Exercises

Participation to Viking 18

A CMCS staff participated in the Main Planning Conference of the Viking 18 exercise in Bålsta, Sweden, from 17 - 19 May 2017. The Viking 18 is a civilian-military-police exercise in a UN mandated Chapter VII peace operations scenario, with the UN, NATO and the EU as key external actors. The exercise is scheduled to take place in April 2018 in five locations, involving an envisaged participation of 50 countries. As this exercise is based on the comprehensive approach in the spirit of partnership for peace, it is crucial for OCHA to be represented during the early stages of planning to make sure that humanitarian concerns, principles and coordination structures are adequately included and respected, and that context-appropriate humanitarian civil-military coordination mechanisms are in place.

NATO Exercises 2017

CMCS participated in the execution phase of the NATO TRIDENT JAGUAR 17 (TRJR 17) exercise for the 1 German/Netherlands Corps (1GNC) in Stavanger, Norway (3-6 April) and the Rapid Reaction Corps France (RRC-Fr) in Sliven, Bulgaria (14 to 17 March). Asthe custodian of internationally-recognized guidelines that seek to preserve the impartiality, neutrality and operational independence of humanitarian actors, it is vital for the section to participate in NATO exercises.

Caption: Group picture of the White Cell in which OCHA/CMCS participated as Subject Matter Expert during the execution phase of the TRJR 17 in Stavanger, Norway. ©Joint Warfare Centre (JWC)

RIMPAC 2016, Hawaii

A CMCS team member participated in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2016 from 6 to 15 July 2016. RIMPAC is the world’s biggest multi-national naval/military exercise that takes place every two years in Hawaii. Before the exercise, CMCS delivered the Supporting Humanitarian Action in Responding to Emergencies and Disasters (SHARED) to selected participants.

The Humanitarian-Military Operational Coordination Concept (HuMOCC) was rolled out as part of the exercise. CMCS briefed US Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations inside the HuMOCC tent while the exercise was ongoing.

TRIPLEX 2016, Norway

Triplex 2016 took place inSeptember 2016 in Lista, Norway. It was a great opportunity for CMCS to roll-out the Humanitarian-Military Operations Coordination Centre (HuMOCC) in a natural disaster response exercise and how it complements the On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) as a dedicated space for humanitarian and military interaction in a response environment.

The HuMOCC was established and managed by four CMCoord officers that deployed with the UNDAC Team. Five military liaison officers from foreign and national military forces co-located at the HuMOCC, which provided the following key coordination services: A dedicated space and structure to facilitate the dialogue and interface between humanitarian and military actors; a one-stop shop for humanitarian/civilian-military information exchange and update, task sharing and division, and shared/joint/transition planning, as appropriate; and, a platform for cluster representatives and military liaison officers to coordinate requests for military assets/capacity to support the priority humanitarian capacity gaps.