The 8^th International Staff Officers' Course (ISOC) started on the 16^th of April 2012, bringing to the Liptov region 20 students from 11 NATO and PfP countries. This is the highest number of participating nations in one course of the close ISOC history. Twenty officers in rank of 1^st Lieutenant and Captain from Albania, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovakia will conduct training to be able valuably participate as a staff members in multinational environment in the area of planning and conducting of military operations.

    The ISOC-8 course was officially opened by the Acting Rector of the Armed Forces Academy Assoc. Prof. Dipl. Eng. Pavel NEČAS, Ph.D.

    The Armed Forces Academy is recognized as one of 23 PfP Training and Educational Centres which provide effective training and education of military personnel within the NATO and PfP community.

    The aim of eleven weeks course is to enhance and develop the theoretical knowledge of participants followed by practical application during the final exercises in order to increase their interoperability within multinational environment. At the end of the course the students will conduct exercises focused on operational planning of defensive and offensive operations.

    The ISOC-8 will finish on 21^st of June 2012.