Pictured: Spanish soldier wearing Milex mission patch.

It showed how the EU is protecting its citizens, values and interests and is better able to support its partners and contribute to international peace and security.

Crisis-management exercises

The EU has been carrying out crisis-management military exercises since 2002. These exercises have the goal of enhancing its military decision-making capacity in order to respond to external conflicts and crises. Primarily, these exercises are conducted as Command Post Exercises (CPX).

With the implementation of the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, the EU has embraced live exercises (LIVEX). They are a crucial element in how we further enhance our readiness, adaptability and versatility in preparing for crisis-response.

New departure

The addition of a LIVEX is a new departure within the context of the MILEX series and is a main component in the development of the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC).

The EU RDC is a significant instrument that will increase the EU’s ability to act rapidly and robustly in response to crises. It will aid in mobilising the necessary Member States’ capabilities in a coordinated manner. 

A fully operational EU RDC by 2025 is a key deliverable of the EU’s implementation of the Strategic Compass.

LIVEX also reflects the EU’s need for common training and exercises of its personnel to test and validate its concepts, procedures and tactics. 

Together with future LIVEX, it is another step towards reaching the full operational capacity of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) by 2025. The MPCC is the EU Operational Headquarters (OHQ) in Brussels, and is a key building block of the operationalisation of the EU RDC

MILEX 23 Planning

The two-part MILEX 23 exercise commenced on 18 September and concluded on 22 October.

The first part of this intense period was a 3-week planning phase by the MPCC in Brussels. In part two, this culminated in the EU’s first ever live military exercise from 16 - 22 October in Rota Naval Base, Cadiz, Spain.

During Part 2, an EU Battlegroup-sized force carried out the Operational Plan developed by the MPCC in Part 1. Overall, 19 Member States contributed to MILEX 23.

Part 1 - CPX

From the 18 September to 6 October, the MPCC developed a Concept of Operations and a more detailed Operational Plan. This would not have been possible without the help of 22 Augmentees from different Member States and the reach-back capability of EU OHQ’s in Larissa, Greece and Ulm, Germany.

At the operational level, the Force Head Quarters (FHQ) in Rota developed their plan using collaborative planning methods. The MPCC acted as a central node in this network of HQs, ensuring the detailed Operational Plan for a Stabilisation Operation in a fictional country called ‘Seglia’ was presented to the Council for approval.

Part 2 - Live Exercise

The LIVEX phase of the exercise carried out the MPCC’s Operational Plan. Simulating the initial phase of a Stabilisation Operation, the Battlegroup-sized force consisted of nine Member States. This involved the Spanish Amphibious Assault Ship ‘Juan Carlos I’, leading an amphibious task group comprising of maritime, air, land, special operations, space and cyber assets.

Overall, 31 units, 25 aircraft, 6 ships and approximately 2 800 personnel deployed in this simulated Theatre of Operations.

During the course of the week, the FHQ conducted operations involving an amphibious assault, securing and controlling the Seaport of Debarkation, followed by the insertion of land enablers to ensure a Safe and Secure Environment (SASE).

In addition to the above-mentioned operations, the FHQ had to react to simulated enemy terrorist attacks, cyber-attacks, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), traffic accidents, casualty evacuations and finally, personnel wounded and killed inVisit of HR/VP

In addition to the exercise, the FHQ hosted the visit of HR/VP Joseph Borrell to LIVEX on 17 Oct and the EU CHODs (Chiefs of Defence) on the 19 Oct. Both the visit by the HR/VP and the EU CHODs meeting (the first outside of Brussels) highlighted the importance of LIVEX as a significant milestone in the EU’s adoption of a RDC.

Directing Staff

Behind every good exercise is a good Directing Staff. The Concept and Capabilities Directorate of the EUMS commenced planning MILEX 23 in July 2022. The Exercise Planning Team and Directing Staff consisted of a team of experts from the EUMS Intelligence, Operations, Logistics and CIS Directorates. They were ably assisted by STRATCOM and Gender subject matter experts (SMEs).

The Directing Staff were further supplemented by our partners at the United Nations (UN), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

Working together, ‘Exercise Injects’ were prepared, inserted and further developed which required careful planning and consideration by the MPCC. This greatly enhanced the realism of the exercise while testing the MPCC’s operational processes and dissemination of information to the FHQ.

The way forward

A full review of MILEX 23 will take place over the coming weeks. What we learn from this review will help us to refine our concepts but also to identify any gaps and improve our operational processes going forward.

The planning for MILEX 24 & 25 has already commenced. On 27 September, the Council approved the Exercise Specifications of MILEX 24, which will take place next April. The LIVEX aspect of MILEX 24 will take place during the second half of 2024 and will be aligned to the German-led Battlegroup exercise EUROPEAN CHALLENGE.