In his strategic review of the EU military training mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA) dated 10 March, which EUROPE has obtained, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy proposes extending and adjusting the mission’s mandate.
The High Representative wants to extend the mandate of the training mission, which runs until 19 September 2020, until September 2022. According to the strategic review, “the conditions for a sustainable exit strategy for EUTM RCA are unlikely to be in place” by September 2020, with significant progress still to be made if the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) are to be able to fulfil their defence role independently - or with minimal external support - in order to address the continuing security challenges. “The ability of the FACA to deploy and support their units remains problematic”, the strategic review states. According to the document, almost 50% of FACA’s non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and officers have been trained by EUTM RCA so far and six battalions will have been trained before the end of European mission’s current mandate.
If the mission's objective of supporting reform of the defence and security forces is to be retained, the High Representative proposes developing knowledge analysis and management capacity within EUTM RCA and adjusting the area of operations to reflect the FACA’s gradual evolution.
EUTM RCA’s area of operations should therefore be extended to the areas covered by the garrisons at N'dele and Bangassou and the area of operations of the mission's force commander and the staff in the newly created knowledge management and analysis team should be extended to the whole of the Central African Republic, while at the same time a permanent EUTM RCA presence should be established in Bouar.
The High Representative recommends focusing the structure of the mission on three pillars - strategic advice to the ministry of defence, military staff and the FACA, training for officers and NCOs, and training for the armed forces - reflecting the FACA’s evolving training and education needs and removing the ‘interoperability’ element.
He expects the mission to provide advice to the regional headquarters in Bangui, Bouar, N'dele and Bangassou. The High Representative also expects it to monitor and analyse the FACA’s performance during its deployment throughout the Central African Republic using the new team. This will enable advice to be provided to EUTM on the measures it needs to take. The structure of the mission will therefore need to be adjusted to enable personnel to be seconded to Bouar, N'dele and Bangassou on a regular basis to accompany the armed forces and to act as advisors to the military staff in support of the planning and execution of generic armed forces operations, in coordination with the EU advisory mission (EUAM RCA).
The High Representative also recommends that the mission supports the FACA in setting up a pool of specialised trainers and in creating a school for NCOs in Bouar and one for officers in Bangui, and in setting up an inspection system for effective supervision of the FACA's skill and training levels.
One of the strategic review’s recommendations is that EUTM should include those lessons learned and identified by the armed forces during operations and deployments in the training programme for both the armed forces and officers and NCOs. There is also emphasis in the report on provision of specific training courses for the command levels of independently deployed units.
The High Representative also recommends ‘train-the-trainer’ courses for the FACA’s trainers and specialised training on human resources management, logistics, budget support, information and communication systems and operations planning. Regular ongoing ‘refreshment’ courses for units that have already received training, pre-deployment training and training for the FACA’s command authorities also form part of the proposal. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)