The MNC NE Deputy Commander Major General Ole Køppen represented the Corps during the Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) Componency Conference, which took place on 10th December 2008 in Rheindahlen, near Mönchengladbach, Germany.
The conference was organised at the Headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) and hosted by the ARRC’s Commander Lieutenant General Richard Shirreff. Among about 100 invited guests, there were members of different NATO Commands and Headquarters as well as military representatives from the UK and the US and others. One of them was Major General Ole Køppen, Deputy Commander of the MNC NE.
The opening statement for the conference was delivered by the ARRC’s Commander Lieutenant General Richard Shirreff, who presented the main topic and concern for the meeting – regular forces for irregular challenges. The speakers as well as the conference participants focused on the implications of the contemporary and future operating environment for armed forces. The issue whether traditional force structures and conventional means are capable of meeting the current challenges was discussed.
The keynote speaker was General James Mattis, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, who noticed that a broad variety of military means should be available to meet different and constantly evolving challenges. He used the term “hybrid war” to describe the increasing complexity of current challenges in operations. Therefore, as he said, implementing new technology is not enough. The ability of military leaders to mentally adapt to the changing situation he considered the most important.
Another speaker, prof. Phil Taylor focused on the information battle space and the power of the Internet. He mentioned the fact that in the past, the information battle was in the minority, whereas now it is dominating over the real actions taking place.
The topic of military – civilian cooperation was also thoroughly discussed. The military simply cannot operate successfully without support from the local authorities and other civilian organisations. As a result, the sense of joint effort is the most important. The ARCC’s Chief of Staff suggested that a joint inter agency task force would be a good solution.
The Deputy Commander Major General Køppen assessed his participation in the conference as very useful allowing for bringing in the most current concepts and ideas.
