NATO has named Col. Jaak Tarien, the former commander of the Estonian Air Force, as the new director of its Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE), the organization announced August 14.

Tarien will take over as CCD COE director in September and oversee NATO’s efforts to drive cyber security cooperation among its member nations and plan live cyber wargaming exercises with the organization’s partners.

Merle Maigre, the current leader of CCD COE, is leaving NATO center and joining CybExer Technologies, an Estonian cyber security company.

Tarien led the Estonian Air Force from 2012 through July 2018. The new CCD COE director is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and who previously served as commander of the Estonian team at the BALTNET Regional Airspace Surveillance Co-ordination Centre in Lithuania.

NATO CCD COE is based in Tallinn, Estonia and hosts 21 member nations. The center hosts Locked Shields, the live-fire cyber defense exercise, and the annual International Conference on Cyber Conflict.