By MC3 Brian H. Abel

Swedish Royal Navy Chief of Staff Rear Adm. Jan Thörnqvist speaks to attendees of the Technologies for Information Operations (TIO) short course, Nov. 17. Thörnqvist detailed current challenges to security in the Baltic Sea, and the benefits of multinational training and cooperation.

"We're working with not only the U.S., but many other countries," said Thörnqvist. "We can create a better understanding from each other, and a greater interoperability among forces, by working on education and training exercises together, which is what I'm looking forward to."

Thörnqvist, once a student at the Naval War College, understands the challenge of higher education and the benefits of sending his service members to the Naval Postgraduate School.

"I'm interested in the courses given at NPS and how my Swedish forces can benefit from attending NPS," said Thörnqvist. "When I first visited NPS in 2004, I was a student at the Naval War College. I looked at the U.S. studies and I must say I was envious.

"The studies, in my opinion, were a little bit more tricky here, more intense, and a little bit higher tempo. What you're doing here is beneficial to all nations," he added.