IMPLEMENTATION POSSIBILITIES OF THE MILITARY OBSERVER TRAINING TO THE TRAINING SYSTEM FOR PEACETIME MILITARY ENGAGEMENT AND PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS

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1 IMPLEMENTATION POSSIBILITIES OF THE MILITARY OBSERVER TRAINING TO THE TRAINING SYSTEM FOR PEACETIME MILITARY ENGAGEMENT AND PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS Jan Drozd Abstract: The article deals with the possibilities of the military observer training system implementation to our preparation system for Peacetime Military Engagement (PME) and Peace Support Operations (PSO). The purpose of the article is to open discussion and consider the possibilities of applying training objectives and topics taken from the efficient United Nation (UN) military observer training system. It also stresses out main objectives useful for implementation to combat operation and counter-insurgency operation as well. The article indicates basic classification of the military operations as well as description of the UN above mentioned system. Keywords: Training, Military observer, Peace support operations, Peacetime military engagement 1 Introduction We have a year 2013 and participation of our forces in operation ISAF is gradually reaching end. In accordance with government proposal for prospectively 2015 participation of the Czech soldier in foreign operation will change its character. Forces will mainly focus on training of the local army and police. Czech government approved participation of 539 members of the Czech army in mission ISAF in 2013 and 340 soldiers in In 2015 we can speak about 150 soldiers who are going to trading Afghan armed forces. Step by step all the responsibilities for safe environment in Afghanistan is handing over to Afghan armed forces and in 2015 the Afghan forces is going to be fully responsible for overall safety in Afghanistan. Based on the Chief of staff Czech armed forces are ready to participate more within the European Union peace mission. As a first step towards this course of action we can name our participation in EU mission EUTM in Mali. In a mean time European Union is going to prepare EUROPIAN UNION SECURITY AND DEFENCE WHITE PAPER. Based on the already published proposal of this document the EU is going to reinforce EU participation on peacekeeping mission. This type of mission is mainly belonging to United Nation lead. Peacekeeping operation is a basic and the most important pillar of the international effort to keep and build peace all over the world, which was proved when the UN received Nobel Prize for peace in We can assume that this type of mission is going to be as a main stream in a future and we are supposed to be ready to participate. Even now, Czech army participates within this mission mainly by providing United Nation military observers. Just a few people know, that the Czech participation in based on a history and we already build up a big 14

2 credit of our soldier as a military observers. Our first mission was in 1953 where our military observers altogether with diplomats participated in UN mission in Korea. Based on above mention we cannot disregard these facts, and we are supposed to be still a good member of the international community and be ready to fulfil given tasks not only by NATO but also by European Union and UN. This topic in our army is not developed yet I any documents. The preparation of our military observer is based on the UN guidance. The article should show the way and possibilities how we can deal with training and preparation for mainly Peacetime military engagement and Peace support operation. There are going to be described and suggest possible topics and way of its implication to the training and preparation of our forces not only for above mentioned operation but also for combat and counterinsurgency operation as well. Many of the training objectives could be implied to the officer s training and education system in a military university. 2 Classification of the military operations In order to understand the complex topic as military operation is we can divide military operation based on many factors. However it is not the purpose of this article and for better understanding we will just focused on the essential classification. As it is generally accepted we can divide all military operations according to main effort to four groups as it is depicted in the scheme. Scheme 1: Classification of the military operations a. Combat operations This type of operation basically includes operations where two fighting sides are trying to reach their goal using force against either regular armed forces or irregular armed forces (illegal armed groups). The basic tactics in these operations are mainly all spectrums of the offensive and defensive operations. 15

3 b. Counter-Insurgency operations COIN mostly includes operations within the states with races, cultural, religious and ideological disagreements which lead to armed rebellions against government. The main premises for this type of conflicts are weak government and its inability to face insurgent using its own armed forces. c. Peace support operations PSO includes operations where the diplomatic, civilian and military means are used altogether in order to rebuild or keep peace in the crisis area. d. Peacetime military engagement The main purpose of this operation is to create secure sector in peace time. The typical example of these operations is observations missions. Even though we can distinguish among this type of operations it is necessary to mention that to include any operation to specific operation type is not easy as seems to be. Even within one operation we can find countless elements of almost all type of operations. The border between these operations is very weak and from the Peacetime military engagement we can easily move to Country- Insurgency operation in a short time and vice versa. This article is focused on preparation process of the military observer. As it was already mentioned observation missions are include to the fourth type of operation, which is Peacetime military engagement (PSO). The importance of PSO we already discussed in the introduction. However it is vital to stress that readiness for PSO is crucial in order to fulfil possible task. Despite the fact that we will mainly speak about the military observer we can imply this training scheme to possible preparation for other type of mission particularly Peace support operations. 3 Type of the training We can basically classify the training to the four groups: 16 Scheme 2: United nation military observer training classification Since the Mission specific training and in-mission training are mainly in a units and mission headquarters hands we will focus on the Generic training. Refresher training in our case is organized by the unit commander during the regular training. We will stress out objectives, topics and skills included in those training groups which could be used and applied in our general training as well as officer education system. 3.1 Generic training This type of training includes obvious subjects, applicable to any soldier. It is determined to train and prepare all soldiers for not only Military observe duty, but also to be a skilful part of the PMO and PSO member. To simplify, we can state that this type of training is developed to transfer all military skills to be applicable for PMO and PSO. Generic training is mainly at nation level and it help build up the nations readiness to send prepared personnel for operation in a short time. Within this training is very desirable to put stress not only on skills, but also on the multinational aspects of the operations. Generic training is applicable to all spectrum of the mission and we can

4 implement some modules to the training for Combat and Counter-insurgency training as well. Moreover in modules of the Generic training we can find applicable information for officers training. Focusing on the Military observer it could be imply in any time before the deployment. The time dedicated to this training could vary according to national level of the training in general. As it was already indicated Generic training incudes four basic modules as it is depicted in the scheme. Scheme 3: United nation military observer generic training Module 1: The United Nations, international organizations and legal considerations This module is focused on the essential information concerning UN itself. All PME and PSO participants should understand background, history and organization of this organization. They will be informed about the historical development of the United Nation, its organs and role. All learners will get familiar with history of the peacekeeping operations, their concept, structure, role of the military observer as well as role of the military component of these operations. Very useful part of this module, which is applicable even for the preparation or other type of operations, is a part where the learners will get familiar with role of the UN Agencies, International Organizations (IO) and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Those organizations are involved in any type of operations all over the world and officer should definitely know about their participations. Another important topic, which can be used in the education system and training for all spectrum of the military operations is a legal aspects of the operations including code of conduct, gender awareness, international humanitarian law and laws 17

5 of armed conflict. Specifically those topics are very desirable for officer training and education. The scheme below summarized the topics, which are part of the module 1. Scheme 4: United nation military observer generic training module Module 2: The military observer s duties and responsibilities This module is focusing on military observer s duties and responsibilities within the PME and PSO. It is necessary to stress that the role of the military observer in this type of operation are vital, since military observers are simply eyes and ears of the commander. Based on the information from the military observer commander of the mission has vital information as we call it commander s critical information requirement (CCIR) based on which the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) is made. In this module participant will be familiar with essential skills necessary for gaining information and reporting procedure. Module content in a below scheme depicted skills. 18 Scheme 5: United nation military observer generic training module 2

6 And repeatedly event in this specific modules we can identified skills which could be imply to the training and preparation for other kind of military operations. Particularly reporting, which plays crucial role in all operations is very important as well as patrolling and monitoring. Despite the fact that reporting and reporting system vary from operation to operation the core of these skills are similar. There are also possibilities to implement team leading and staff skills to the officer training and education system in all level Module 3: Military observer and PME/PSO member skills and techniques Military observer in many cases will act not only as a soldier but also as a diplomat and mediator. In a daily bases he will need negotiation skills as well as inevitable part of PME a PSO operations, which is knowledge in basic cultural, traditional and religious awareness. Since almost all operation is on the multinational level this aspect should not be disregard. Our soldiers will definitely encounter many situations where they are expected to react adequately despite the cultural or religious differences. Parts of this module are also objectives which are already implemented to our training system. This module is basically focused on the practical training and modelling of the real situations. However we are already practice most of the module objectives, there are still objectives which could be more developed. Scheme 6: United nation military observer generic training module 3 As it is seen in the scheme, particularly in this module we are speaking about the practical skills. Some of the subjects included in the negotiation and mediation bubble are media relations, use of interpreters and social interaction with local population. Based on the observations in real operations, those are definitely the skills which are sometimes crucial and more than important. It is easy to state that social interaction is not vital aspect of the soldiers training, but if we consider the fact, that local populations in very reliable source of information we can see this topic from other angle. The similar situation is use of interpreter and media relations. Another subject in a scheme depicted as a DDR, which means Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration is also topic which is not trained and taught apart of military observer. And of course we could find other objectives which could be implemented to our system based on the particular task and operation. 19

7 3.1.4 Module 4: Final exercise The final exercise is the highlight of the training, including most of the topics taught. Exercise can be structured as a PME or PSO with its own basic documents. The exercise supposed to be as real as possible a supposed to cover all vital topics for trainee. Especially the final module is flexible and commander of the trained unit has opportunity to train and check readiness of his unit. It is opportunity to go through all objectives and repeatedly teach all topics. As a very important is feedback, where trainees are going to receive information what was good and what was wrong. If we focused on the military observer officers are divided into teams that carry out given tasks in a simulated situation. Instructors are supervising the planned incidents and give feedback immediately after each incident. After carrying out the given task, the team gives a briefing. When the feedback is given, team leader will be changed and the team will have a new task. Even from this military officers training we can apply some of the procedure. Particularly change of the team leader or in other case could be change of the platoon commander would be very useful in order to make other team member ready to take over the responsibilities for given task in case of need. All spectrum of the incident could be trained especially topics which were during the training recognize as a crucial. 4 Conclusion For over 50 years, the United Nations Military Observers (UNMOs) have been participating in PME and PSO all over the world. They represent entire international community, successfully observed, monitored and contributed to solution finding of the contemporary rammed conflicts. Relying upon their military skills, UNMOs must rapidly adjust to the unique tasks of their mission areas. [1] Within the mentioned 50 years there have been developed a reliable and efficient system of preparation and training. Many countries contributed to this system drawing from the real situations and experience. The system was in countless cases proved as functional and maximally efficient. Moreover this system is very flexible and new knowledge is implemented. Efficiency and proved effectiveness are the reason to consider this system as a reliable source for implementation to our training system especially in case of preparation and training for military operations. As it was indicated in the article there are many possibilities how to use this system and how to implement many objectives and topics. The purpose of this article was not to solve and suggest new training system but to show possible way and open the discussion leading to development of our own training system. Based on the latest information concerning future participation of our army in the EU operation, the significance of this way of thinking obtains a new dimension. Let s this about it and do our best in this field. References [1] Selection standards and training guidelines for United Nations military observers. Department of Peacekeeping Operations/Training and Evaluation Service, New York [2] Guidelines for the selection, deployment, rotation, extension, transfer and repatriation of the military observers in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, New York [3] Military observer s handbook. United Nations Department of Peace-keeping Operations, New York