This paper examines aspects of the coordination and cooperation of local actors in Security Force Assistance (SFA) missions, and in particular in Non-Article 5 Crisis Response Operations (NA5CRO). ...The process of building relationships with local actors and coordinating efforts with them to achieve mission success is discussed as well. This process is based on the understanding that local actors have critical knowledge of the operational environment and can provide valuable insights that enhance mission effectiveness. The need to understand the operational environment and build effective relationships with local security forces as well as other stakeholders is also addressed. The article explains how coordination and cooperation with local actors are essential to achieving mission success and can improve the effectiveness of the SFA in their participation in crisis response operations. In summary, the paper emphasizes the critical importance of coordination and cooperation with local actors in SFA missions and into Humanitarian Assistance Operations that are part of NA5CRO. This approach can enhance the effectiveness of the mission, increase situational awareness, and reduce the risk of mission failure. It requires a commitment to building effective relationships with local security forces and other stakeholders, joint coordination among all actors involved in the mission, and cultural sensitivity and awareness in the event of a crisis.
Despite tight budgetary constraints, the number of military interventions in which Belgium participated is substantial. The Belgian air force and navy were able to retain their basic war fighting ...capabilities after the Cold War. The land forces lost and are losing capabilities because of a lack of strategic anchoring. The most important Belgian contribution to international and European defence thinking has to be found in the innovative approach with respect to Belgian-Dutch naval cooperation. The latter could be an example for Europeanizing and generating the use of military capabilities in order to make the EU a strategic actor in the multipolar world.
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Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose - This paper aims to present a study on the organization of military logistics under "hot" conditions in an expeditionary crisis response operation. The authors' main research question is: in ...what way is armed forces logistics sourcing organized in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan?Design methodology approach - To answer their research question, the authors conducted a case study including field research at military sites in Afghanistan. The case study is focused on military organizations that operate in a hostile and ambiguous environment. The authors compare sourcing of three categories of support services, i.e. facilities management, maintenance & logistics and security.Findings - The authors' results include a systematic overview of the organization of command, logistic and accounting (sourcing) in the ISAF mission, involving multinational military partners and contractors. Second, the authors show how Canada, NATO, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the USA sourced the three categories of services mentioned in terms of sourcing profiles. Focusing on contracting, the authors outline which strategies NATO and the countries mentioned used in practice. And finally, differences and similarities are highlighted in the area of funding and accounting.Research limitations implications - While the authors' study provides insight in the use of sourcing profiles identified in this paper, more research is necessary to identify criteria for explaining sourcing decisions of armed forces.Practical implications - The paper provides a systematic overview for practitioners and scholars and enhances manageability and policy development relevant for those who prepare, execute, monitor and evaluate missions.Originality value - The authors' paper is one of the first to provide a systematic overview in operational defense sourcing relying on first-hand field data. This area of study is fragmented and remains mostly closed for non-military researchers.
Since the transformation was set in motion to change Western armed forces from large-scale mechanized defensive organizations into smaller agile expeditionary crisis response forces, the call for ...organizational flexibility has rocketed. Yet, actual research into the key organizational drivers of flexibility has hardly been done. To bridge this gap, the present study has analyzed to what extent modular organizing and organizational sensing have contributed to flexible military crisis response performance. The study uses the Netherlands' armed forces as a representative example of a contemporary Western crisis response organization and empirically draws upon its recent operational experiences. It has uncovered that within most mission contexts, modular organizing acts as a facilitator for the organizational sensing process. Yet, within highly turbulent crisis response missions, organizational sensing becomes the predominant driver, stimulating ad hoc solutions that challenge existing structures, available technology, and standard procedures.
This paper addresses the issue of measuring armed forces’ performance in crisis response operations. By means of interviews (17 respondents) and a large scale survey (1,253 respondents) field and ...general officers of the Netherlands Armed Forces (NAF) have been questioned on perceived organisational success in crisis response operations. The Dutch officers assess the NAF's performance positively. A number of senior officers are hesitant about the usefulness of measuring the performance of crisis response operations. According to them the context in which the operations are being executed is too complex. Most interviewees, however, are convinced that measuring performance is useful and should be improved. These military leaders express a strong need for criteria to assess their performance on the job.
This paper presents an experimental platform for the development and evaluation of mobile decision support for crisis response operations. Using a game-engine, synthetic task environments can be ...created in which coordination support and the usability of adaptive user interfaces for first responders can be examined in a highly controlled manner. Results of the first experiment in which the platform was used to examine the influences of map size and spatial ability on task performance and situational awareness are presented, and ongoing work is described.
This paper discusses the conceptual model and selected results of a study performed between November 1999 and January 2000 for the commission 'Common Security and Future of the Bundeswehr'-better ...known for its chairman as the 'Weizsäcker Commission'-which was tasked by the 'red-green' coalition government elected in 1998 to develop recommendations for a new German force structure capable of addressing, together with its allies, future security risks to the Federal Republic of Germany and its national interests, and for improving the efficiency in managing daily operations. The methodological approach of the study is typical of concepts applied in Quick Response Analyses in support of defence planning. It uses straightforward analytical models for estimating the limits of the multi-dimensional decision space which encompass feasible planning options. Among others, the decision variables include the sustained defence budget level, force size, personnel structure, and design mission capability in terms of both quantity and quality. Based on the conclusions of the commission, that alliance/coalition crisis response operations 'out-of-area' (CRO) characterize the design mission for the future Bundeswehr, the quantity of mission capability is measured in terms of the service manpower that the Bundeswehr is able to contribute to sustained CRO, the quality in terms of sustained capital investment and non-personnel operating expenditures per active service man/woman relative to the respective expenditures of a capable alliance/coalition partner as a measure of the degree of interoperability that may be reached in the long term. The need for a far-reaching reform of the Bundeswehr was underscored by the result that a sustained defence budget of at least 50% above the 1999 level in real terms would be required in order for the Bundeswehr to come within 20% of the mission quality level that British forces would reach if the United Kindom were to sustain defence expenditures on the level of 1999. In addition, the sustainable CRO capability of the Bundeswehr was limited in quantitative terms to less than five percent of its total military manpower because of the significant percentage of conscripts in the peacetime force who are ineligible for CRO deployment while simultaneously requiring volunteers for their training. If-as assumed at the time of the study-future German defence expenditures were sustained at the 1999 level in real terms, the reform model adopted in May 2000 by then Defence Minister Scharping would have permitted an improvement of mission capability by 55% in terms of quantity and by 40% in terms of quality, that is, to about 55% of the British quality level. However, due to further budget cuts since then and because of inflation, the German defence budget will decline in real terms to about 90% of the 1999 budget by the year 2006. Simultaneously, the savings expected from the 15% reduction of both military and civilian personnel foreseen by the Scharping concept will be eaten up by increased personnel expenditures. No significant improvement of quality of mission capability is possible under these circumstances. This is why the new Defence Minister Peter Struck has, on 1 October 2003, announced further cuts in personnel levels and changes in personnel structure that come close to the recommendations of the Weizsäcker Commission dismissed 3 years ago.
This paper includes discussions about the issue of evaluating CROs. They are an expression
of the theoretical exploration of factors and criteria which may have a significant impact
on such an ...evaluation. It should be noted that evaluation of CROs is an important and
complex problem, because today, in the real environment dominated by conflicts and
crises, there is a real need to involve some of the resources of third party countries to resolve
tensions in unstable areas. The need for a response from multinational forces (national,
alliance) is dictated by the dynamics of the changes taking place in the security sphere, the
multi-dimensionality of crises and conflicts, and their unpredictability (Iraq, Afghanistan).
Today it is emphasised that such a commitment will form the basis of future international
relations.
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