ARRC JOURNAL
OPERATIONAL-LEVEL CAPACITY
BUILDING IN CONTACT
Major Tyler Kennedy, Canadian Army
During mid-October 2018, ten members of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC)
travelled to Kiev, Ukraine. Their mission was to deliver staff officer training to members of
the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), imparting a western approach to operational planning
over a four-day period.
The team faced two significant
considerations as they approached their
task: First, understanding that the AFU
plans and executes operations using
Soviet-era planning and structures;
and, second, that Ukraine is a country
currently involved in an on-going conflict
within its borders against Russian-
backed separatists. Neither of these
issues was lost on the visiting instructors.
ORBITAL – and through the Multinational
Joint Commission on Defense Reform
and Security Cooperation with Ukraine. 1
term training team (STTT) engagement
in Ukraine. The STTT deployed to Kiev
from 14-18 May 2018 and conducted a
Development and evolution of
the task
In August 2017, the AFU requested
training delivery support in operational
level planning. In response, a UK
Defence-directed training needs analysis
(TNA) produced by the Field Army
Training Branch identified opportunities
to support the development of the
Ukraine Joint Operational Headquarters
(JOHQ) planning process. A visit by
the ARRC’s Chief of Engineer and Civil
Military Interaction (ECMI) Branch was
conducted to identify and recommend
opportunities to support the development
of AFU command and control at the
operational level through the JOHQ. A
second task of this preliminary venture
was to consider long-term options for UK
and multinational engagement with the
JOHQ under the umbrella of the current
UK mission in Ukraine – Operation
Figure 1 – Task Timeline
The UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters
(PJHQ) and Army Headquarters,
recognising the resident level of
expertise and experience, subsequently
gave the ARRC the task to generate a
UK team of nine personnel to conduct
an operational-level planning short-
programme of classroom-based training
for the AFU at the National Defence
University. The target audience was a
group of approximately 120-130 AFU
officers in the midst of preparing to
deploy to the Joint Operations Area in
Eastern Ukraine.
1 The Multinational Joint Commission on Defense Reform and Security Cooperation with Ukraine, led by the United States in partnership with Canada, Lithuania, Poland and the United
Kingdom, assesses Ukrainian requirements and prioritises training, equipment, and advisory initiatives.
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ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS