ISAF mission 2010
As soon as the mission in Afghanistan in 2007 finished, the Corps focused on sharing experiences gained in theatre with other commands and units as well improving its own mission preparation process. This proved useful as the preparations for the next deployment to Afghanistan started already in 2009.
Due to the fact that the Joint Force Command Brunssum considered the MNC NE previous mission preparation process a model, the Corps staff followed a similar schedule. The process encompassed mission preparation lectures, individual training, including the electronic Advance Distributed Learning course, national training activities as well as exercises such as FAT Eagle exercise held at Baltic Barracks in November 2009 and Mission Rehearsal Training/Mission Rehearsal Exercise at the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, in November/December 2009. Selected personnel participated in key leaders training and specialist courses.
From February to August 2010, majority of approximately 130 MNC NE personnel deployed to Afghanistan served at the new ISAF Joint Command, an operational level headquarters. Similarly to the last deployment, their positions were spread all over different branches, which provided an opportunity for the Szczecin-based Corps to gain much varied mission experience.
Garrison Headquarters
While around 130 Corps servicemen were on the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission to Afghanistan, the Headquarters itself implemented a temporary structure called Garrison Headquarters in order to provide the minimum capabilities to tackle all statutory tasks and duties of the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast.
The reorganized Headquarters structure consisted of the Command Group and three Divisions: Personnel, Operations and Support. The divisions covered the whole spectrum of the Headquarters’ activities. The Operations Centre (OPSCEN) functioning within the Operations Divisions ensured an adequate exchange of information between the Garrison Headquarters and MNC NE personnel in Afghanistan.
In order to provide assistance to families of the deployed personnel, regular activities of the National Support Elements and Senior National Officers were reinforced by the Family Care Centre, an organisation established prior to the mission. It offered not only aid in case of emergency but also carried out a number of integration events for the families of the deployed and GHQ members.
As soon as the mission in Afghanistan was completed in August 2010, the Headquarters returned to its regular structure. Since then, the main effort has been sharing mission experiences with others and drawing on the mission experiences. The Corps' personnel as Subject Matter Experts have been assisting other headquarters and commands in their mission preparations processes.
