Combat Mindset (CoMind): from an innovative project to a mandatory discipline

The article presents the evolution of the Combat Mindset Training for Romanian Military Students (CoMind) approach within “Henri Coanda†Air Force Academy in Brasov. Mental preparation for the battlefield is a tactical necessity for any category of armed forces and, for its inclusion in a curriculum that requires approval from the Ministry of National Defense, it needed a rigorous scientific substantiation. CoMind was the central theme of an inter-institutional cooperation project funded by EEA and Norwegian grants, as an optional training module conceived in an interdisciplinary manner (through the contribution of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, social psychology and martial arts). Taking over the model of good practices from the Norwegian cultural environment, adapting it to the conditions of the cultural environment and military organizational culture in Romania and implementing it, especially regarding mental preparation for battlefield or Combat Mindset (CoMind) as a subject or module, first optional, then mandatory, in the curriculum of “Henri Coanda†Air Force Academy, meant a long process, which, fortunately, can serve as a model of good practices regarding the implementation of research results in the higher educational process (BA degree) Currently, CoMind is both a mandatory discipline and a research paradigm, embodied in scientific articles and communications and as the topic of bachelor's/dissertation theses.