Bydgoszcz, Poland – 9 July 2026. The NATO – Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC) has a new Commander. Danish Army officer – Major General Christian-Brejner Ishøj assumed his duties during a ceremony in front of the JATEC Staff and invited guests.
‘As NATO’s youngest structure, JATEC occupies a unique and important place. It stands at the intersection of established NATO experience and the need to adapt quickly to a changing security environment’, said the Commander upon taking over his duties. Now, when JATEC is fully established, I will put emphasis on leadership, processes and prioritization, so we can build on the existing foundations and deliver focused, relevant and usable outputs, he added.
The Change of Command marks not just a transition in leadership, but it also builds on a recent announcement that JATEC is now fully established and ready for further growth. The Centre was established to help NATO and Ukraine learn faster, innovate together, strengthen interoperability, and transform today’s operational experience into tomorrow’s military advantage.
The outgoing Commander, brig. gen. Wojciech Ozga said: ‘Since JATEC’s establishment, in February 2025, we moved from concept on paper, to building a new organization from the ground up. We faced urgency, complexity, and high expectations – with limited time, limited resources, and no luxury of waiting for perfect conditions. And yet, we delivered, and this achievement belongs to all the women and men of JATEC, he added.
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Major General Ishøj brings more than three decades of military leadership and operational experience to JATEC. His distinguished career in the Danish Defence has combined command appointments with extensive expertise in defence planning, capability development, logistics, acquisition, and multinational operations. Most recently, he served as Chief of Staff for Joint Operations in Denmark.
His international experience includes deployments to Albania, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the United States, where he served in a range of senior command and staff positions supporting multinational operations and Allied cooperation. This combination of operational leadership and capability development experience positions him well to guide JATEC through its next stage of growth and innovation.
