With an overarching idea to keep Multinational Corps Northeast modern, follow current developments in NATO and contemporary challenges and ensure the Corps’ recognized and sustained character, the Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE), Lieutenant General Rainer Korff, issued “Vision 2015” defining the Corps’ future.
Grounds
Lieutenant General Rainer Korff: Let me consider the historical background for a new Vision of Multinational Corps Northeast first. The Corps served more than 11 years in a very successful way; it received Full Operational Capability in 2005, and accomplished two successful ISAF missions in Afghanistan. But we are living in a developing security environment. Especially here, in our Corps, we have a very specific regional focus. There are going to be new members in NATO and probably more Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations, too. We have to face operational and technical challenges because of the changing character of missions. And last but not least, we need to manage financial limitations imposed by the nations.
The new Vision provides a basis for development and modernization of the Corps. This document should be seen as a new roadmap for the Multinational Corps Northeast for the next 5 years, until 2015, hence the name of it: “Vision 2015”.
The Vision
My overall goal is to make the Corps modern, attractive, flexible and, above all, effective and efficient. My goal is a recognized, sustainable Corps of high quality, with best trained members for all the missions given to us.
The Vision includes basic military tasks for the Corps laid down in the Corps’ basic documents: to deploy and operate in Article 5 and Non-Article 5 Operations, to train and operate the Headquarters (HQ) and the affiliated forces based on NATO doctrine and procedures. None of these have changed. We still have to be prepared for crisis management and peace support operations under UN, NATO or other Chapter 7 arrangements. We still have to be ready for disaster relief operations as well as humanitarian and rescue missions. That is a very high level of ambition to bring all these aspects together in the new Vision.
The first step on the way to a modernized Corps is to reconstruct the internal structure of the Headquarters in order to adapt to anticipated challenges, and to shape the Corps’ new profile. Within the framework of financial and personnel resources, it would mean adopting our structure to mirror structures of other corps and creating two new Staff Divisions: G7 and G9. I also presented to the Corps Committee the possibility to create the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) level at the HQ. I think that is a good way ahead.
Another aspect of the Vision is the role of the Corps in the region. From a political and historical point of view, the Corps has always served as a bridgehead due to its distinctive location on the soil of a former Warsaw Pact country. For that reason, we have also been given an important task of being ambassadors of the Corps and NATO in this particular area.
It is a very unique role for us to be the NATO Corps to integrate new NATO and PfP nations. The Framework Nations, i.e. Denmark, Germany and Poland, expect us to be really multinational and encourage us to further increase the multinational character of the Headquarters and to integrate even more nations. This concept of widening multinationality fits perfectly into a new motto of the Corps: “NATO Corps of the Baltic Region. In the spirit of integration“.
Vision 2015 has also a chapter dealing with relations within NATO: just like in the past, our aim is to maintain close ties with our sister corps within the NATO Force Structure, but also to develop relationships with partner organisations of the NATO Command Structure.
Our focus is also cooperation with civilian organisations to increase our capabilities in civil-military cooperation starting here, in the region and ending up with missions. Another aspect is informing the public about the Corps – its role, tasks and missions.
Training & exercise constitute an obvious part of the Vision. We have to face new challenges, the character of the mission or our task will change in the future, too. We have to learn about new NATO staff procedures. We have to be on a solid platform for mission preparations all the time, not only immediately prior to a deployment. At the moment, we have a long way ahead to hold the high level of experience and training before the next deployment planned for 2014. In accordance with the training & exercise calendar, we go step by step with exercises, not to speak of the newcomers who have to be integrated into the structures.
The Vision is based on that what we have learned during missions and exercises, especially considering the two very successful missions in Afghanistan. At this point I would like to highlight the concept of cross-functionality that we have experienced in ISAF. Our intention is to check the possibility to integrate cross-functionality into our Corps structure which we will do during our exercises this year.
The Vision is also dedicated to our own identification with the Corps, with our job and tasks. That contributes to corporate identity of each Corps member. I find it important that people like to work here and bring in their skills and efforts, not only during exercises, but also in the daily routine work. And I mean the military and civilian personnel of the Headquarters, National Support Elements, Headquarters Company and Command Support Brigade. A common motto and a badge is just a starting point.
Putting Vision into practice 
Vision 2015 is a fine document, but it requires further operationalization, in other words: bringing the Vision into practice. Some steps, lines of operations, are required in order to create an operational design. This will be done around four major lines of operations: communication, multinationality, operations and community.
Communication refers to communication within the Headquarters itself and beyond. That is why, for example, we are going to increase the number of working stations operating within the NATO Secret local area network. It will give the Corps a chance to be a more active member of the NATO family.
Then, there is multinationality, which in connection with our new motto “NATO Corps of the Baltic Region. In the spirit of integration” implies further widening of our multinational family.
There are operations and training ensuring a high level of capabilities and skills of MNC NE personnel.
And last but not least: the community. Based on ideas of identification, corporate identity and the Corps’ values, we are aiming at achieving a sustainable Corps, the Corps we can all be proud of.
Concepts shaping these four lines of operations are obviously not new. We have worked on multinationality in the past; we have integrated eight countries into the Corps’ structure. We were on operations; there were good exercises in the past, too. But now the lines of operations have to focus on what is new: NATO concepts, for example Comprehensive Approach or cross functionality which influence how and what we train. My intention is to improve our skills by using concrete mission experiences in order to develop our ability to work in operations. It is about innovation, creativity and pro-activeness. People shall invest their ideas and experience in our development to be a better Corps.
For sure, there must also be a connection between these steps in the development, and prioritization deciding on what should come first. You cannot achieve, for instance, corporate identity without having common values. We need to define what effect has to be achieved in order to proceed with the next step; consequently, a kind of controlling tool is necessary. We simply need to know where we are at the moment in a given line of operation: What stage of development are we in? Do we have to change our main point of effort?
Talking about prioritization in more detail, structure review is the first priority at the moment as a prerequisite for changes in many other areas. If you have a structure review accomplished, you can talk about cross-functionality, if you talk about cross-functionality, you can adopt and adjust the training & exercise contents, if you are in the training & exercise area, you have to consider a kind of mission you have to prepare for. Besides that, we are working on adjacent topics: the Corps’ values, code of conduct, cross functionality, training and many others.
The second priority is the area of multinationality. Since the process of structure review is now being managed by the working levels, I have chosen multinationality to be my personal focus at the moment. To integrate more participating states and PfP nations and to push the affiliation process a little bit further.
The third priority is training & exercise. Everything what we are doing in the next two years is focused on the Crystal Eagle 2012 exercise and, at the same time, the participation in Polish national exercises. After Crystal Eagle 2012, we have only one Polish national exercise before we start with our mission preparation process. That is a clear way ahead.
First Results
The first result is full support and appreciation of the Corps Committee members for the Vision 2015. The approved Vision gave way for “first hard facts on the table”: the ongoing structure review, a new motto and code of conduct being introduced. Based on the training & exercise calendar the Corps is very busy with exercises on the way for the major training event of 2012, i.e. the Crystal Eagle exercise. With reference to the Vision, for the first time in the Corps history, the Corps staff is integrated in Polish national exercises which will surely improve mutual relations with the Host Nation.
During the last Corps Committee, our lines of operations and operational design were approved, giving us a green light for more detailed work to be prepared for the next meeting: the decisive points, the effects we are aiming at, the connection between these lines of operations and influence of one area on another. This is going to be a process and we have to adapt and adjust what is necessary.
The Corps of 2015
It would be easy to think of the Corps of 2015 provided that there would be no influence from the outside. In such an artificial environment, it would be enough to define a roadmap and follow it continuously until 2015.
This, for sure, will not happen.
We will be i
nfluenced by decisions taken on the NATO Command Structure, new developments in our own countries or maybe by a mission which is not planned yet. We will get a new shape and hopefully host more personnel from other countries. We will be well trained based on our lessons learned and training opportunities offered by others. We will still be ambassadors of the Corps in this very unique location. For sure, the Corps will develop in a quite good way, it will be modernized. And all this is fully in line with the Vision 2015 which is a living document, a starting point for many activities and a fine reference book.
Lieutenant General Rainer Korff
Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast
