Photo By Staff Sgt. Killo Gibson | Lt. Col. Ibriham Bindul, of the Unite Nations, gives a class on information gathering...... read more read more
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Western Accord 2015 is officially underway as it enters the academic part of the exercise at Winkelman Kazerne, Harskamp, The Netherlands from July 20-31.
The annual exercise is designed to assess U.S., European, and African partner nation staffs on their ability to conduct United Nations Peace Operations using the current U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
However, it takes more than just showing up to an exercise to be successful, it requires the growth of competent leaders.
Through a comprehensive academics portion that ranged from guest speakers from the U.N., International Committee of the Red Cross to military leaders on the ground in Mali. Professional development is a fundamental building block to Western Accord.
U.S. Brig. Gen. Kenneth H. Moore Jr., deputy commanding general U.S. Army Africa, said leadership development is key to building cohesion between multiple nations.
“The academic period of the exercise is a great opportunity for leaders at all levels to learn and share knowledge,” Moore said. “It’s also a time to build positive relationships.”
With multiple obstacles including time, money and operations tempo, the African partners have limited opportunities to conduct the in-depth professional development provided at Western Accord.
“Academics should complement and build on the capabilities the participants bring to the [command post exercise],” said Col. Melinda Mate, director of peace operations, Peace Keeping and Stability Institute.
Col. Barry “Chip” Daniels, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, and Western Accord Chief of Staff U.S. Forces, said, “for the academics portion to be successful, you have to clearly layout what the scenario is and ensure the training audience understands their roles and responsibilities, so they can go through the planning process to produce a friendly course of action that everyone understands. This will set the conditions for a successful execution of the CPX.”
Often enough, language barriers tend to hinder operations when you bring together multi-national forces under one roof.
To bridge the language gap, U.S. Army translators form the Utah National Guard worked tirelessly to provide scripts and materials in both English and French, the primary languages of the African nations at Western Accord.
“Having briefings and exercise documents available in both English and French precludes a barrier to comprehension of the material presented,” said Mate. “Our team of linguists is also supporting this endeavor. Most importantly, our partners’ ability to communicate in multiple languages has ensured exercise success.”
Already a half-day ahead of schedule, Western Accord in Daniels’ eyes is making out to be a success.
“This is my third Accord series exercise and I’m very impressed with how rapidly we are progressing through the training objectives; frankly, this is the fastest I’ve seen,” Daniels said. “If they keep up this level of motivation the academics will be a success.”
The academics portion of the exercise concludes July 25, and will transition into the CPX phase July 27.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2015 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 172952 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, US military and its African partners take on academics, by SSG Killo Gibson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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