Page 28 - Coespu 2019-1

PRE-DEPLOYMENT TRAINING - LESSONS LEARNED

PRE-DEPLOYMENT TRAINING & LESSONS

LEARNED IN PEACE OPERATIONS

lity with immediate field action, as strictions, benchmarks, timing, re-
By. Lt. Col. Roberto GONELLA it would be desirable. On the other sources and peculiarities, but for a
hand, however, extended prelimi- number of reasons – including their
Peace operations require a long nary phases befit better prepara- strategic perspective and the need
and complex preparatory phase. tion, and due attention can be gi- not to incur in vetoes by UNSC Per-
Long is gone the time of quick re- ven to pre-deployment training. manent Members – UNSCRs tend
actions, when peacekeepers were Unlike outdated general courses to be quite vague and indefinite,
deployed to extremely problematic for international missions, superfi- refraining from getting into speci-
theatres with no specific training, cially devised along a facile one- fic details. Pre-deployment training
only supported by their generosity size-fits-all format, pre-deploy- must thence focus not only on the
and personal qualities.
Modern peace operations are mul- If the local population does not
tidimensional global projects, the
beginning of which is marked not perceive the mission as credible,
by the date of the IOC – the “Initial
Operating Capability” of the mis- supportive and in line with their
sion within the host state(s) territory expectations its legitimacy is at stake
– but by the very moment that issue
is brought to the attention of the
UN General Assembly (UNGA) or ment training has to be carefully UNSCR, but even more on docu-
Security Council (UNSC). All suc- and precisely tailored on mission ments – such as Mandate Imple-
cessive stages evolve throughout a mandate and host nation(s). mentation Plan (MIP) or Integrated
consolidated procedure, which re- The mission mandate reflects the Strategic Framework (ISF), Con-
quires careful planning and time. UN Security Council Resolution cept of Operations (CONOPS),
On the one hand, that implies re- (UNSCR) establishing that speci- Operation Plan (OPLAN), Rules of
duced reactivity: the international fic peace operation. Each mission Engagement (ROE) and Directive
community cannot respond to thre- has its own aims, objectives, re- on the Use of Force (DUF) – that
ats to the world’s peace and stabi-

28