Building partner capacity through medical engagement

In response to changes in the 2006 Quadrenial Defense Review and the U.S. European Command’s new Strategy for Active Security, engagement has moved to Building Partner Capacity. Medical engagement is an excellent venue to execute this mandate.

This is all about ‘teaching a man to fish.’ Like any quality engagement, it must be built on proper awareness of Host Nation goals, assessments, cultural sensitivity and efficiency through coordinated action. Building this capacity works best when built through sustainable development using local resources and talent. Additionally, quality end states come through measures of effectiveness and reinforcement of transparency and accountability.

Under the State Partnership Program, the North Carolina Guard leveraged local resources and talent to renovate this burn hospital resulting in local doctors saving local lives as well as promoting the legitimacy of the local government.

Medical engagements following this type of approach will involve public health, sanitation, education and facility repair. These have maximum population impact and set the conditions for further development and self sufficiency.

U.S. direct care of host nation civilians - also known as MEDCAPs or MEDRETEs - has long been the main stay of medical engagement. However, it does not build capacity. Though fun to do while generating great photos and happy commanders, it often has many unintended second and third order consequences that include discrediting the local government and medical systems or fostering dependency and mission creep that will later prevent empowerment or self sufficiency.

The State Partner Program is a vital resource in building partner capacity engagement. This program has a 15 year history of success. The tactical advantages come from:

- Long term relationships that last for years – not weeks or days

- Specialty skills through National Guard member’s civilian occupations

- The ability to engage via a military-to-military or military-to-civilian mission, which transforms into a civilian-to-civilian project that partners home-state civilian organizations with the host nations.

We are committed to using medical engagement in building partner capicity and stand ready to help medical mission planners transition from old school MEDCAPs to the new BPC focus.

Lt. Col. Mark Hubner

U.S. European Command

ECJ4 and Office of the Command Surgeon