Finland and Sweden to take part in US-led crisis management exercise

Juhani Kaskeala

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Finland, Sweden, and Australia will be the only non-NATO countries to take part in a US-led military exercise aimed at developing new methods of action in crisis management.
      The exercise, which runs from February 27th to March 17th, will take place via a data network in ten different locations, with 500 - 600 people participating.
     
Ten of the prospective participants are Finnish officers. Finland's Chief of Defence, Admiral Juhani Kaskeala, is scheduled to travel to the United States for a short time to follow the progress of the exercise.
      Finland, Sweden, and Australia will send their own participants to the NATO Transfromation Command in Norfolk, Virginia.
      The exercise is called Multi National Experiment (MNE) 4. Finland was not involved in the previous three MNEs. A possible MNE5 will be discussed after the exercise.
      In addition to the three non-NATO countries, the venture will involve the military alliance itself, and five member states - Canada, Germany, France, the UK, and the USA. They will be examining the coordination of multinational cooperation, transport issues, communications operations, and medical services linked with international operations.
     
Leading the exercise will the United States Joint Forces Command (USJFC). It says that the exercise will involve study into how international diplomatic, economic, military, and information resources can be used against an enemy.
      A new dimension is multinational cooperation between military and civilian officials, and among the civilians. The Finnish Defence Staff said on Monday that Finland has plenty of know-how in this specific sector.
     
USJFC says that the result of the exercise supports multinational crisis management operations, and above all the NRF rapid reaction forces that are under development.


Links:
  USJFCOM: Multinational Experimentation
  MNE4 Update (.ppt file)

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