Standardised urban warfare training is essential for future conflict

April 1, 2011 - PRLog -- 01/04/2011, IQPC, London.

Joint urban SERE training capabilities will have a huge impact the way that forces operate in future conflicts especially with regards to coalition missions like the one currently being played out in Libya.

Talking to Defence IQ ahead of the Joint Personnel Recovery event in June, Major Bart Holewijn, Commander at the Royal Netherlands SERE School, said that standard joint capabilities as outlined in the latest NATO doctrine, released in January, will ensure standardised training methods that would not have been considered six months ago.

"In the past if you were working in a coalition you would sit together and talk about what procedures you should follow. Of course everyone had their own national procedures and you had to try and find some common ground."

"The fact that training is now standardised will very much help in PR missions and future NATO operations as people now know that these are the methods that we need to adhere to. It makes procedure more easy to follow."

With defence budgets being cut Major Holewijn also states that it makes sense for countries to set up joint training ventures such as the one between the Netherlands and Belgian training schools that he heads up.

"Combining schools into a multi-lateral or bi-lateral school system could make it much more efficient to train students and ultimately save money, which is a consequence of decreasing budgets. Working together will be the biggest trend over the next 12 months."

Major Holewijn also stated that more emphasis will be placed on training troops for exploitation on TV which he believes is a much bigger problem than interrogation when they are captured.

-Ends-

Notes:

Joint Personnel Recovery 2011 will take place at Le Meridien Piccadilly in London on 28th - 29th June 2011. Major Holewijn and other prominent speakers on the subject of personnel recovery will give an insight into the new developments in the field. For more information please visit www.jointpersonnelrecovery.com.