Brigadier General Josef Heinrichs, Chief of Staff of Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE), took part in the Leadership Exercise led by the German Armed Forces Command (GARFCOM), which took place from 19 to 23 January 2009 in Hamburg.
Leadership Exercises are usually organised once a year, however, for the first time, along with commanders of the German Army divisions and brigades, general officers from multinational headquarters were invited to attend the exercise. They were assigned as deputy commanders to divisional commanders. Therefore, Brigadier General Heinrichs deputized the Commander of the 13th Division, a unit cooperating with MNC NE.
High ranking officers could practice leadership and doctrinal principles as well as decision making processes in a narrow circle. It was also an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas on how to employ army forces in a complex and dynamic mission environment. Additionally, the officers had some practice in using the correct tactical language and dealing with media.
Each day of the exercise, apart from the first one fully devoted to lectures, was initiated by a keynote speaker addressing the main topic of the day. Afterwards, the tactical situation within the area of operation was presented, which was followed by developing a decision making process conducted by division and brigade commanders with their small staff groups. Afterwards, all the results were presented and thoroughly discussed. It is worth stressingthat all those presentations were prepared and given in English-a standard NATO language.
Azoria
For the needs of the exercise, a generic scenario was developed. On one of the islands located in the Atlantic Ocean called Azoria, there were three neighbouring states – neutral, democratic and a fundamentalist one. Tensions between the latter two resulted in creating a joint NATO Force, which was employed to keep peace and enforce it, if necessary. A German division, together with four multinational brigades, was subordinated to a Land Component Command and sent to the region. Therefore, the division and its brigades’ commanders were the Training Audience of the exercise.
Benefits for all
Even though the Leadership Exercise was purely national, the participation of general officers from multinational headquarters gave it a broader context. Benefits resulting from the exercise were numerous. First of all, a limited number of personnel being the Training Audience allowed for putting the entire emphasis on the leaders’ activities, not staff work and activities of troops on the ground. Secondly, the exercise was an excellent opportunity to practise and to learn how to implement new national doctrines, especially newly prepared so called Field Manuals, which perfectly fit to NATO standards, procedures and planning processes.
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