YAVORIV, Ukraine –Operational Capabilities Concept evaluators and trainees from 17 nations gathered at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Yavoriv, Sept. 10, 2018, to evaluate the Ukrainian military’s interoperability capacity.
The OCC evaluation, which was scheduled during the Ukraine-hosted Rapid Trident exercise, is part of a program to improve the levels of interoperability, operational capabilities of NATO partner nations and to enhance the relationship between these countries and the NATO Alliance.
Through a robust feedback cycle, the OCC program also helps supports transformation of the armed forces of partner nations, said Norwegian Air Force Lt. Col. Tommy Hirsti, the OCC Course Director.
“The NATO officers and partner officers are working shoulder to shoulder, learning about culture and respecting culture,” Hirsti said. “The aim is to make sure the work we are doing contributes to peace and security.”
During the evaluation, multinational evaluators review and compare operation orders, standard operating procedures and mission briefs against NATO standards and will evaluate the Ukrainian military along these standards, said Azerbaijan Army Lt. Col. Anar Eyvazov, the Officer of Primary Responsibility for the evaluation. In parallel, 34 multinational trainees will also be undergoing certification to become official Operational Capabilities Concept evaluators.
“The importance of this course is that we support partner nations and for the NATO command structure to have the required evaluators,” Eyvazov said. “Each nation has developed a pool of evaluators in accordance with NATO standards.”
The program is both tactical and strategic, said United States Air Force Lt. Col Dai H. Cho, Staff Officer at Joint Force Command Brunssum. Cho said that the evaluation can help spur strategic reform in partnering nations and that NATO will reciprocate as long as countries like Ukraine want to engage.
Rapid Trident is an annual, multinational exercise that serves as the validation for Ukraine's military training program. It also provides a good environment for the evaluation, Cho said.
“Rapid Trident has been going on for several years and speaks to the partnership with member countries and our partners,” Cho said. “We’re here for NATO evaluation, and Rapid Trident provides us an excellent framework to conduct the evaluation in as realistic a setting as possible. That’s the true value for us, from a NATO standpoint.”
The international partnership between military forces is an important theme echoed by all the leadership involved with the evaluation.
“The cooperation between NATO and Ukraine is at a high level and we appreciate that they continue to declare units to the OCC, and they are willing to host events like this,” Hirst said. “Our host nation’s support is vital and excellent. We are a small part of Rapid Trident, but we’ve had great support to fulfill our needs.”