EUROPEAN UNION EXERCISES BATTLEGROUP COMMAND AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 004333

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR P (DBAME),EUR/ERA, AND EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2015
TAGS: PREL MOPS EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN UNION EXERCISES BATTLEGROUP COMMAND AND
CONTROL

REF: A. BRUSSELS 02569 B. BRUSSELS 01904 C. BRUSSELS
01164 D. BRUSSELS 04 05308 E. USEU TODAY
NOVEMBER 22

Classified By: USEU Charge d'affaires Michael McKinley for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. The EU began an exercise November 22 to test
the Command and Control procedures linking the "political
level" in Brussels with a Framework Nation EU Operational
Headquarters and with a deployable Force Headquarters in the
case of an EU Battlegroup deployment. NATO International
Staff elected not to observe. The MILEX exercise was
scheduled to end December 1. End summary.


2. (C) The European Union began an exercise dubbed MILEX 05
on November 22. The Command Post Exercise (CPX),coordinated
by the EU Military Staff in Brussels, tested the Command and
Control system between the "political level" in Brussels, and
for exercise purposes, an Operational Headquarters (OHQ -
located in Paris) and a Force Headquarters (FHQ -- located in
Ulm Germany) for the deployment of an EU Battlegroup. (Refs
B-D) This is the first time an EU Framework Nation OHQ has
been activated as part of an ESDP exercise. MILEX also
tested the "augmentation" procedures that will provide
additional officers for the HQ in the event of a deployment.
The exercise was under the "guidance" of the EU's Political
and Security Committee. The scenario for the exercise
"supported the need" for an autonomous EU-led operation which
required the deployment of military forces. As in other
recent Battlegroup seminars and workshops, the issue of
recourse to SHAPE as the OHQ under the Berlin Plus
arrangements was left unaddressed, as the exercises focus on
autonomous EU-led operations. For MILEX. the specific
scenario unfolded as growing friction between ethnic groups
over contested territory on the fictitious island of
"Atlantia."


3. (C) MILEX 05 focused exclusively on the military aspects
of crisis management. Some 375 "players" and supporting
personnel took part in the exercise, scheduled to last until
December 1. We were told by Olaf Stocker, Defense Advisor at
the German Representation to the EU (protect),that under
agreed procedures, NATO was invited to observe the exercise.
According to Ilay Ferrier (UK) in the NATO International
Staff (IS) Operations office, it was mutually agreed that
there would be little to be gained by NATO observing the EU
Military Staff's "white cell" role in Brussels since the
focus is on internal EU procedures. MILEX was briefed to NATO
November 21, and the IS made the allies aware of the
exercise. The EU first briefed MILEX to NATO in April 2005.


4. (C) In the April session, the EU also briefed NATO on
their planning for MILEX-06 which was to occur 27 March - 6
April 2006. This was to be another Command Post-type
exercise, based on a scenario for an EU-led operation with
recourse to NATO assets and capabilities to support the
implementation of an EU-brokered Framework Agreement. The
exercise was to occur at EUMS in Brussels, with an EU OHQ at
SHAPE, and at an activated EU Field HQ. The scenario was to
draw upon NATO-EU crisis management exercises from 2003,
where D/SACEUR was previously appointed EU Op Cdr with his EU
OHQ at SHAPE. MILEX-06 was to focus on the interaction
between the EU OHQ at SHAPE and an EU FHQ, in order to
develop the Planning Guidance, draft CONOPS and SOR. In
June, the EU canceled its MILEX-06 exercise for a "variety of
reasons," but most notably (per IS' Mr. Ferrier) because of
the EU's inability to get agreement on which EU Field HQ to
activate to support MILEX-06.


5. (C) MILEX 05 represented the next step in the "natural
progression" of the UK Presidency's goal of making ESDP more
capable, more coherent, and more active. (See ref A.) Plans
are already progressing for the next series of exercises in
2007 which will test the Command and Control for
multinational Battlegroups. According to Lt. Colonel Bertie
Polley of UKEU, discussions are already underway between the
UK and Sweden, lead nation of the "Nordic Battlegroup." Each
Battlegroup in the rotation schedule will be tied to one of
the four identified national OHQs to be available within the
EU. The lead nation for a multinational Battlegroup will sign
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the nation providing
the OHQ setting out the details of the arrangement. Current
plans call for OHQs to be made available by the French
(Paris),the Germans (Potsdam),Italy (site undetermined),
and the UK (Northwoods.) Discussions are still ongoing
concerning possible use of the EU Operations Center to be
established in Brussels in 2006 as an OHQ for future
deployments.

6. (C) Comment: MILEX was launched with great fanfare at the
same time as the EDA Code of Conduct for Defense Procurement
was announced. The military implications of the exercise may
be limited, but the move was presented politically as a
significant enhancement of Battlegroup development. This is
the first time an EU OHQ has been stood up for an exercise.
Although NATO International Staff and Missions were briefed
early in the year, the timing of the announcement caught many
by surprise. In subsequent conversations with senior EU ESDP
policymakers, Charge emphasized the importance of
transparency and the need for greater dialogue on operational
aspects related to standing up Battlegroups. Clearly more
needs to be done to improve communication as Battlegroup
development proceeds.

McKinley
.