Cooperate and Graduate; Interagency Advancements

I participated on Sept. 23 in anexercise in the city where the Peace Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648, ending 30 years of warfare between Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire, I was left with the decided impression that today we certainly live in a post-Westphalian world. Unlike then, today’s issues are no longer solved by military means alone. This exercise, COMMON EFFORT, involved a notional UN-backed NATO deployment to Africa. It had some 500 multinational participants, 150 of whom were civilians from more than 30 organizations. Soldiers were still, like in 1648, major players, but rightfully they were only a part of the solution and not the entire solution.

Admiral Stavridis, our EUCOM Commander, flanked by the 1st German/Netherlands Corps Commander, LTG van Loon, and senior visitors to COMMON EFFORT in Muenster.

This Whole of Government-focused exercise demonstrated the criticality of constant dialogue between the military and other key stakeholders such as law enforcement, development, non- governmental, and diplomacy actors. For while the military is still very often a lead in “Comprehensive Approach” efforts, because they are often the first to deploy, the military also meets on the ground in a crisis area many other Departments, Agencies, Organizations and groups with similar objectives but different structures and cultures.

Two key lessons became immediately apparent during COMMON EFFORT; one, it is all about communication and two, negotiation is a necessary art. To be effective in responding to today’s crises, the worn mantra of “information is power” has to be overcome by transparency and information sharing. Constant dialogue was essential during this exercise; with NGOs, international partners, international organizations such as the UN and NATO, and other federal departments and ministries. We learned, adapted and exercised a kind of “interaction on steroids” and we were all better for it.

The importance of negotiation was the second important reminder for me. It is a key to engaging and overcoming the challenges presented by different cultures. Not just different national cultures, but the different cultures evident between Departments and Ministries and among NGO and military communities. It is thru negotiation that you can achieve “unity of purpose”.

In reality the Comprehensive Approach is just a means to an end. Negotiations among Departments helps leverage a cross-departmental group of experts, from Foreign, Developmental, and Defense ministries , for example, to all be focused on a common problem-set.

(L-R) Dana Chivers, OFDA, me, ADM Stavridis, Cathy Blank, DOS, Pat Shapiro, USAID, and Ambassador Larry Butler at the “US Country Team” in “Tytan”.

Our J9-Interagency Partnering Directorate replicated a “US Country Team”, an American embassy, during the exercise complete with representation from our Departments of State (DOS) and Defense and our Agency for International Development (USAID). Our Commander, Admiral Stavridis, and our Civilian Deputy to the Commander, Ambassador Butler, also attended the COMMON EFFORT exercise.

I know that we all left Muenster, voted Europe’s “most livable city” in 2009 for good cause, believing that we had just witnessed a bold exercise. This was not a typical military exercise planned in “splendid isolation”, but rather one that was comprehensive in its involvement of all stakeholders throughout the design, planning, organization and execution phases.

COMMON EFFORT was uncommonly beneficial as a template for some of our future EUCOM exercises and it was a rewarding effort, one that EUCOM J9 was pleased to have actively participated in over the past 10 months.

Mike Anderson
Deputy Director
J9 Interagency Partnering Directorate