Conflict Management and Prevention Program staff work hand in hand with the Peace and Stabilisation Operations Program advancing civil-military best practice in conflict management. The Program is tasked with developing and managing the Centre’s conflict management and prevention focus area, with priority on promoting civil-military-police best practice in peace operations, particularly through improving training and education, doctrine development, exercises, and research and lessons learned.
On any given day tasks may include engaging Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) and other Operational Commands to advise and assist on civil-military interaction from the strategic to operational levels and also developing robust civil-military systems that support Defence operational planning.
Program staff have recently been instrumental in the further development of the ADF’s Strengthening Australia’s Conflict and Disaster Management Overseas and also providing in depth feedback to the Land Warfare Development Centre on the latest version of the ADF’s Regional Security Framework.
There is also considerable emphasis on a whole-of-government approach to civil-military doctrine and best practices with continual interaction with organisations such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Attorney-General’s Department (AGD), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Civilian Corps. For example at the same time that this web page was developed Program staff actively participated in a Rule of Law roundtable conference coordinated by the AGD, the Chief of the Australian Defence Force’s Inaugural Conference on Stabilisation and Counter Insurgency Operations, and visited the AFP’s International Deployment Group to discuss future joint research programs with a focus on civ-mil-pol capacity building programs being undertaken by the Regional Assistant Mission to the Solomon Islands.
Program staff are involved in supporting the Centre’s International Engagement Program by fostering relationships, and deriving and conducting projects, with military organisations such as the NATO Civil Military Co-operation Centre of Excellence (CCOE), US Center for Complex Operations (CCO) and the US Peacekeeping and Stabilisation Operations Institute (PKSOI). Staff also support the Centre’s engagement with partner countries, the United Nations, regional bodies, and international and non-government organisations such as the Australian Council for International Development.
In terms of value adding to the existing doctrine and training programs within Australia staff actively engage the Australian Defence College (ADC) to shape the civil-military content to ADC courses and activities. For example, the provision of staff to assist with facilitating the Australian Commands and Staff College’s annual ‘Exercise Excalibur’ which focuses on joint stability operations.
Staff also liaise with organisations such as the Australian National Security College, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law and are actively involved in the Centre’s key training and education activities, including the Civil Military Interaction Seminar, Civil-Military Interaction Workshop and the United Nations Civil-Military Coordination courses.
The Conflict Management and Prevention Program provides just one of the many dynamic spokes that support the mission of the Asia Pacific Civil Military Centre of Excellence. Some of this important work is undertaken by ADF Reservists, and the Centre is always on the lookout for suitably qualified part time personnel who have both a passion for research and background in peace operations.