When was the Training Center NMIOTC established?
On 12 June 2003, the NATO Defense Ministerial decision was made, to establish the NMIOTC. Following that decision, on 15 November 2005, the main Memorandum of Understanding which defines the functional relationship of the Centre was signed with the Strategic Commanders of the Alliance (SACT - SACEUR). Construction work in Souda Naval Base in Crete started immediately, and the Centre was activated on 20 Sep 07. Full Operational Capability was declared on 17 Mar 08, while the official inauguration ceremony took place in OCT 2008. Since then, we are actively making ourselves known to the NATO Command Structure, and have started providing MIO training to maritime units and forces, in the form of Courses, Seminars and Exercises. Our Programme of Work is filling up, although at the moment we still have some spare capacity for additional training.
What were the reasons for setting up the NMIOTC?
NATO is not a static organization. The world is changing
and the Alliance itself transforms, to better deal with the new challenges
emerging for its members. For sure, NATO will continue to upgrade its maritime
capabilities to conduct the existing 3 core missions for the Alliance, namely:
Article V collective defence response; Crisis Response Operations; and
Consultation and Co-Operation. However, in addition to those capabilities, there
is discussion ongoing within the Alliance, regarding the range of military
activities that need to be undertaken in the maritime arena, either in support
of national authorities and international organisations, or NATO-led, to support
the maintenance of Maritime Security, within a Comprehensive Approach, both
inside the Euro-Atlantic area and at strategic distance. In this context, NATO
Maritime Forces are, and will be conducting Maritime Interdiction in support of
a number of very important areas like Maritime Counter Terrorism, Interdiction
of WMD and associated materials, freedom of Navigation on the high seas and
protection of Allies Critical infrastructure upon request.
NATO agreed Concepts as well as Techniques, Tactics and Procedures (TTPs) for
Maritime Interdiction Operations must be in place and ready to be applied
whenever required. Naval Forces must build their capabilities in terms of
organization, equipment and training to accomplish those operations. The
required professional education of personnel and training of units involved in
Maritime Security, generally and more specifically in Maritime Interdiction,
need to be conducted in commonly agreed standards and bring them to an
acceptable level of performance. This is the “raison d’etre” of The NATO
Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Centre.
Who is involved in this institution?
The construction of the Centre, and all Operational and
Maintenance costs are undertaken by Greece. The status of the NMIOTC, in
accordance with the North Atlantic Council’s (NAC) decision, is that of an
International Military Organization. The Centre is associated to Allied Command
Transformation (ACT) in a similar way as the other NATO education facilities
(NATO School Oberammergau, NCCIS Latina and the NATO Defense College Rome). SACT
assigns tasks and training products required for NATO and Partner Forces and
accredits our deliverables.
Our Personnel Establishment is set to 114 posts, with 45% of them open to NATO
allies. At present, in addition to Greece that is the Framework Nation,
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Turkey and shortly Italy, contribute to
the manning of the Centre as Sponsoring Nations. The post of Deputy Commander is
occupied by Captain Servet Bilgin, Turkish Navy. I am confident that as we gain
visibility through our work, the number of Sponsoring Nations will grow rapidly
to include the majority of NATO Nations.
What are the main functions of the Training Center?
The NMIOTC mission is to conduct the combined training
necessary for NATO and PfP forces to better execute surface, sub-surface, aerial
surveillance and special operations activities, in support of Maritime
Interdiction Operations (MIO).
In practice, NMIOTC activities aim at improving allied and partner vessels’
expertise in MIO, while promoting skills, interoperability and cooperation among
them, as well as supporting ACT in developing MIO tactical doctrines, directives
and manuals. Moreover, the NMIOTC not only supports ACT in research,
experimentation, modeling and simulation but also contributes to ACT’s
lessons-learned process.
What situations are trained there?
Under International Law, a warship may approach any vessel
in international waters to verify its nationality. It may be stopped, boarded,
and the ship’s documents examined, provided there is reasonable ground for
suspecting that it is engaged illegal activities such as piracy, slave trade,
without nationality or a number of other illegal activities as defined in the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international
customary law. The simplest form of a Maritime Interdiction Operation is the
querying and possible boarding of a merchant ship. Even this simple operation
needs attention on the part of the warship that executes it. Things can go
wrong, and they often do. A compliant boarding can easily spiral up to
non-compliant, or even opposed. A vessel might be diverted, or delayed, but this
might lead to well founded redemption claims. International customary law in
many cases is translated in slightly different ways by each Nation. Boarding a
merchant ship needs to take place with the maximum safety precautions on the
part of the Boarding Team and the ship’s Command Team. Information flow between
the Boarding Team and the warship, and also through the Chain of Command in the
NATO Force, needs to be comprehended and acted upon in a clear and standardized
way.
Interdiction of pirates using small skiffs and possibly motherships, greatly
differs from the interdiction of a fifty thousand ton container ship, for which
there is information on WMD proliferation or illegal arms trafficking. Terrorist
activity on the high seas takes many forms, and needs to be interdicted. An
embargo decided by an appropriate political authority might need to be enforced.
The NMIOTC trains, both in theory and in practice, naval units and personnel on
all these forms of Maritime Interdiction Operations. Naval units are optimized
for warfighting. In the conduct of Maritime Interdiction Operations, warships
interact with the civilian maritime community. The warship’s attitude and
actions towards this community need to be clear, punctual, precise, serious,
respectful, and governed by a common standard and practice for better
understanding and compliance, even in cases of existing language and cultural
barriers. Also, Maritime Forces engaged in MIOs are not, and should not be
perceived, as either the Policemen of the High seas, or as an obstacle to normal
activity there. Rehearsing NATO common practices and procedures in a training
environment, where unexpected events, drawn from real situations are injected,
adds value to the national capabilities of individual NATO and Partner units.
Who is trained there and for what missions?
Our Program of Work is structured in such a way that
units, either ships, Boarding teams, or individuals can participate in full
courses. Each course consists of a number of modules, each one dealing with a
specific issue. This modular design allows the Centre to tailor to the training
package according to the specific requirements of each unit, based on her
training needs and schedule constraints.
Navy units that come to the NMIOTC train as a whole team, thus benefitting with
immediate results. NATO and Partner ships obtain a training slot at the Centre,
either by being programmed through their Headquarters, or more frequently, by
direct contact with us, 20 days to one month ahead of a scheduled port visit to
Souda Naval Base. We can be reached not only through normal NATO communication
paths, but also through the NATO Secret Wide Area Network and commercial
internet.
We also train whole Forces in specially tailored events. A good example is
exercise “Phoenix Express”, which is an annual MIO focused US 6th Fleet
exercise. Last spring, ships and Boarding Teams from Algeria, France, Greece,
Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and the US took part in
this exercise. A total of some 200 personnel, including Cos, ship Command Teams
and Boarding Teams were trained in our facilities for 8 work days (from 23rd of
April to 1st of March), both in theory and practice, covering all the aspects of
MIO, ranging from command decision-making to Helo Fast roping and boarding.
Observers from Libya and UAE were also present.
More recently, from 16 to 20 June 2009, a specially tailored event was carried
out at the NMIOTC for the benefit of Standing Naval Maritime Force Two (SNMG-2)
in Souda, and the NMIOTC assisted Maritime Component Command Northwood in the
pre-deployment preparation of the Force for Operation Allied Protector in the
Gulf of Aden and the area east of Somalia.
In addition the Centre provides training on the Maritime Operational Language (MOLS),
mainly aimed at Partners. This training is not restricted to just Maritime
Terminology, but includes training in procedures used at sea, in this way
addressing an identified problem with the integration of Partner Units in NATO
Operations.
Obviously, all courses offered to NATO Allies, are also available, with minor
amendments, to Partnership for Peace (PfP), Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) nations. Maritime security building needs
to involve military and non-military authorities and requires Education and
Training of partner Naval, Coast Guard and other Law Enforcement personnel. We
are now opening up to that audience, and I do hope that we will find response.
What future developments are to be expected for the NMIOTC?
Under the auspices and guidance of the NATO HQ and ACT, we
are organizing a seminar / course on Maritime Interdiction of Weapons of Mass
Destruction. Target group of that course are military and Law Enforcement
Officers with responsibilities for Maritime Interdiction, no matter whether they
work for the MOD, Navy, Border Police, Customs etc. This Course will also be
open to PFP, MD and ICI countries. Theoretical as well as practical aspects will
be covered. This “NATO WMD MIO Course” will take place yearly on completion of
the ACT certification procedures. The first Course, in the form of a seminar
that will serve for the formal certification of the whole series will take place
this October.
The NMIOTC also takes part in experiments that explore potential possibilities
of real-time reach back support to a Boarding Team while at work on board a
merchant vessel. Such an experiment, organized by the US Naval Post-Graduate
School Monterey, will take place in Souda bay this coming September.
NMIOTC staff contributes in the development or revision of doctrines, concepts,
regarding MIO. Execution of the Courses, and feedback received from students of
different origin, as well as exercises and experiments in which the Center
participates in, are valuable sources of information that can be used to improve
doctrines and procedures. We have provided input in the development of the
Maritime Security Operations Concept that is being drafted by ACT. The Allied
Maritime Strategy is under development now, and we are adding our inputs, again,
in the area of our expertise.
An important area that the NMIOTC is on the process to develop is contribution
to the ACT Lessons Learned process. The exchange of information with regard to
Maritime Security issues and in particular the Lessons Learned or any other
relevant feedback submitted by the Commanders or units at sea, are highly
important elements, that help the Centre to fine tune its training program, to
address observed gaps or to assist ACT in the Transformational efforts. We have
just embarked in the process to build as complete a Lessons Identified / Lessons
Learned data base, as possible, in order to promote the Alliance’s “corporate
knowledge’’ in the area of Maritime Interdiction Operations.
The location of the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean, just north of
the Suez Canal is strategically important to the Alliance. The vast majority of
Allied naval units deploying to areas where NATO is actively involved, use Souda
Naval Base as the last NATO base prior to transiting the Suez Canal, southbound
for their operational deployment. In addition, it is close to the Mediterranean
Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative nations, thus making contact with
their Navies more convenient. More than just filling an operational requirement
for the Alliance, by promoting Techniques, Tactics and Procedures for Maritime
Interdiction, the NMIOTC can and must add value in the areas of NATO maritime
interaction with Partner nations, in a world that needs closer understanding and
interoperability, between maritime nations for more efficient cooperation in the
maritime environment, on the road to stability and prosperity.
The interview was conducted by Dr. Uwe Cardaun on
behalf of Hamburg Messe
Quelle: Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH
Keine Kommunikationsobjekte vorhanden.
