US AND ITALY MOVE AHEAD ON G-8 INTERNATIONAL

UNCLAS ROME 003061

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PM/PPA: RACHEL FEATHERSTONE; EUR/PGI:TABITHA OMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPKO MARR MOPS PGOV PREL IT
SUBJECT: US AND ITALY MOVE AHEAD ON G-8 INTERNATIONAL
CONSTABULARY TRAINING CENTER

REF: A) ROME 2692 B) STATE 143267

Summary
--------------


1. A State/DOD delegation, led by Acting DAS for Regional
Security (PM) Elena Kim-Mitchell, visited Rome and Vicenza on
July 19-21 to discuss the U.S.-Italian joint initiative for a
G-8 sponsored Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units
(COESPU). The delegation met with the MFA and Carabinieri in
Rome and the director of the Carabinieri training facility in
Vicenza. The MFA expressed strong support for the
initiative, noted that resources (to bring trainees) would
likely be needed, and agreed to work with the U.S. to
identify and reach out to countries likely to be interested
in developing gendarme units for international peace support
operations (PSOs). The Carabinieri were enthusiastic about
hosting the COESPU, and proposed to train approximately 3,000
trainers over the next five years through "train the
trainer" programs and pre-deployment training for gendarme
units to participate in PSOs. The existing Carabinieri
training facility at Vicenza is completely ready to house and
instruct this number of trainees. The U.S. and Italians
agreed that the Carabinieri will prepare training curricula,
terms of reference, a budget, and a project proposal
identifying resource gaps for circulation among G-8 partners
in September. Italy agreed to host a seminar to review the
COESPU,s training program, which could include participation
by G-8 partners, relevant international organizations, and
European Gendarmerie countries in Fall 2004. End Summary.

Background: Sea Island
--------------


2. As part of the June 2004 Sea Island Summit, G-8 partners
addressed the need for more gendarme-like forces in PSOs.
G-8 member states committed to support Italy in establishing
the COESPU to foster the development of international
gendarme/constabulary peacekeeping forces.

Follow-up: U.S. Delegation to Rome and Vicenza
-------------- -


3. On July 19-21, a State/DOD delegation traveled to Italy
to consult with the MFA and Carabinieri on their current
plans and begin working out the details of the COEPSU.
Delegation members accompanying Acting DAS Kim-Mitchell
included Rachel Featherstone (PM/PPA),Tabitha Oman
(EUR/PGI),and Col. Dallas Brown (Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity

SIPDIS
Conflict). Army Attache Col. Elliot Rosner and Pol-Mil
Officer Lee R. Brown joined the delegation from Embassy Rome.


4. The team met for an in-depth discussion on July 19 with
Giampiero Massolo, Director of the Italian MFA,s
Multilateral and Political Affairs Directorate. Also present
at the MFA meeting were heads of relevant offices in the
Italian MFA and MOD, including G-8 Office Head Giampaolo
Cantini, who has the lead for the MFA on the COESPU project.
The Carabinieri Vice Commander-General Salvatore Fenu also
received the delegation on July 19 at the Carabinieri
Headquarters. Col. Domenico Libertini led the technical
discussions that followed on the COESPU project for the
Carabinieri. On July 21, the team traveled to Vicenza to see
the prospective location for the COESPU at the Carabinieri,s
training facility.

Agreement on Approach
--------------


6. The Italian interlocutors confirmed that the COESPU will
be located at the Carabinieri facility in Vicenza. Both the
MFA and Carabinieri expressed strong support for Italy,s
lead in the initiative, which coincides well with plans to
host the European Gendarme Force headquarters at the Vicenza
facility.


7. Carabinieri, MFA, and MOD officials stressed that the
COESPU enjoys support at the highest levels in the Italian
government and military. Indeed, the productive spirit of


all meetings epitomized the close relationship of the joint
U.S.-Italian effort. There were few, if any, significant
differences of opinion about facts or goals between Italian
and U.S. interlocutors. For this reason, the particular
points of U.S.-Italian agreement set out below will appear by
topics, followed by a summary of the next steps to be taken.

Target Number: 3000 Over 5 Years
--------------


8. Though the G-8 set its headline goal of training 75,000
military peacekeeping troops by 2010, it set no headline goal
for numbers of gendarme troops trained. U.S. and Italian
colleagues agreed on a prospective COESPU target figure of
training about 3000 trainers over a five-year period, or
roughly 600 per year. Logistically speaking, the Vicenza
facility could easily manage such a figure.


9. GOI officials agreed that the number of gendarme trainers
ultimately receiving instruction at the COESPU should depend
more on the availability of qualified trainees than on
prescribed numerical goals. Early success will be crucial in
proving gendarme forces can play a useful role in initial
PSOs and encouraging countries to participate in the training
program. It was anticipated that there might be fewer than
600 trained the first year, but that the goal of 3,000 over 5
years would undoubtedly be met. MFA officials took the point
that quality will be far more important than the absolute
numbers of trainees -- especially at the start.

Terms of Reference
--------------


10. Carabinieri Col. Libertini agreed to provide the MFA and
State with a detailed project proposal along with a shorter
document containing provisional Terms of Reference for the
COESPU. This information could then be used to "market" the
COESPU with prospective participating and contributing
countries. Ms. Kim-Mitchell outlined four general U.S.
goals, which the Italians readily agreed would characterize
the aims of the center:

-- Fostering interoperability between constabulary units of
different countries.
-- Fostering interoperability between constabulary units and
military units; and between gendarme units and police.
-- Providing pre-deployment training -- i.e., training and
preparation for specific peace support missions.
-- Serving as a repository for doctrine relating to the
constabulary dimension of peacekeeping operations, promoting
consistency and commonality with the NATO and EU
gendarme/constabulary doctrine.

Recruitment of Trainees
--------------


11. U.S. and Italian colleagues agreed that COESPU,s focus
should be global. The goal for the COESPU should be to
develop the strongest possible peacekeeping gendarme
capability, taking best advantage of available capabilities.
It will be important to show qualitative success during the
center,s first year in order to ensure support and attract
more countries in the future. The U.S. and Italy will work
together to identify countries with the political will and
institutional capability to field gendarme peacekeeping
forces.

The COESPU Facility
--------------


12. The delegation agreed that the facility in Vicenza is
already essentially prepared to house the COESPU. The
compound was extensively modified and modernized to suit the
Carabinieri,s training needs and is a perfect facility for
the COESPU.


13. The Vicenza center will also serve as the home for the
soon-to-be-launched European Gendarmerie HQ. The Italian,
French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish governments have
agreed in principle to create such a force, which would be


used for peacekeeping purposes as part of the EU,s European
Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and coordinated with NATO
in accordance with the Berlin Plus agreements. The five
countries will sign the formal agreement creating the
European Gendarmerie in September 2005. The HQ staff would
consist of 30-40 gendarme officers from all five countries.
The Carabinieri look forward to constructive interaction
between the European Gendarmerie HQ and the COESPU at the
Vicenza facility.

Curriculum and Staff
--------------


14. The COEPSU training courses will not only consist of
train-the-trainer-courses, but also courses for military
commanders and pre-deployment training. The Carabinieri are
currently drafting a curriculum for the first COESPU course
for mid-level trainers (approximately 4-6 weeks long),to be
offered in early 2005. Ms. Kim-Mitchell emphasized that the
curriculum should include segments on human rights, the Rule
of Law, trafficking in persons, and working with NGOs, and
left copies of curriculum used in U.S. peacekeeping programs
for informational purposes.


15. The Carabinieri will provide teaching and administrative
staff to start up the courses at the COESPU, but it will be
critical to the ultimate success of the COESPU to have G-8
members such as the U.S., France, and other interested
nations and international organizations also contribute
personnel to the staff.

Resources Required
--------------


16. The Carabinieri were not concerned with finding
resources for the COESPU facility as they believe that is in
good shape. However, the MFA raised the issue of resources
with the delegation and stressed that Italy,s contribution
to the COESPU will be limited to providing the facility along
with training and administrative personnel. Ms. Kim-Mitchell
suggested to the MFA that U.S. resources might best be used
to help support bringing students to the center. She
requested that the MFA and Carabinieri create a list of
resource gaps that need to be addressed, for support by the
other G-8 members.

Next Steps
--------------


17. The Carabinieri suggested that the first class of the
COESPU could begin as soon as early 2005. Prior to that, the
concept needs to be refined, the curriculum needs to be
finalized, G-8 and other partners need to be invited to
provide support, and the first groups of trainees need to be
identified.


18. The U.S. and Italian colleagues agreed on the following
steps to reach those goals:

-- The Carabinieri will produce a brief descriptive document
before the end of August with terms of reference and an
outline of the initial curriculum. This brochure, after
being cleared by the U.S., will be used to both solicit
contributions for the center and to solicit personnel to be
trained from selected countries.

-- The Carabinieri will draft a general project proposal for
the COESPU for circulation among G-8 partners in September
(following U.S. clearance). The Carabinieri will outline
specific gaps that should be addressed by contributing
partners so that when the proposal is passed around to the
other G-8 members, they can be addressed.

-- State and the MFA will work together to identify and
select target countries capable of providing qualified
trainees for the first few classes in 2005.

-- State and the MFA will coordinate an approach to the
selected target countries.


-- The Carabinieri will develop the curriculum for the 2005
training program, adopting standards from MSU training and
including parameters for levels of competency of incoming
students. Doctrine will be developed in keeping with EU
standards and adapted to NATO standards as those are
developed.

-- The Carabinieri will produce a list of essential
equipment needed for training for gendarme operations in a
foreign environment.

-- The Carabinieri will calculate an administrative and
material budget along with "tuition" (cost per head) for
trainees.

-- The Carabinieri will host a seminar in Fall 2004 for
representatives from countries with established gendarme
forces and from multilateral and regional organizations
involved in peacekeeping operations.

Brindisi Visit
--------------


19. In support of the G-8 initiative to establish a
transportation and logistics support arrangement, the
delegation traveled to Brindisi on July 20 to visit the UN
Logistics Base (UNLB). The delegation was very impressed
with the facilities and took away many lessons learned from
the UNLB,s experiences.

Comment
--------------


20. The MFA and Carabinieri were both very supportive of the
concept and are eager to move forward. However, there was an
obvious lack of communication between the MFA and the
Carabinieri on the COEPSU project and it will be critical to
keep both of them informed and involved as the project moves
forward. End comment.

Visit Rome's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/rome/index.cf m

SEMBLER


NNNN
2004ROME03061 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED