Integrating partner nations into coalition operations

Joint Force Quarterly,  April, 2006  by Barbara Fick

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Within 48 hours of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's resignation and departure on February 29, 2004, Chilean forces deployed and integrated into a multinational interim force to help secure and stabilize the small, impoverished island nation. Days after the passage of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1529, Chile, Canada, France, and the United States established a multinational force responsive to and capable of coordinating with international authorities and aid efforts in Haiti. The rapid reaction, deployment, and integration of coalition forces saved the lives of many Haitians, prevented mass migration during a time of rough seas, and facilitated transition to the process of restabilization. Chile continues to deploy forces as a member of the UN Stabilization Force Haiti (MINUSTAH), led by Brazil and comprised mostly of Latin American troops. While many challenges continue in Haiti, the success of initial security and stabilization operations, continued support to MINUSTAH, and the significant contribution of Latin American and Caribbean nations to peacekeeping operations around the world demonstrate a growing capability in the Western Hemisphere for participation in joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational operations, such as those currently required in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The U.S. Southern Command USSOUTHCOM) has been a key enabler of this growing capability, supporting a tailored exercise and theater security cooperation program that has encouraged partners such as Chile, Brazil, and El Salvador to develop skills in the conduct of integrated operations. The fruits of this program, borne out through examples such as the mission in Haiti and support to Operation Iraqi Freedom, also provide valuable lessons and extensive partner nation experience that may be drawn upon as the United States develops doctrine for integrated operations.

Emerging Doctrine

The attacks on September 11, 2001, led to a general consensus in the U.S. Government regarding the need to reform national security architecture to meet current and emerging 21st-century threats, particularly in the areas of interagency coordination and coalition operation capabilities. Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have further highlighted the need for new doctrine and mechanisms to facilitate interagency coordination, as well as cooperation with other nations. This has led to new directives and multiple efforts within the Federal Government to explore such concepts. Each of these efforts gives rise to its own set of terms, structures, procedures, and doctrine. For the purposes of this article, combined integrated operations are those that include multiple military services and government-level entities from more than one sovereign country, and multinational integrated operations are those that include military forces and governmental agencies from many nations, nongovernmental organizations, international governmental organizations, and private industry partners. (1)

Current U.S. Government approaches to the development of doctrine, organization, and procedures for combined and multinational integrated operations emphasize American structures and processes across agencies, rather than the multinational aspects of integration. Little work has been done formally to incorporate representatives, perspectives, and practices from potential partner nation military, civilian, and nongovernmental entities who may offer significant insight on the process of integration into coalition efforts led by or involving the U.S. Government and its forces. This is particularly the case with respect to developing nations, who may contribute unique experiences and approaches to operations in less stable and underdeveloped parts of the world.

Latin American Experience and Partners

El Salvador is an excellent example of a nation that has lately achieved democracy, having emerged from a 12-year civil war in 1992. In a visit to the United Nations, President Antonio Saca explained his country's troop contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom to the General Assembly, stating, "El Salvador suffered a prolonged internal conflict, and thanks to the support of the international community, it achieved a lasting peace.... We believe it is time for us to put our experience to the service of other peoples." (2) In addition to having lived through a period of conflict, negotiated peace, and transition to democracy, El Salvador has maintained close military-to-military relationships with the United States since 1992. Long-term participation in international military education and training and other training and exercise programs sponsored by USSOUTHCOM have been central to enhancing interoperability and coalition capabilities for participation in multinational peacekeeping or stability and reconstruction efforts.

A tangible return on the U.S. investment in this relationship has been the continued support of El Salvador in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In August 2003, for example, 360 soldiers of El Salvador's Cuscatlan Battalion deployed to become part of a Central American Battalion within the Spanish-led Plus Ultra Brigade. Since then, the country has deployed more than 1,600 troops in support of Iraqi Freedom. The Salvadoran troops are assigned reconstruction and humanitarian duties. They have overseen over 130 humanitarian projects worth in excess of $7.6 million and ranging from a medical center, to potable water treatment facilities, and to schools, bridges, roads, and electrical projects. Operationally, they have been instrumental in checkpoint and convoy security, unexploded ordnance disposal, and security detail duties, including the protection of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Najaf, as well as training and equipping the Iraqi Civil Defense Forces in Najaf and Al Hillah--all to increase the security and internal development of Iraq. As a testimony to El Salvador's contribution, six Salvadoran soldiers earned Bronze Stars, presented by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in November 2004. (3)