On 20 and 21 January 2011, Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) Lieutenant General Rainer Korff participated in a summary session and final conference of the Leadership Exercise (“Führungsübung 2011”) led by the German Army Forces Command (GARFCOM).
The main idea of the exercise was to explore concepts of military and civilian cooperation within the German Army Forces. Since so-called Comprehensive Approach is very much discussed in NATO, also the MNC NE Commander was interested in conclusions derived from the exercise.
Throughout the whole week, from 17 to 21 January 2011, Commanders, their Deputies and 1st General Staff Officers from all German Divisions and Brigades participated in the exercise together with civilian experts from Governmental, Non-Governmental and International Organisations, Ministries and other civilian agencies.
During the last “Führungsübung” exercise in 2010 a Land Component Command operational design was created, whereas this year the idea was to step down to a multinational division which enters the theatre after a transition phase to conduct a stabilization operation. After a series of lectures, the exercise participants – both military and civilian – worked in groups to define possible lines of cooperation within areas such as power supply, health care, food, water, counter insurgency etc. On the fourth day of the exercise, all working groups presented their plans of coordinated activities involving civilian as well as military concepts. 
During a final conference held on the last day of the exercise, Commander GARFCOM Lieutenant General Carl Hubertus von Butler summarized the exercise and evaluated it as a very good one allowing for deep integration of civilian representatives. “It was not the first ‘Führungsübung’ I participated in but it was very interesting to see how these lines of cooperation were discussed and supported by civilian players,” admitted the MNC NE Commander Lieutenant General Rainer Korff after the exercise. “It was also very important for me to see there is a common understanding of Comprehensive Approach. It confirmed my belief that the Comprehensive Approach has to play a decisive role in our Crystal Eagle 2012 exercise,” the MNC NE Commander said.
Photos by K. Winkler
