On 9-10 May 2011, Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast (HQ MNC NE) made another big step in the direction of the Crystal Eagle 2012 exercise.
In these days Baltic Barracks hosted representatives from various nations and units during the Initial Planning Conference. Representatives from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and the USA arrived in Szczecin to discuss and coordinate the exercise design and role of different elements and units during that exercise.
The Crystal Eagle 2012 exercise is going to be the HQ MNC NE major training event after the deployment to Afghanistan in 2010. Therefore, the aim of this exercise is to train nominated formations in Crisis Response Operations scenario with High Intensity Warfare aspects in order to pass Lessons Learnt from the HQ MNC NE ISAF deployment.
The aim of Initial Planning Conference, or IPC as it is commonly abbreviated, was to confirm the requirements, develop commitments and capture pertinent information required to develop and coordinate a draft exercise plan, and to further develop the scenario. To accomplish that aim, all participants were divided into four working groups which focused on specific pieces of work.
Working Group 1 under the lead of Major Tomasz Garbarczyk from G 3 Division, was focused on the overall organisational issues of the exercise, starting from reviewing requirements, tasks and milestones and ending with assessment of Exercise Control, manning and resources including the confirmation of player headquarters / forces level and scope of their participation. Working Group 2 under the lead of Lieutenant Colonel Michael Bush from G 5 Division, was working on the exercise scenario with the main aim to shape it in the way so that it would meet the requirements of the training audience. Working Group 3, under the lead of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Griesshammer from G 6 Division, was dealing with Communication Information System set-up. That included the connectivity of the different Command and Control Information Systems, provision of enough Information Technology equipment and the build-up of a Command Post. Working Group 4, under the lead of Lieutenant Colonel Bogdan Dobrowolski, the Chief of the Staff Support branch, was discussing real life support issues. That involved the coordination of messing, accommodation, host nation support, physical security, medical support and many other very important issues. Cooperation and coordination of the different working groups was supervised by the Chief Training & Exercise Lieutenant Colonel Olaf Werner.
Overall the conference was a successful event during which a lot of things have been moved forward. It also gave the feeling to HQ MNC NE members and other IPC participants that the Crystal Eagle 2012 exercise is going to be a successful and valuable event. Currently, there is still much to do, however, HQ MNC NE is on the right way to its biggest and most important event after its deployment to Afghanistan in 2010.
