Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT) Staff Element Europe (SEE) in Mons, Belgium hosted the “CIMIC in the Maritime Environment Experiment Seminar” on 9 December where experimenters and analysts from HQ SACT supported Alliance capability development.

"Maritime forces have always conducted CIMIC type functions but never labelled it CIMIC," said NATO Allied Command Transformation’s Experiment Lead, Operational Experimentation Branch, CDR Alexander Heinrich. Heinrich also explained that further work is required to resolve the current ambiguities that exist around the current definition of CIMIC and the term “Civil-Military Interaction (CMI)”.

The following participants in the seminar contributed to the experiment’s year-long work programme, as well as supporting this culminating seminar event: The Civil-Military Interaction (CMI) Directorate at Allied Command Operations (ACO), Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) and the CIMIC Centre of Excellence (C CoE). Other participants included National representatives from Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain and the United States. A senior executive from Royal Dutch Shell Oil Corporation provided vital insights and expertise from industry. Other NATO entities represented included JFC Brunssum, JFC Lisbon, Maritime Commands Naples and Northwood, the Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC), the Confined and Shallow Waters Centre of Excellence (CSW CoE), Defence Against Terrorism Centre of Excellence (DAT CoE), the Command and Control Centre of Excellence (C2 CoE) and the Combined and Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS CoE).

Members of the audience helped to inform and refine the results of studies conducted by the ACT experimentation and analysis team, supported by the CIMIC CoE.

Findings and conclusions from the seminar will contribute to enhancement and integration of the unique maritime capabilities in future CIMIC capability developments.

Products from this Maritime/CIMIC initiative will include a guidebook to assist the joint operational-level and tactical maritime staffs in managing civil-military interactions and a detailed Experiment Report, both of which will be available early in 2011.

From left to right: Col Kasselmann Director C CoE, BGen Beneta Director ACO OPO CMI Directorate,
MGen Willemse ACT ACOS C4ISR & NNEC, Dr. Bergeron POLAD STRIKFORNATO and US COMSIXTHFLT,
CDR Heinrich ACT Experiment Lead ACT Operational Experimentation Branch