Multinational staff exercise about „Peace Support Operations” in the Swiss Armed Forces Training Centre in Lucerne from October 29 until November 10, 2000

Cooperative Determination

In 1994, NATO launched the Partnership for Peace  (PfP) initiative with the objective to promote the co-operation for peace. PfP consists of 19 NATO nations and 27 non-NATO nations, one of which is Switzerland. All PfP nations are also members of the Euro-Atlantic Council for Partnership, which serves as forum for security policy issues. Since 1996, Switzerland has actively participated in the education programme organized by PfP by sending officers or civil state employees to courses and training exercises or by organizing courses in Switzerland about different topics.

In spring 1999, the Swiss Armed Forces applied via its representative in the Partnership Coordinatinon Cell (PCC) in Belgium for the organization of a multinational staff exercise to take place in Switzerland in 2000. In July 1999, Switzerland was assigned the role of Host Nation within the scope of the Partnership Work Programme (PWP) 2000 – 2001 for the NATO/PfP exercise “Cooperative Determination 2000” (CDE 2000) that is organized on a yearly basis. In 1998, this exercise took place in Bulgaria, in 1999 in Romania.

What is it about?

The execise CDE 2000 is about a computer-assisted command post exercise (Command Post Exercise / Computer Assisted Exercise = CPX/CAX) at multinational brigade (MNB) level. The staff and command structures of the practicing MNB coincide with those of the brigades that are engaged in SFOR in Kosovo and KFOR at the moment. The primary objective of this exercise is the training and profoundization of the capability for military collaboration in peace supporting oprations (PSO). In particular, the participating commanders and staff officers shall be trained in decision making and staff workflow, logistics, the co-operation between civil and military entities (CIMIC), standards for mapping and communication (including electronic ways of communication), the rules of engagement, and the use of English as command language.

The scenario of the exercise is a PSO with elements of humanitarian assistance in a fictitious country, based on a UN mandate (UN-mandated, NATO-led PSO). The exercising MNB is part of a PEACEFORCE, which consists of three multinational brigades, and which has received orders to secure the ceasefire agreement that was negotiated between both conflict parties, and to support civil forces carrying out humanitarian assistance to the suffering population.

Directing Staff

The settings of the exercise were defined by the Allied Command Europe (ACE). Under AFSOUTH’s (Allied Forces South in Naples) supervision, the newly installed command JCSC (Joint Command SOUTHCENT) in Larissa, Greece, headed by Lieutenant General E. Mantzanas (GR), leads the preparatory work and the conduct of the exercise CDE 2000.

Appointed as responsible exercise co-directors are Major General David F. Bice, deputy commander JCSC, and Major General Alfred Roulier, Member of general staff of the Swiss Armed Forces, USC doctrine and operational education. The directing staff, which was constituted for the first time on the occasion of a Pre-IPC in Berne in January 2000, is primarily composed of officers and non-commissioned officers from JCSC and the host nation. Some of the functions during the planning phase, and in particular during the exercise itself scheduled for October – November are carried out by officers of other PfP partner nations and NATO nations. In order to make sure that the CIMIC activities can be properly trained, representatives of civil organizations and media specialists will participate in so-called “White Cells” (K-Staff). Both the UNHCR and the ICRC agreed to support CDE 2000 by sending experts.

Exercising staff – Multinational Brigade Staff

The exercising brigade staff is conformed of approximately 90 officers from all participating nations. Apart from traditional entities of command, like personnel, communication, operations / planning, logistics and transmission, the multinational staff also contains response cells that are specifically designed for the purpose of PSO: “civil-military co-operation” (CIMIC), “PR”, and “Engineering works”. The staff is organized according to the internationally common G-structure, that is, G1 until G5 plus special staff. Switzerland will join the MNB staff with 18 officers, one of which assumes the role of the brigade commander’s deputy.

Response Cells

9 multinational battalions and 1 MP Coy, which are represented by battalion staff (commander, S1/4, S2, and 2 x S3) are assigned to the exercising multinational brigade staff. As in the brigade staff, the officers from the Swiss Army are drawn from the instructor’s corps and militia officers in order to benefit most from this exercise.

The main duty of the host nation – besides the co-organization of the environment and setting the scenario – is to provide for the conference’s and exercise’s infrastructure for the successful realization of the exercise. The host nation’s support (HNS) includes:

Switzerland’s duty as host nation

• Conference and exercise infrastructure
• Accomodation (Hotels and military quarters) and food supply
• Transport of VIPs and personnel (incl. Escort officers)
• Security and medical care
• Organize with JCSC media and host care as well as services of protocol
• Organize with JCSC the opening and closing ceremony, and social events

In order to manage the various tasks during the planning and conduct of the exercise, the directing staff is being supported by Army staff 101.0 and 201.0, parts of APF and Info Rgt 1, parts of UEM Br 41, as well as HQ Abt 12. Where necessary, additional experts from the federal and cantonal government, as well as from private organizations, are engaged.

Conduct of staff exercise

The exercise is split into 3 parts: 6 days are dedicated to set up the exercise infastructure in the premises of the Swiss Armed Forces Training Centre (AAL), 8 days for the preparation of the participants, and 5 days for the execution of the exercise itself.

On the occasion of the “Opening Ceremony”, Mr Adolf Ogi, President of the Federal Council, accompanied by national political authorities, representatives of NATO, the chief of general staff, representatives of militia and media, will open the exercise. At the same time, the brigade’s commander will form the multinational brigade from national contingents.

The “Closing Ceremony”, which concludes the exercise, will be celebrated by COMJCSC Lieutenant General Mantzanas. The host nation will be represented by its chief of staff. In order to reduce disturbances during the course of the exercise to a minimum, two windows have been defined for external observers. During the “Swiss Observers Day”, the Host Nation has the possibility to present the exercise to a selected circle of people from the parliament, from federal and cantonal authorities, and the Armed Forces. During the “Distinguished Visitors Day”, the Ministers of Defense and/or chief commanders of the participating nations and high ranked officers from NATO are welcomed. The interested media will be attended during the entire exercise by the Public Information Center (PIC).

Participating Nations and Organziations

On the occasion of MPF, NATO command JCSC, 20 nations, the UNHCR, the ICRC, and the NATO commands AFSOUTH and AIRSOUTH, have confirmed their participation in CDE 2000, namely: Armenia, Aserbaidschan, Bulgaria, Germany, France, Georgia, Greece, The Netherlands, Italy, Kirgisia, The Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Moldavia, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, Hungary, the USA, and Uzbekistan.

The size of the delegations varies between 1 officer (Armenia) and 30 officers (Austria).

In total, approximately 700 officers, non-commissioned officers, enlisted men, and civil experts from over 25 nations will be engaged in the staff exercise CDE 2000 scheduled for October-November 2000.

Importance of CDE 2000 for Switzerland and its Armed Forces

The exercise CDE 2000 gives Switzerland as Host Nation and the Swiss Armed Forces the unique opportunity and possibility to deliver a qualitatively and quantitatively proof of their commitment to the Partnership for Peace (PfP), and to give partern nations and NATO nations an insight into the Swiss security policy. Thanks to CDE 2000, the VBS can explain, based on a real case, one element of the security policy strategy “Security through co-operation” and demonstrate the various dimensions of “Co-operation” and “Interoperability” to the general swiss public, to interested parliament groups, to the government, and to the cantons.

Furthermore, the Swiss Army gets an excellent opportunity to further develop their capability in the area of “peace supporting operations” (PSO) and “Interoperability” (PARP), acquire important know-how about the organization of multinational (staff) exercise and gather first-hand experience for the further realization of the Army XXI. At the same time, the host nation’s militia can be involved on a large scale in the PfP activities.

Within the scope of “Social Events”, we have the opportunity to convey background information about our multi cultural history and our military tradition.