NATO’s Multinational Military Police Battalion (NATO MNMPBAT) conducted international military exercise Sharp Lynx 19 in Kovčanje Barracks on the island of Lošinj from 11^th to 17^th May. Since it was Croatia’s turn to take on the role of the lead nation in the 2018/2019 cycle, all preliminary tasks were primarily carried out by Croatian NCOs and officers, in tune with the commitments laid out in adopted, ratified and implemented NATO publications on working in an international environment.

Alongside the members of the Croatian Military Police, the exercise’s participants included the Military Gendarmerie from Poland, NATO MNMPBAT’s lead nation, as well as the members of the Czech and Slovak military police. The exercise was conducted as a part of international military exercise Immediate Response 19 and fully met the set objectives and expectations.

During the preparations, Major Andrej Smolek acted as the officer in charge of planning the exercise and as the Head of Exercise Control (EXCON). Major Smolek emphasized that Kovčanje Barracks provided excellent infrastructure for staff operations – a necessity in exercise Sharp Lynx 19. “We set up a forward command post and fulfilled the main objective defined in the exercise scenario – the training of NATO MNMPBAT’s combat staff. Four member nations of NATO MNMPBAT are staying on Lošinj. This year, we have guests from one of NATO’s Centres of Excellence – three officers who followed the preparatory part of the project in their respective functional areas and are now directly involved in the exercise itself. Other guests include observers from the Georgian Military Police, our future partners who are currently part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme, and a guest from Spain who has come here to acquire experience that might be applied to Spain’s Civil Guard,” Major Smolek explained.

The preparations for this year’s edition of Sharp Lynx, hosted by the Croatian Military Police, began at a conference held at the Croatian Defence Academy “Dr. Franjo Tuđman” in Zagreb in 2018. Major Dejan Džidić, Exercise Director (EXDIR) of Sharp Lynx 19, told us more about the planning process: “The preliminary and action paperwork necessary for the organization and execution of SHLX19 was drafted by a planning team made up of the representatives of four nations participating in the project, with Major Andrej Smolek being the head of the team. The main objective was to create a scenario that would follow NATO’s military police doctrine (AJP-3.21) and enable the training of NATO’s staff NCOs and officers for tasks on the level of a multinational battalion. The emphasis was on mobility support tasks: through the military decision-making process, NATO MNMPBAT was to be prepared for providing support during the relocation of the Adriatic Charter’s Multinational Battalion from Eugen Kvaternik Training Area to Kaposvár, Hungary. All obligatrory parts of the exercise were conducted on a high level and the main objectives were achieved: the training of NATO MNMPBAT’s Staff for the upcoming international exercise Griffin Lightning II and the MNMPBAT’s live exercise (LIVEX), which is to be conducted in Poland next year,” Major Džidić underlined.

NATO MNMPBAT is a multinational military police battalion within NATO established on the initiative of Poland in Warsaw on 22^nd June 2007. The Battalion’s headquarters is situated in NATO’s base in the Polish city of Gliwice, where the Croatian Military Police participated in a joint exercise for the first time in 2008. Major Josip Ivanić, Senior Adviser at Croatian Ministry of Defence’s Independent Military Police Sector, performed the duty of the Multinational Military Police Battalion’s Second-in-Command during exercise Sharp Lynx 19.

“I have been involved with the project directly or indirectly for a number of years, since the very beginning. In view of my duties in the Croatian Military Police, I have been part of all processes that have to do with the selection, training and deployment of Croatian military policemen to NATO MNMPBAT’s activities. Likewise, I have been following their performance and analysing all submitted reports. Throughout all these years of all labour and throughout all conducted training activities, from the most basic ones (knowledge of procedures) to the most complex ones (NATO LIVEX), continuous progress has been visible. It is evident that participants of various training cycles have acquired a good portion of procedures, especially on the required level of interoperability which was attained a long time ago,” Major Ivanić explained and concluded: “The objective and purpose of NATO MNMPBAT’s existence is to give its members a platform where they can train for high-quality execution of their duties in potential NATO operations, missions or activities.”

Colonel Mate Radoš, Commander of the Military Police Regiment / Officer Scheduling the Exercise (OSE) and Chairman at Sharp Lynx 19

It has been over ten years since the Croatian Armed Forces’ Military Police first took part in an exercise in Gliwice. NATO MNMPBAT was still in the making at the time. How has the project evolved since and where does it stand today?

Through daily training, exercises and evaluation in line with the Combat Readiness Evaluation of the Land Forces (CREVAL) tool, NATO MNMPBAT has attained a high level of recognisability in the past decade. It is the only platform for training battalion-level multinational military police forces in staff operations. It ought to be emphasized that NATO MNMPBAT’S constant ambition is an affiliation with NATO’s Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC-NE). So as to attain that objective, the evaluation of the Battalion in multinational military exercises organized by the MNC-NE has been defined as a priority for 2020 by NATO MNMPBAT’s Command ad Coordination Group (CCG).

How important is the experience of working in a multinational environment for the Croatian Military Police?

For the Croatian Military Police, this experience is of great importance and value. An entire generation of Military Police NCOs and officers have been given an opportunity to work, study and train in a multinational environment on all levels – from a tactical level to the level of planning, conducting and participating in international military exercises, planning military police operations, missions and activities as well as conducting military police tactical tasks. Owing to this project, the Croatian Military Police today has educated and trained NCOs and officers who are ready to actively take part in the work of NATO’s multinational staffs and units. This project’s greatest value lies in the fact that Croatian Military Police forces have attained a level of interoperability with their partners in NATO across all components (exchangeability and compatibility in procedures). The exchange of tactics, techniques and procedures while conducting military police tasks in an international environment is of immense value for the Croatian Military Police. It gives us an opportunity to reliably test our equipment and materiel before being deployed to the area of operations, missions and NATO activities.

How much has Croatia contributed to the quality of the NATO MNMPBAT project with its experience from the country’s Homeland War (1991-1995)?

The experience has proven to be invaluable to NCOs and officers who have made up the backbone of the Croatian Military Police team from the time they took part in creating NATO MNMPBAT until today. Our war experience, attitude towards service, esprit de corps and patriotism are values that our partners have recognized and that they appreciate. Every meeting with them is a testament to that.

What is the role of NATO MNMPBAT in Immediate Response 19?

International military exercise Sharp Lynx 19 (SHLX19) is an essential part of international military exercise Immediate Response 19 (IMRE19) and follows its scenario. The objective is to train the Battalion’s staff in planning mobility support operations and in military decision-making processes. Likewise, NATO MNMPBAT is represented by a Croatian Military Police platoon in exercise IMRE19.  The role of the platoon, which is a part of BLUFOR, is to provide military police support to mobility operations conducted by the Adriatic Charter’s Multinational Battalion as it relocates from Eugen Kvaternik Training Area in Slunj to Kaposvár, Hungary.

What are further plans for NATO MNMPBAT? Is its expansion to new members expected?

NATO MNMPBAT’s primary objective is the affiliation with MNC-NE. It will remain a platform for training forces to conduct military police tasks and for testing NATO’s military police doctrine publications. Last year, NATO MNMPBAT’s Command and Coordination group (CCG) received a request for the inclusion of the Georgian Military Police into the project. In April, evaluators were sent to Georgia to assess its military police forces. Likewise, the CCG has held multilateral talks with the Georgian military and diplomatic delegation and other international partners so as to define the steps of the inclusion process. It is important to emphasize that the expansion was instigated as a part of the the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, a defence capacity building programme endorsed at NATO’s 2014 Wales Summit.

Text by LADA PULJIZEVIĆ

Photo by MLADEN ČOBANOVIĆ

Translation by IVA GUGO