Blue Shield staff provided cultural property protection mentoring and training on NATO exercise Trident Jackal 2019 with NATO HQ NRDC-Spain.
“Trident Jackal (TRJA19) was a Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation sponsored, operational-level exercise to train, evaluate and support the certification of HQ NRDC-Spain as a Joint Taskforce Headquarters (JTF HQ) in planning a conducting a Non-Article 5, Small Joint Operation with limited complexity, against insurgents contesting NATO. The training audience were exercised in critical tasks within an Allied Operation in a fictitious setting reflecting an early phase of an operation (deployment of the Joint Task Force HQ and Joint Logistic Support Group to the crisis area).”
NATO 2019. (Read more about TRJA19 by downloading the Trident Jackal flyer (pdf).
Cultural Property Protection is a NATO “cross-cutting topic”, meaning that it is relevant for all NATO branches and areas of a NATO mission. BSI staff attended 5 days of the exercise, alongside other NGOs including the ICRC and Transparency International, to support NATO’s Protection of Civilians and Human Security Agenda.
Staff at the JTF HQ worked in partnership with cultural heritage protection subject matter experts during operational planning in the fictional scenario. They developed their understanding of the political-military-heritage framework fundamental to the delivery of effective cultural heritage protection. BSI focused on States Parties as the owners of cultural property (as laid down in the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (and 1954 and 1999 protocols)), and presented a series of challenges relating to CPP. NRDC-Spain rose admirably to the challenge, moving far beyond simple awareness raising amongst staff to develop a deep understanding of the issues presented, their legal and moral responsibilities, and their impact on all branches of a NATO mission.
Blue Shield attendance on this exercise built on and incorporated the lessons identified during several NATO exercises over 2018, and 2019, but in particular Exercise Trident Jaguar 2018.
Read more about BSI on Exercise Trident Jaguar 2019, and download the Report
Read more about Cultural Property Protection and NATO on their website
Read more about the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols (1954, 1999) in our Law Library
