Experiences from KFOR 5 and implications for defence planning, national contributions and operational analysis - symposium report - Oslo 16-17 January 2002

Abstract

On 16-17 January 02, FFI hosted a high-level symposium in Oslo on experiences from KFOR 5 and their implications for defence planning, national contributions and operational analysis. The aim was to bring together the leadership in KFOR 5 and the Norwegian Defence to summarize and discuss KFOR 5 experiences and to highlight potential consequences for force and defence planning and national contributions. This report contains the presentations given and an executive summary. There was general consensus that the KFOR 5 deployment met the operational requirements and national expectations. The cooperation between Joint Command North and Joint Command North East also withstood the test, and flag officers as well as other headquarter staff functioned well together. Further improvements in cooperation among national contingents need to be pursued to increase COMKFOR’s freedom of action and to achieve economy of effort. This points to the need to reconcile national interests and to the complex factor of multinationality, a greater willingness to accept risk and also a stronger focus on reducing costs.