Regional Cooperation exercise focuses on multinational peacekeeping operations
Photos by SENIOR AIRMAN NIGEL SANDRIDGE/U.S. AIR FORCE
An already-fragile nation is roiled by a series of security threats: ethnic and tribal hostility, violence from rebel militia groups, kidnappings, uncharted minefields and armed skirmishes along a largely undefined border. Alarmed that the instability could overrun the region, the United Nations dispatches a multinational coalition to serve as a peacekeeping force.
This fictional scenario served as the backdrop to the real-world Regional Cooperation military exercise. Held in September 2015 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the command-post exercise brought together over 200 representatives from Tajikistan, Pakistan, Mongolia and the United States.
“This exercise has a great history of success in facilitating effective training and has helped improve global military coordination and development,” Lt. Gen. Sherali Mirzo, Tajikistan’s minister of defense, announced in a message to exercise participants.
The goal of Regional Cooperation is to improve the ability of countries to respond to crises and strengthen capabilities to conduct stability operations. It also helps to build relationships and cooperation among participating countries, and increases coordination with civil and international organizations.
Each exercise requires about a year of planning, and this year’s planning team included not just participating nations, but Afghanistan as well, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Reginald Williams, the exercise’s lead planner. Additionally, the Massachusetts Army National Guard 51st Troop Command from the U.S. helped plan and execute the event.
Tajik Col. Nuriddin Sattorov, deputy commander of Mobile Forces, served as the multinational brigade commander within the exercise scenario.
“Regional Cooperation is an exercise where we can share knowledge and learn about the experiences of others so that we all benefit from that knowledge,” Col. Sattorov said. “For us, this is very important so we can develop our own peacekeeping forces and work with other forces around the world.”
As Col. Sattorov led the multinational force in resolving crisis after crisis, he noted the benefits of having so much international expertise on hand. “Usually in a country where something like this occurs, they are incapable to work on it alone,” he said. “It makes sense for us to work with Pakistan, Mongolia and the U.S. to help prepare for these instances.”
Regional Cooperation has been held annually since 2001 and rotates among different locations. The 2014 exercise was held in the U.S. and also included participants from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
“This exercise is extremely relevant due to so many security and peacekeeping issues facing the world today. Instability has led to thousands of migrants and internally displaced persons seeking refuge, which can create further instability as they seek new homes,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Mattson, director of training and exercises at U.S. Central Command. “Ensuring our forces are trained to appropriately provide assistance and structure as a peacekeeping force protects everyone during these uncertain events, and we are honored to have been able to train in Tajikistan.”
Gen. Mattson also spoke about the importance of having partners such as Pakistan and Mongolia — each with vast experience conducting peacekeeping operations. For decades, Pakistan has been heavily involved in United Nations peacekeeping missions and often ranks as the top troop contributor to such missions. Beginning with a contingent sent to the Congo in 1960, Pakistan has supplied forces to resolve conflicts for more than half a century.
Pakistani Brig. Gen. Ali Haq, head of his country’s delegation, praised the exercise for helping improve multinational coordination before crises emerge. “The Regional Cooperation exercise provides a stage and a forum where participants from different countries within and outside the region can work together under a U.N. multinational forces and can plan and prepare for any future employment under a U.N. mandated employment,” he said.
The Mongolian Armed Forces also receive recognition on the world stage as a force capable of supporting diverse peace operations. Col. Erdenebat Batsuuri, chief of the Peace Support Operation Division of the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces, was the ranking Mongolian delegate at the exercise.
“Most of the Mongolia Armed Forces participants have served in U.N. missions around the world, such as Congo, Western Sahara, Sierra Leone, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, and also in coalition missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. We not only share our peacekeeping experience, we also would like to learn from different nations’ experiences, and we build military leadership, integrity, trust and friendship in Central and South Asian nations,” Col. Batsuuri said.
Regional Cooperation participants also took part in a Stability Operations Best Practices seminar conducted by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies that included presentations by Brig. Gen. Haq and Col. Batsuuri highlighting their countries’ vast experiences and histories with peacekeeping missions.
Learning from the expertise of others is important for Tajikistan’s forces, Col. Sattorov explained, as the country prepares to deploy a peacekeeping unit under U.N. mandate. In 2011, Tajikistan established a peacekeeping battalion, and these forces continue to train and take part in exercises such as Regional Cooperation, Steppe Eagle and Khaan Quest. All of this helps to prepare forces to deal with security threats. “Nobody is protected from terrorist attacks nowadays,” Col. Sattorov said. “The problems are everywhere, and countries should consider this.”
Although the focus of the exercise was on peacekeeping, counterterrorism played a role in the form of border security drills and scenarios demanding detection and interdiction of weapons of mass destruction. Soldiers also were tasked with civil-military coordination.
“The professionalism of these forces greatly enhanced the experience for all participants,” Maj. Gen. Mattson said.
U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Susan Elliott and Pakistani Ambassador to Tajikistan Tariq Iqbal Soomro visited the exercise along with dignitaries from other embassies. “This is just one of many examples of the great cooperation between Tajikistan and the United States,” she said. The ambassador thanked the Tajik Ministry of Defense for allowing the exercise to take place and all the participants for sharing their expertise with the goal of strengthening global peace and stability.
Tajik commanders reiterated their appreciation for the international support at the exercise. “I would like to thank all the people who spent so much time and effort to plan this exercise and those who sent personnel,” Col. Sattorov said. “In such a stressful time, they still found time to participate. I want to wish all the participants health, luck and peace.”
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