Given the complexity and intensity of current multinational military operations, it is important to achieve the highest degree of interoperability possible in all areas, including the training of forces in the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC).

NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 2449 sets out a minimum standard of necessary training for NATO forces and provides an outline of a training program useful to all military personnel, and to noncommissioned and commissioned officers specifically.

NATO STANAG 2449 provides not only a guideline for nations to use in the training of their forces, but also a basis upon which to assess their respective programs at the macro level in terms of interoperability.

The STANAG 2449 LOAC WG is part of the NATO Training Group structure and works on the amendment of the STANAG 2449.

Allied Command Staff Element Europe located at SHAPE, Belgium, will host the next meeting that will commence on Monday, 5 December and is planned to conclude on Thursday, 8 December. The first task of this meeting will be to produce the final text of the second edition of STANAG 2449 with a Law Of Armed Conflict teaching template. The second task will be to draft a standardization proposal for a new STANAG about NATO’s Rules of Engagement and the use and escalation of force.