Ukrainian CIMIC – Quo Vadis?

Ukrainian armed forces are developing CIMIC capacities to face current challenges in Eastern Ukraine. The CIMIC Centre of Excellence (CCOE) just recently supported the Civil-Military Mobile Training Team (MTT) lead by Joint Force Command Brunnsum (JFCB) aiming to train 45 officers of the Ukrainian armed forces on the subject of Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC).

These MTTs are part of the Military Partnership (MilPart) activities carried out by JFCB. Applying the NATO CIMIC doctrinal framework the Ukrainian officers have received an inside on how to conduct various CIMIC activities on tactical level. The training event has been designed to deliver both knowledge on the subject of CIMIC flanked by practical applications, e.g. case studies, role plays and some firsthand experiences from mission experienced trainers. This MTT has been one of a series of MTTs carried out in partnership with the CIMIC directorate of the Ukrainian armed forces aiming to generate the CIMIC capacity required to cope with the challenges deriving from the current situation in eastern Ukraine.

IMG-20151125-00062

Picture: CCOE Instructor giving a CIMIC lecture/ Source: CCOE/ Baur

The challenge of these training events is to translate the NATO CIMIC framework into a national Ukrainian context in order to meet the Ukrainian armed forces CIMIC requirements.

After one week of intense training all officers graduated from this training event, ready to join the mission in eastern Ukraine.

Quo Vadis?

So far the CIMIC MTTs were aiming to generate the CIMC forces required to support the Ukrainian armed forces operating in eastern Ukraine. The future support will be characterized by the establishment of the Ukrainian doctrinal CIMIC framework and the generation of an initial CIMIC Training & Education capacity. These activities are in full compliance with the 2014 Wales Summit Declaration and the challenges deriving from current and future security issues of common concern and CCOE’s Vision 2020.

Article is written by CCOE/ Training & Education/ Captain Ralf Baur (GER F).