Civil affairs trains leaders at IR15

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Walter Van Ochten | Lt. Colonel T.J. Reed, Civil Affairs Exercise Chief for Immediate Response 15, is in Slovenia helping leaders understand the complicated art of civil affairs at IR15, which is being conducted near Postojna, Slovenia, Sept. 9-22, 2015. Immediate Response 15 is a multinational, brigade-level exercise utilizing computer-assisted simulations and field training exercises in Croatia and Slovenia. The exercises and simulations are built upon a scenario designed to enhance regional stability, strengthen partner capacity and improve interoperability between partner nations. The exercise d will include more than 1,400 soldiers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Immediate Response 15 supports the goal of a “Strong Europe” in that partner nations are trained and ready to combine forces to ensure unified security across allied nations. Immediate Response is a preplanned exercise that has occurred annually for the past five years.(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Walter E. van Ochten, 118th MPAD TNARNG)  

POSTONJA, SLOVENIA

09.18.2015

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Walter Van Ochten 

118th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Tennessee Army National Guard

POSTONJA, Slovenia - Taking care of the civilian population is a key component to effectively managing a mission that all Army leaders need to be acquainted with. Lt. Col. T.J. Reed, civil affairs exercise chief for Immediate Response 15, is helping leaders understand the complicated art of civil affairs at Immediate Response 15, which is being conducted near Postojna, Slovenia, Sept. 9-22, 2015.

Immediate Response 15 (IR 15) is a multinational, brigade-level, exercise utilizing computer-assisted simulations and field training exercises occurring in Croatia and Slovenia. The exercise builds upon the lessons learned from previous exercises. Each country that participates brings to bear its military knowledge and tactical skills which serve to enhance the capabilities of the others, allowing the training to be modified for the following year.

IR 15 gives leaders a chance to advance their knowledge of civil affairs by having them confront simulated scenarios that they must work through.

Reed explained that the exercise scenario is designed to have leaders looking for integration and interaction between the military and the civilian populace. They then synchronize the civil affairs operations efforts with the military operation and the civilian population. In this way, they can see how much this cooperation at the tactical and operational level affects the strategic over-all execution of their mission.

To do it leaders need to keep in mind the overall success of the missions is impacted by gaining and keeping the trust of the civilian population.

“It is important for that American officer and that American Soldier to understand (in this exercise) that we are not in a regime change that this is a sovereign nation battle. I think it’s really neat because we never had to deal with this type of operation in real world. It’s important that we see the war fighting aspect, but with every war fighting aspect, we do have a civilian populous that’s out there that we definitely have to take care of and we have to understand how they work and how they think.” said Reed.

The leaders must take into account… “How do we work together to provide support to that host nation who can provide the stability and security that every human, I believe, wants.” Reed said “We want to make sure we are working with that host nation for evacuation routes and doing things that would keep that populous safe and find way to put that information out there to them.” Reed said

Civil affairs has very complex issues that leaders need to learn to execute a civil affairs plan in the exercise. This is true in real life combat operations as well as humanitarian relief efforts.

“This exercise has to replicate the real world. The civilian piece is a big part of every operation. We have to be informed by the population but you also have to inform the population.” said Reed “You have got to figure out how much you want to put in to the population of the region that you are working in. We have to build relationships with the population. Those relationships definitely have to have trust. Because if the population don’t trust you, they’re not going to support you.”

• Date Taken: 09.18.2015
• Date Posted: 09.20.2015 07:25
• Story ID: 176671
• Location: POSTONJA, SI