Event Speakers

NATO MW COE

Major Mikael Aikio serves as Arctic Section Leader within the Finnish Jaeger Brigade, with responsibilities related to winter training and survival in demanding northern environments. His professional focus includes the preparation of instructors and units for operations in extreme cold and the development of competencies necessary to maintain combat effectiveness and survivability in Arctic conditions.

LTC Dušan Breburda serves as a Lessons Learned Staff Officer at the NATO Mountain Warfare Centre of Excellence (MW COE), supporting the collection, analysis, and integration of lessons from exercises and operations in mountainous and cold-weather environments. His work focuses on translating operational experience into actionable Lessons Identified that contribute to doctrine, training, and capability development. At the MW Conference, he will present key Lessons Identified from Exercise COLD RESPONSE 2026.

Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Fernández Blanco is a Battalion Commander in the Spanish Mountain Troops, former Chief of the Training Branch at Mountain Troops Command Headquarters, and National OPR for Exercise Cold Response 2026. During Exercise, he served within NORA Brigade South G3, contributing to the planning and conduct of the exercise. Following CORE26, he was involved in collecting and consolidating lessons identified, providing him with both command and operational experience relevant to the adaptation of mountain forces to Arctic conditions.

Colonel Fredrik Andersson serves as Commanding Officer of the Norrland Dragoon Regiment K 4 (Ranger) in Arvidsjaur. He has commanded ranger units at all levels, from team to regimental command, and brings more than 20 years of experience training, exercising, and leading soldiers in High North and sub-Arctic environments. His professional focus is on ranger operations, including cold weather warfare, mountain operations, complex terrain, and extreme climatic conditions. His operational experience includes deployments to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Mali. He has held joint staff positions as Executive Officer and Chief of Section within the Joint Force Training Directorate and Production and Assessment Division at the Swedish Joint Headquarters. He holds a Master of War Studies from the Swedish Defense University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is fluent in Swedish and English, with basic German proficiency, and is an experienced outdoorsman.

Colonel Italo G. Spini is an Italian Army officer serving as Deputy Director and Chief of Staff of the NATO Mountain Warfare Centre of Excellence (NATO MW COE) in Slovenia. His professional background combines extensive experience in mountain warfare and multinational military environments with a strong focus on the adaptation of mountain forces to contemporary and future operational challenges. At the NATO MW COE, his work focuses particularly on Multi-Domain Operations in mountainous environments, unmanned systems, C4I integration, wargaming, operational innovation and capability development. He is actively engaged in connecting operational experience, doctrine, training, experimentation and emerging technologies, while fostering cooperation between NATO, national mountain warfare communities, academia and industry.

NATO MW COE Director, OF-5, SVN(A)