On October 15th and 16th, the JMSDF conducted bilateral exercise KAEDEX 2019-2 with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in waters and airspace south of Kanto region.

The exercise aims to enhancing the JMSDF’s tactical skills and strengthening relations with the RCN. In the exercise, two JMSDF destroyers, JS Shimakaze and JS Chokai, and the RCN’s frigate HMCS Ottawa conducted training such as anti-submarine and anti-surface firing.

The MOD has been strengthening its relation with Canada, which is a Pacific nation sharing fundamental values with Japan, through such exercises to maintain peace and stability in Japan and the region.

Credit: Japanese Ministry of Defence

We have argued that the liberal democracies are facing the challenge of full spectrum crisis management in dealing with the 21st century authoritarian powers.

The Nordics certainly get the point.

No one more so than the Finns.

A recent article on the Finnish Ministry of Defence website highlights a new commitment to shaping their force for crisis management.

Training allowance to be paid to reservists serving in military crisis management tasks

By decision of Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen, made on 6 November 2019, reservists serving in military crisis management tasks will be paid a training allowance to strengthen their knowledge and expertise in international matters. The decision will take effect on 1 January 2020.

The amount of the training allowance will be 50% of the basic salary determined at the beginning of the employment for a military crisis management task, and it will be paid in connection with the payment of the first salary.  The Defence Forces’ salaried personnel already receive training allowance and from now on, reservists will be covered by the same compensation.

It is hoped that the training allowance will encourage a greater number of reservists to apply for military crisis management tasks than before. In addition, the training allowance will partly compensate reservists for loss of earnings while in training and make military crisis management tasks financially more motivating.

The featured photo shows Finnish soldiers in Afganistan. Photo: Finnish Defence Forces

And this story published on June 13, 2017 describes Finland’s role in the NATO partnership involving crisis management training.

Finland coordinates crisis management training of NATO and its partners

The emphasis of Finland’s NATO partnership has expanded from crisis management to cooperation that enhances the Finnish national defence capabilities. The change has had its impact to the way the partnership is carried out in practice. However, crisis management still has an important role. Since 2015, the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre FINCENT has been coordinating the military crisis management training of NATO and its partners.

Finland has participated in almost all NATO-led crisis management missions and operations since the mid-1990s. Presently, Finnish soldiers serve in the KFOR Operation and Resolute Support Mission. Over the years, Finland has been able to gain noteworthy expertise and interoperability from the operations which has been recognized also at NATO.

As the operating environment in international crisis management is increasingly more demanding, also the scope of crisis management is now wider and more multidimensional.  In 2012, NATO began renewing its training system with an aim to maintain and expand the multinational interoperability and capabilities. 29 different disciplines with their own Department Heads were formed. The North Atlantic Council decided to officially appoint Finland as the Department Head of Military Contribution to Peace Support in 2015. The work began at 2016.

In addition to Finland, Sweden as a partner also has a Department Head role in gender-discipline, FINCENT Senior Adviser Virpi Levomaa says.

The task of the FINCENT is to coordinate the Military Contribution to Peace Support (MC2PS) training offered by other education and training centres so that their curricula and syllabi correspond to NATO’s needs and requirements. The objective is to create a comprehensive approach which stresses the close cooperation with other international organizations engaging in crisis management such as UN, EU, OSCE and AU.

The coordination role for crisis management training is very broad. At the moment, we are analyzing the training requirements on the basis of which we begin planning the training solutions and responsibilities. The long-term goal is to coordinate exercises and troop training.