Civil Military Co-operation Centre of Excellence

On Thursday, 14 January 2010, the Commander of the German Joint Support Command (SKUKdo), Lieutenant General Manfred Engelhardt, visited the CCOE at Complex Twente in Enschede. He was accompanied by his ACOS G5, Colonel Dieter Bohnert. First, they were introduced in vision and goals for this year and beyond, the structure of the CCOE and the Programme of Work. During a walk around through the different branches, the general participated in depth discussions on prominent subject issues the CCOE currently deals with, e.g. a new CIMIC doctrine, CIMIC in maritime domain, profiling of CIMIC specialists, advanced cultural competence. The general addressed to the whole staff of the CCOE later on where he stated clearly, that hardly any other area gained so much importance within the last years than CIMIC. In general, the experiences and Lessons Learned on the Balkans, in Congo and Afghanistan influenced and shaped CIMIC of today. As a part of a comprehensive approach, CIMIC must not be underestimated; it has to be incorporated in operational planning from the very beginning, in order to gain a proper Common Operational Picture in mission areas. A comprehensive assessment of the civilian picture in mission areas is inevitable; therefore CIMIC provides the platform for operational and tactical planning in all phases of an operation. It’s a common effort for all functional areas to gain success, CIMIC personnel has to work hand in hand with personnel from Operations, Logistics, Support, Information Operations and all the other military and civilian players; it’s a multi-capability. But finally, more emphasis should be put in defining aims in every planning phase and in measuring the achievements or effects, LTG Engelhard underlined in his speech.