Madrid, Spain, March 01, 2013 - All the countries with a presence in Afghanistan are using a training manual on how to adapt to today’s new kinds of warfare produced by the Spanish Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (MADOC), which has become an international benchmark.

Speaking at a press conference, Lieutenant General Francisco Puentes Zamora, head of the MADOC, underscored the way in which the Spanish Army has adapted to new forms of warfare, and how it makes up for the lack of investment with new training methods. “We have moved on from the wars of the industrial era to wars between people”, he said. “Previously, soldiers were told what to do. Now we train them to think, to use their initiative”.

The MADOC has become an international point of reference thanks to its manual, which explains how to adapt to new kinds of war. It has also produced the NATO manual on insurgency, and participates in bilateral activities with countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

It is also collaborating with various universities, especially the University of Granada, with which it has a joint training centre. The MADOC leadership participates in military training, with links and professors, in over 10 countries such as Brazil, Germany, Chile, France and the United States, a country in which the only foreign teacher is from the MADOC.

“We have become an example to be followed in terms of how we integrate with people. We have also headed the European project on intercultural awareness-raising, in which we explained the need to understand a country before going to it, and of knowing how to act once you are there”, added the Lieutenant General.

“We are the engine for change within the Army. If we train our men and women well, there will be no problem once the crisis is over and we have new material, because we will have well-trained people”, said Puente Zamora.
“Sixty percent of your chance of surviving a war is down to your training, 30% depends on your equipment and the other 10% on luck. We have instruments that save lives and great training too”.

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