Military-to-Military Engagement Program

The Military-to-Military Engagement Program (mil-to-mil or M2M) is spearheaded at EUCOM by the J5 though multiple directorates, staff sections, National Guard units, and the component commands have a role carrying out the mission.

Among the more than 1,400 annual M2M individual engagements are the State Partnership Program, traveling contact teams, military liaison teams, military and government exchange programs, and seminars and conferences among various nation's militaries. 

One of those programs, the M2M Legal Engagement Program, is designed to improve EUCOM’s understanding of foreign Ministries of Defense and their general staff. It tracks partner national defense legal reform efforts, resolves legal issues and helps identify current and potential future legal leaders of their respective governments. The program helps eliminate legal impediments to operational activities by expanding EUCOM’s understanding of other countries’ legal systems the international agreement negotiating process. The M2M program also coordinates annual reciprocal visits to partner nations to:

• Build relationships to shape the legal environment
• Develop partner country legal environment expertise
• Drive changes to systems and practices to enable cooperation

The outreach program aims to ensure subject matter experts meet and establish contact before an emergency and discuss areas of possible conflict in advance, which is especially critical to exercises, joint operations or basing agreements.

Another component of the M2M program is the NATO/Partnership for Peace Chaplain Operation Course held in Oberammergau, Germany. The course educates participating nations' chaplains on issues -- including ethics and reconciliatory techniques -- affecting their ability to perform cooperative ministry and religious advisory duties in a multinational operational environment.