peña, and supported by a member of ELSA CEU. 7