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PERSONNEL RECOVERY

Personnel Recovery is aimed at mitigating and reacting to the risk of isolation, capture, and exploitation of military or civilian personnel for instance during a Crisis Management Operation (CMO). The Personnel Recovery Course, held regularly by various host nations, is one of several results of the respective Project Team at EDA. Other initiatives include a Personnel Recovery Concept, a Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service to be connected to command & control systems in tactical and operational Headquarters for planners and controllers, a personnel registration tool and the preparation of a Personnel Recovery Baseline Training Tool.

The isolation, capture and/or exploitation of personnel during operations could have a significant negative impact on operational security, morale of assigned forces and public support. To mitigate this, prevention and the ability to respond to an event where personnel are isolated in hostile environments while operating in support of coalition operations must be prioritised accordingly. However, current European PR capability lacks cohesion, international structure and standardisation. On the other hand, multinational, or combined, joint operations of military and civilian organisations across the world are at present, and will continue in the foreseeable future to become the norm for any UN, NATO and/ or EU contingency. Therefore, these issues must be addressed to ensure interoperability of the forces involved.

Brussels, 3 March 2016

BRIEF UPDATE

PROJECT TEAM PERSONNEL RECOVERY

I. Introduction

The isolation, capture and exploitation of personnel during an EU-led Crisis Management Operation (CMO) could have a significant negative impact on operational security, morale of personnel and public support. Therefore, efforts to release and effect the recovery and reintegration of personnel should be of high priority and to encompass all possible diplomatic, military and civilian tools. Since 2007 the Project Team Personnel Recovery (PT PR) has been working to support participating Member States (pMS) of the Agency to enhance their PR capabilities. The PT PR is chaired by Germany and 12/13 pMS are actively working together. As of today, the PT has conducted 29 meetings and has delivered several results and studies aimed at improving interoperability within the area of Personnel Recovery (PR).

II. State of Play - Next Steps

Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service Advanced Technology Demonstrator (PR FAS ATD) has been successfully developed and will be distributed to all the pMS mid of March 2016. PR FAS ATD is an information management and command & control (C2) system that aims at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of PR missions. EDA encourages pMS to use the tool during national or multinational training and exercises.

U N C L A S S I F I E D

Publich Executive Summary

The Swedish web-based (e-learning) PR baseline training tool for “Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Extraction” (SERE) is expected to be translated by a contractor, with EDA support, into English by the end of June 2016. This tool will enable pMS to teach and train their staff before being deployed to PR missions and will enhance the required harmonisation of SERE training among Member States and the EU as a whole.

PT PR is currently assessing the need for the revision of the “Concept for Personnel Recovery in support of the CSDP” (approved by the European Union Military Committee in 2011). pMS are invited to provide their inputs and to contribute in this task.

Five courses of EDA’s CAT B project “Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course (PRCPC)” have been successfully completed to date. The sixth is currently taking place in Karlsborg, Sweden (29 Feb to 11 Mar 16). On 31st May 2015 the cMS (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands and Sweden) agreed to extend the project until 30 May 2017.

EDA intends to formalise its cooperation with the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC). Moreover, PT PR continues to explore potential areas of cooperation in the field of PR with the European Commission (DG ECHO HQ/Field Security Coordinator).

Public Executive Summary

Isolated Personnel – how to mitigate the risks?

Personnel RecoveryFunctional Area Service

Advanced Technology Demonstrator

of 2U N C L A S S I F I E D


(PR FAS ATD)

January 2016



I. IntroductionThis document summarises the activities and results of the project “Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service Advanced Technology Demonstrator” (PR FAS ATD) carried out by INTEC GmbH & Co.KG and Rheni GmbH in close cooperation with the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Project Team Personnel Recovery (PT PR) during the period from 2014 to 2015. The purpose of this project is the development of information management and command & control (C2) capabilities to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of personnel recovery missions.

II. Isolated Personnel – what are the risks?The European Union often deploys forces in regions where armed conflict, violence and organised crime are prevalent. Consequently, deployed personnel is at a high risk of suffering isolation, capture or maltreatment. However, a negative impact on operational security and the morale of deployed forces will be impeded once effective PR capability is firmly established among partners via standardised procedures, trainings and equipment. Additionally, public support is particularly sensitive to the safety of personnel. Images of captured, abused and/or tortured personnel are highly detrimental for general public support. The public has become less tolerant to the loss of personnel and the violation of human rights. Therefore, the safety of personnel is of primary concern in the public discourse on military operations or missions and must be clearly addressed prior to any responsive action.

An effective personnel recovery capability is significant on two levels. Firstly, to mitigate the fears of the general public, which is important in the political decision making process, and also during ongoing operations. Secondly, PR capabilities are vital at the operational level in ensuring that an effective safety net for deployed personnel in place. Undoubtedly, this would have a tremendous effect on morale and confidence. Above all, it addresses national as well as the European Union’s responsibilities in the framework of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

To mitigate these multiple risks, Personnel Recovery has attained major importance in increasing operational and political success. Furthermore, measures to increase PR effectiveness, such as improved information and planning management, should be exploited.

III. Personnel Recovery – what can be done?Personnel Recovery provides the capability to safely recover isolated personnel. Therefore, the command & control aspects are crucial. Unfortunately, a fielded and operational technical solution to plan, launch and monitor personnel recovery missions has not been developed yet. This is why EDA has developed a conceptual framework for such a capability. One of the framework elements is a command and control information system, the Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service Advanced Technology Demonstrator (PR FAS ATD).

This hardware and software system supports the Personnel Recovery Coordination Cell and the Joint Personnel Recovery Centre. Having achieved a



high level of maturity, it has become a stable system with great user acceptance. The system has been successfully used, tested and evaluated in Hungary during the EDA’s Category B project “Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course” (PRCPC) at the Air Command and Control Centre (ACCC) in June 2015, as well as in the context of the European Air Group (EAG) Combined Joint Personnel Recovery Standardization Course (CJPRSC) in September 2015.

An important function to support the recovery of personnel is the availability of isolated personnel’s data used by the rescue teams for authentication. The standardized isolated personnel report (ISOPREP) can be created by another EDA software application, the “Personnel Management Functional Area Service” (J1 FAS). This data can be provided to the PR FAS ATD for further processing. This is one example of how the system significantly improves the effectiveness of planning and controlling personnel recovery missions, providing all relevant information about the incident, the isolated personnel and available assets, all that based on a map-centric approach.

PR FAS ATD Incident BoardIV. The PR FAS ATD – what are the advantages?With the Advanced Technology Demonstrator, Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service implements modern information and communications technology. EDA’s solution offers advantages which have specifically been focused on during preliminary stages:

The ATD entails no license costs (only open source software components); It provides increased security and no necessity of software roll out due to

access via internet browser; The user interface is suitable to support command and control processes

due to the “map-centric approach” – the map always remains in the middle of the screen, and all information can be accessed via the map;

Immediate validation of coordinates is secured due to the visibility on the map;

The PR FAS also provides automatic conversion of all relevant types of coordinates;

All PR relevant data are stored in the system and can be provided to involved parties such as Rescue Mission Commanders, Air Operation Centres as well as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape/Extraction (SERE) specialists. They can access the system directly or relevant information can be provided via standardized reports;

The software offers flexible use:



via Firefox internet browser;autonomously, for instance on laptops;in an already existing command post network.

The PR FAS ATD portable system

V. The future – what is to be done?Personnel Recovery (PR) is going to become an essential component of future CSDP Crisis Management Operations. Personnel Recovery provides the capability to safely recover isolated personnel. An important part of the conceptual framework developed by EDA is the support of command and control aspects of recovery missions with the PR FAS ATD, a software tool that supports planners and controllers of recovery missions with numerous functionalities and a significantly improved situational awareness. The list of functionalities includes, but is not limited to:

map representation; management of special instructions (SPINS); import of isolated personnel reports (ISOPREP); automatic creation of various standard reports in pdf format.

Notably, this new technology was demonstrated successfully in a relevant environment, such as in Hungary. This corresponds to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. From a technical point of view, the system provides very good overall performance and stability. However, the development of this tool can be further optimised.

The Advanced Technology Demonstrator has been distributed to all the EDA’s participating Member States who can use it during national or multinational trainings and exercises. The European Defence Agency will continue to provide deployment support of the tool while the Agency’s Project Team Personnel Recovery will concentrate its focus on addressing appropriate aspects of the life-cycle management (Through-Life Management –TLMP) of the tool, ensuring its viability and operational functionality in this regard.



Holding all the described aces, the Advanced Technology Demonstrator is going to become a vital part of today’s network-based operating principles in military issues. Undoubtedly, PR FAS ATD is going to become an integral component of future personnel recovery missions.

Personnel Recovery Course hosted by European Personnel Recovery CentrePoggio Renatico - 15 December, 2015 (latest state of play)

The fifth edition of the Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course (PRCPC), a project initiated and supported by the European Defence Agency (EDA), was organised and hosted for the first time by the newly established European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC).

The course was successfully conducted from 23 November to 4 December 2015 in Poggio Renatico Air Base, Italy. It was organised by the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC) at the request of six Member States contributing to the project.

All in all, nineteen students from eleven countries including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States benefitted from the knowledge and experience of a cadre of instructors from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.

The main focus of the course was to train staff officers in supporting their commanders in Personnel Recovery related issues. The course is designed for personnel who man personnel recovery positions in tactical operation centres (TOCs), personnel recovery coordination cells (PRCCs) or joint personnel recovery cells (JPRCs).

Personnel Recovery (PR) is a vital element of modern operational planning as it provides a security net for deployed personnel. Most importantly, it boosts morale and acknowledges national as well as European Union responsibilities to effect the recovery and reintegration of isolated personnel deployed in the context of Crisis Management Operations under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

The next EU PRCPC will take place in Karlsborg, Sweden, from 29 February to 11 March 2016 and will be organised by the Swedish Armed Forces.

Background

The EDA PRCPC project was established on 30 May 2013 as an EDA Category B project under the lead of Sweden. As of today, it includes six contributing EU Member States (cMS): Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden. On 31 May 2015, the cMS agreed to extend the PRCPC Cat B project until 30 May 2017. The EPRC is a potential candidate for the continuation of the project.

The EPRC closely cooperates with the European Defence Agency. It was created on 8 July 2015 by seven nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom) with



the aim of improving the four phases of Personnel Recovery (Preparation, Planning, Execution and Adaptation) by developing/harmonising the Personnel Recovery Policy, Doctrine and Standards through clear lines of communications with partners/stakeholders (nations and international organisations), and providing assistance in support of education and training, exercises and operations.

New system to help with Personnel Recovery missions is gaining maturityBrussels - 11 March, 2014

A new system demonstrator designed to help European Armed Forces deal with Personnel Recovery operations is now available for testing and training. The system – known as the Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service (PR FAS) Demonstrator – is part of the EDA’s work to close the interoperability gap in Personnel Recovery in European Armed Forces. The system is being used in training for the first time at the EU Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course (PRCPC) in Karlsborg, Sweden this month.The PR FAS Demonstrator is a combination of software and a server designed specifically for use in situations involving Personnel Recovery. The device is rugged and portable and works on a ‘plug and play’ basis, so it can be used by just connecting it to a laptop or can be integrated into the command and control (C2) system of the force using it.Work on the project will continue - focusing on integrating the PR FAS into national C2 systems and further incremental development and improvement. The device is therefore available to participating Member States for further testing and development and the results of the original work have already been disseminated for national evaluation. The project is part of the EDA’s role in improving the capability and interoperability of the European Armed Forces in Personnel Recovery. This involves not only the development of new systems but also improving training and coordination. Personnel Recovery is aimed at mitigating and reacting to the risk of isolation, capture, and exploitation of military or civilian personnel during a Crisis Management Operation (CMO).



Successful personnel recovery course held in SwedenKarlsborg, Sweden - 06 March, 2015

The third edition of the EU Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course (PRCPC), a project initiated by EDA, was held from 23 February to 6 March 2015. Organised and hosted by Sweden in Karlsborg, the exercise gathered 23 students from 12 countries.

Instructors from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden as well as Canada shared their knowledge and experience of personnel recovery (PR) matters with a group of students coming from Belgium, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. PR is usually defined as the sum of efforts needed to recover isolated civilian or military personnel.The main focus of the course was to train staff officers to support their commanders on PR-related issues. It is intended for personnel who will be manning a personnel recovery position in a tactical operation centre (TOC), a personnel recovery coordination cell (PRCC) or a joint personnel recovery cell (JPRC). This may be within an EU, NATO or national staff as part of exercises or deployed operations. During the first week of the course, students were briefed on the four main elements of the PR system (preparation, planning, execution and adaptation) and learned how to control and oversee PR operations. Most of the students also attended the second week of the course to learn how to properly plan PR operations and to develop a PR annex to an operations plan. Training involved classroom lessons as well as work in study groups where participants faced a variety of PR challenges.

Next stop: HungaryThe next EU PRCPC will take place from 25 May to 5 June 2015 in Hungary. The newly-developed Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service Advanced Technology Demonstrator (PR FAS ATD) will be tested. This system is designed to provide headquarters-level PR staff with a planning tool to manage PR missions in a PRCC or JPRC. It has been developed as part of EDA’s work to improve interoperability amongst European armed forces in the field of personnel recovery.

The EU PRCPC project was established on 30 May 2013 as an EDA Category B project, under the lead of Sweden. As of today, it gathers six contributing EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden. EDA has already initiated a process to extend the project and allow a smooth handover of the course to a suitable entity. The European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC), established in Italy, is a potential candidate.

Successful Completion of Second EU Personnel Recovery Course in HungaryVeszprém - 07 July, 2014



A total of 22 participants from ten nations (Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, United Kingdom and Sweden plus Norway and the United States) attended the 2nd Personnel Recovery Controller and Planner Course (PRCPC) from 23 June to 4 July 2014 in Veszprém, Hungary.This intensive two-week course - held for the first time at the Hungarian Air Force Air Command and Control Centre (ACCC) - aims at enabling participants to prepare, plan and execute Personnel Recovery Operations. Previous course participants and indeed all of the instructors have gained operational Personnel Recovery experience in various operations such as in ISAF in Afghanistan, Operation Unified Protector (OUP) in Libya and Operation SERVAL in Mali. “This course is indeed very helpful for our operational planning. The instructors are very experienced and motivated”, said course participant Captain Gábor Krenács from the Hungarian Air Force.

As well as the Hungarian staff instructors, a multi-national instruction team from Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, France, Sweden and the United States deployed to Veszprém in order to support the training and to evaluate the 2nd PRCPC. Staff were also sent from NATO associated entities and the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC).

Major Tor Cavalli-Björkman, a Swedish instructor and the main initiator of this European project, is convinced: “Since we started, first with a series of four pilot courses in 2011 and then with the establishment of a CAT B project in 2013, we have all benefited tremendously from this multi-national training and information exchange.” The contributing Member States at the moment are Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands under the lead of Sweden. The first course under the Cat B arrangement was conducted in February/March this year in Karlsborg, Sweden. Major Cavalli-Björkman also stressed that “this initiative increases the number of trained personnel available to support on-going operations as well as the EU Battle Group and national staffs.”

Standardise Personnel Recovery Training in EuropeThe initiative to standardise Personnel Recovery training emerged from the Project Team Personnel Recovery (PT PR) in EDA at the end of November 2010. Peter Round, Capability, Armament & Technology Director at EDA, stated: “I am most grateful that Hungary agreed to offer this opportunity and hosted it so successfully at its Air Command and Control Centre’s facilities. This initiative has made a significant contribution to Personnel Recovery capabilities in Europe.”

Major Konrad Ertl from the German Air Operations Command in Kalkar and Chairman of the PT PR said “We all, students as well as instructors, are deeply impressed of the tremendous effort the HDF and the Hungarian Air Force has put in to setting-up this course. The facilities at the ACCC in Veszprém are very suitable for this course. Also the professionalism and the very high dedication of the Hungarian Hosts to this course was amazing. Finally, we all benefitted from an outstanding learning experience while enjoying the great hospitality in Hungary. Overall this made it very easy for us to do what we do, so ‘that others may live – and return with honour’. ‘Köszönöm szépen’ (many Thanks) to the Host nation!”

An officer from the ACCC said: “It was not an easy job to organise and run the course, but with the unselfish help of our colleagues and with one of the best instructor teams I have ever seen we accomplished the mission.”

Mitigating the risk of isolation, capture, and exploitationPersonnel Recovery is aimed at mitigating and reacting to the risk of isolation, capture, and exploitation of military or civilian personnel for instance during a Crisis Management Operation (CMO). The Personnel Recovery Course, held regularly by various host nations, is one of several results of the respective Project Team at EDA. Other initiatives include a Personnel Recovery Concept, a Personnel Recovery Functional Area Service to be connected to command & control systems in tactical and operational Headquarters for planners and controllers, a personnel registration tool and the preparation of a Personnel Recovery Baseline Training Tool.



Successful completion of first European Personnel Recovery Course in SwedenKarlsborg - 18 March, 2011

The Swedish Armed Forces invited EDA participating Member States as well as other countries to the first European Personnel Recovery Operations and Plans Course in Karlsborg, 7-18 March 2011. Course participants came from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. In addition to the Swedish instructors, Canada, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States additionally sent observers and instructors to Karlsborg.

The intensive two-week course aimed at enabling participants to prepare, plan and execute Personnel Recovery Operations. “This course is indeed very helpful for our operational planning. The instructors are very experienced and motivated”, said course participant First Lieutenant Jos Tijs from the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Major Tor Cavalli-Björkman, a Swedish Instructor, is convinced: “We all benefit tremendously from this international information exchange. I would like to stress that this initiative will increase the number of trained personnel available to support on-going operations as well as EU Battle Group.”

The initiative to standardise Personnel Recovery training emerged from the Project Team Personnel Recovery in the European Defence Agency (EDA) at the end of November 2010. Jon Mullin, Capabilities Director at EDA, stated: “I am most grateful that Sweden agreed to offer the first EU opportunity of this kind and hosted it so successfully at its Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) School. This initiative will significantly boost Personnel Recovery capabilities in Europe.”

A Belgian officer said “The course could not come at a better time, given the obvious requirements we have witnessed in the press regarding the events in North Africa during the past few weeks.”

Personnel Recovery is aimed at mitigating and reacting to the risk of isolation, capture and exploitation of military or civilian personnel during a Crisis Management Operation (CMO). The Personnel Recovery Course, envisaged to be held regularly by various host nations, is one of several results of the respective Project Team at EDA. Other initiatives include a Personnel Recovery Concept, a personnel registration tool and the preparation of joint procurement of Personnel Recovery Equipment in the future.

The European Defence Agency was established in 2004 to support the participating Member States and the Council in their effort to improve European defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as well as pooling efforts and resources in the development of transformed, interoperable and cost-effective armed forces.

The European Personnel Recovery Centre (any link with EDA? Not sure)http://www.eprc.it/

http://www.euroairgroup.org/


http://www.euroairgroup.org/

http://www.eprc.it/


On 3 July 2013, the 7 EAG Chiefs of Air Staff (The European Air Group (EAG) is the only independent Air-minded organisation in Europe. It comprises the Air Forces of 7 European nations: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The EAG has links with many other organisations and nations.The EAG undertakes projects and studies in order to identify realistic ways to improve the interoperability between member nations) decided, during the 2013 EAG Steering Group Meeting in Madrid, to create a European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC).

EPRC Inauguration 8 July 2015

"Today we are in Poggio Renatico, witnesses of what, in the future, may represent the beginnings of a true integrated defense system in Europe. Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain , Netherlands and the United Kingdom have put together the energies to create a center of excellence for the recovery of military and civilian personnel in crisis areas. Energy of countries representing 93.3% of European GDP. " With these words, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Pasquale Preziosa, it opened the ceremony of inauguration of the European Personnel Recovery Center (The EPRC is a multi-national unit formed in 2013 under the European Air Group (EAG), a forum for cooperation between the Chiefs of Staff of the Air Forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Spain in order to increase the capacity of their air forces. Based at the Air Force base of Poggio Renatico (Ferrara), the center deals with all issues related to the subject of Personnel Recovery, the recovery of isolated persons in combat areas whether civilian and military - between them diplomats, journalists, volunteers and citizens. The center also fulfills the task of supporting any actual operation.EPRC), the European center for people recovering from crisis areas.

An interim EPRC was initiated and situated at RAF High Wycombe with 8 Staff Officers under the control of the Director of the EAG. The structure of the interim EPRC allowed the Centre to accept non-EAG personnel as part of the EPRC team in order to develop the operational infrastructure necessary to allow the EPRC to reach initial and later full operational capability (IOC/ FOC). The mandate for these interim structures was limited to two years. The EPRC achieved IOC on 8 July 2015 and an inauguration ceremony was held in situ at its final location


http://www.euroairgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/20140423-EPRC-Cropped.png


in Poggio Renatico Air Base in Italy, splitting from the EAG to become an independent and Joint unit. As soon as the EPRC achieves FOC, it will be able to provide a facility that will enable the translation of political direction and guidance to generate military capability allowing the provision of an effective Personnel Recovery (PR) capability for European forces.

Current NATO and EU policy documents state clearly that: “The isolation, capture and/or exploitation of personnel during operations could have a significant negative impact on operational security, morale of assigned forces and public support.” To mitigate this, prevention and the ability to respond to an event where personnel are isolated in hostile environments while operating in support of coalition operations must be prioritised accordingly. However, current European PR capability lacks cohesion, international structure and standardisation. On the other hand, multinational, or combined, joint operations of military and civilian organisations across the world are at present, and will continue in the foreseeable future to become the norm for any UN, NATO and/ or EU contingency. Therefore, these issues must be addressed to ensure interoperability of the forces involved. It is common knowledge that achieving such interoperability requires long-term commitment to develop, coordinate and implement PR policy, doctrine, process and procedures. This is compounded by the fact that PR is an area where no European nation has the holistic capability to provide all aspects of PR capabilities over a prolonged period of time.

Internationally, PR has been identified to be a key military task and a pillar supporting the reduction of threats to the force within the existing national PR policies. With the creation of the Helsinki Headline Goals in 1999, the European Nations made their first concrete step to enhance military capabilities in line with the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). They include the creation of a catalogue of force capabilities, the ‘Helsinki Force Catalogue’, to be able to carry out the so called “Petersberg Tasks”. Within this catalogue, Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) was assessed as a deficiency in capability. The following years were marked by national and EAG-driven initiatives in CSAR and later PR. Due to a lack of a central coordinating body, these activities were disparate and risked being inefficient.

In an attempt to tackle this challenge, an EAG Study on PR capability identified that a Multinational Personnel Recovery Centre (MPRC) would provide the vehicle to train and educate leaders and specialists, assist in doctrine development, identify lessons learned and improve interoperability while acting as the joint hub for all international PR activities in Europe across all levels of command. The EAG study described the Centre as a multinational and joint entity that should have an initial manning of 15 personnel and work independently supporting both NATO and the EU. Keeping in mind that the austere financial circumstances experienced by all the European nations have increased the emphasis on the pooling and sharing of defence capability in a significant number of EU nations, the initiative fitted into the strategic long-term plans of possible European partners.

The EAG Steering Group meeting of 2013 was used to present the EAG PR Study findings to the Air Chiefs of the EAG member states and, after a short discussion, the findings and recommendations of the Study were endorsed by the delegates. By accepting the Studies’ findings, the Chiefs of Air Staff acknowledged the necessity to create a PR centre. However, the Air Chiefs were keen to underline the European nature of the Centre and changed the name



from the ‘Multinational Personnel Recovery Centre’ to the ‘European Personnel Recovery Centre’.

After the decision to implement the Centre, the initial focus was to provide the framework for the personnel to work for the EPRC during this initial phase. Legal and physical prerequisites were quickly achieved and by 4 November 2013 the interim EPRC ((I)EPRC) was ready to accept additional personnel. The core of the (I)EPRC was drafted from the EAG JPR Area and the former EAG Chief of Staff was extended in his UK tour to become the (I)EPRC Leader. In January 2014, the (I)EPRC grew to 6 members as DEU, NLD and GBR provided manpower.

The tasks of the (I)EPRC were split into 2 main areas, ‘current’ and ‘future’. Whilst the tasks of the ‘current’ area involved work on the former EAG JPR Area (e.g. PR flying course, SERE School Leaders’ Workshop etc.), the tasks undertaken by the ‘future’ area revolved around the selection of the permanent location of the EPRC, its personnel structures and generating the legal documents that were key to allowing it to function. With such a small footprint in terms of personnel numbers, teamwork was key to the Centre’s activities as a stringent splitting of the (I)EPRC between the ‘current’ and ‘future’ area’s was not feasible. The primary, ambitious, and ultimately successful goal was to have the EPRC at its final location by July 2015 with 15 personnel. The EPRC is now successfully established and operational as an independent and Joint unit, with Italy winning the bid to host the EPRC in its final location at Poggio Renatico Air Base in Northern Italy. It has already grown to 19 personnel, with all 7 nations represented, and has taken responsibility for running the Combined Joint Personnel Recovery Standardisation Course and Personnel Recovery Controllers and Planners Course and leading the JPR SG/WG and SERE School Leaders WG. Personnel of the EPRC are also hard at work to reach FOC by June 2016 and developing the concepts and procedures to support multi-national PR capability within Europe.

The drive for the EPRC is to make future PR missions coherent and capable, with our inspiration provided by the PR motto: “That Others May Live”. For more information about the EPRC contact: [email protected]


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