Keeping the Peace: NATO Multinational Peace Support Operations Course

Photo By Maj. Sarah Mobilio | British Army Sgt. Wayne Tudor engages with three officers in the Hellenic Army during a communications procedures and NATO reporting systems exercise at the Multinational Peace Support Operations Basic Course, March 12, 2015. 26 service members from Greece, Bosnia, Qatar, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States attended the course at the Hellenic MPSO Training Center in Kilkis, Greece, March 9 - 20. The service members learned and tested their knowledge in a field environment to improve their working relationships and strengthen multinational bonds. (Official U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Lt. Sarah E. Burns)  

KILKIS, GREECE

04.01.2015

Story by 1st Lt. Sarah Mobilio 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

KILKIS, Greece – 26 service members from Greece, Bosnia, Qatar, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States attended a course at the Hellenic Multinational Peace Support Operations Training Center in Kilkis, Greece, March 9 - 20.

“I have learned a lot from this course, from both Marines and from other nations,” said Hellenic Army Sgt. Pavlos-Illias Mastoridis, student at the Multinational Peace Support Operations Basic Course. “You realize you are not the only Army in the world and you have to train with other nations and other Armies because we learn from them, their tactics and from your mistakes in training, and you learn to operate together in peace support operations.”

Multinational Peace Support Operations Basic Course students tested their knowledge in a field environment to improve their working relationships and strengthen multinational bonds.

“The most beneficial thing so far was the experience of working with and cooperating with other nations’ militaries. It is very unique and it is very challenging, but it is a good experience nonetheless,” 1st Lt. Jordan Iida, a U.S. Marine with Black Sea Rotational Force explained.

Throughout the two weeks, the attendees studied topics ranging from UN Peacekeeping and the Law of Armed Conflict, to IED awareness, patrolling, and communication procedures and NATO reporting systems.

“The purpose of this course is to prepare officers from different countries for assignment as platoon leaders and or company commanders for the conduct of PSO led by NATO or other regional security organizations,” Hellenic Army Lt. Col. Kostas Konstantiniakos, chief of academics at MPSOTC said.

The second half of the course saw a bit of expected friction during the field exercise with a peacekeeping patrol, vehicle checkpoint and squad-level urban operations in practical application.

“It is difficult for everyone in a multicultural environment and trainees in this school because you don’t know the habits and culture of everyone,” Konstantiniakos said, “But it is beneficial because you can see how you can cooperate between the different cultures. We are training to find a common line.”

This was the first time U.S. Marines attended the course, and it allowed for a deeper understanding of interoperability to all involved.

“Personally for me, I love seeing the other person’s point-of-view, and being able to see it through someone else’s eyes, and listening to how they approach a situation I would have approached very differently. That was, personally, the biggest thing I got out of it,” Iida said.

• Date Taken: 04.01.2015
• Date Posted: 04.01.2015 05:20
• Story ID: 158751
• Location: KILKIS, GR
• Hometown: CHICAGO, IL, US