Although this scene is similar to what Civilian CSDP Missions are exposed to during deployment, the actual event is part of a training exercise for Mission Security Officers. For almost three weeks, security staff from EU’s civilian CSDP Missions participated in a joint course with the Swedish Civil Contingency Agency (MSB) in a dedicated training area just outside of Stockholm.

“For three years, the CPCC has invited mission security staff to attend this course with the objective to share experiences between our missions as well as exposing them to demanding security challenges in various exercises”

- Course Director Mr Martin Flepp, Senior Security Policy Expert at CPCC

Due to the demanding security situations in the CSDP Missions, conducting effective on the spot training is often not possible, especially so in the case of field exercises which are an essential tool  for learning. Having access to a secure and safe training area is therefore vital for this kind of training. The Swedish MSB has offered their facilities, equipment and expertise for the last three years, allowing our own instructors and experts to fly in and conduct this demanding course in a very efficient manner. As the person with overall responsibility for the Duty of Care for deployed personnel in our 13 civilian Missions, Civilian Operations Commander Mr Stefano Tomat is adamant that Civilian CSDP Missions are seen as very competent in the field of security and trauma medicine in large part because of the continuous professional development of skills of our staff members.

“During the evacuation of our Advisory Mission in Ukraine, we managed to safely transport our staff out of harm’s way in a coordinated and secure manner. I am very proud of how well this was conducted. Our rapid return into Ukraine to restore operations is also a testament to the high level of skills of our duty of care personnel ”

- Missions, Civilian Operations Commander Mr Stefano Tomat

This valuable experience in how to conduct evacuations during rapidly deteriorating security situations is something that is now incorporated into the Mission Security Office course as an integrated learning objective, culminating in a very demanding but realistic exercise where a fictitious mission is relocated and later evacuated from a deteriorating conflict area.

The last training week is devoted to a specialised medical trauma course for security staff, called MEDSEC. This course builds on a concept called Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), which are guidelines for trauma life support in prehospital combat medicine, designed to reduce preventable deaths while maintaining operation success. MSB has together with CPCC tailored and expanded this concept to provide more than 200 colleagues with an exacting training programme to meet the special needs in our most highrisk missions.

By training together and honing skills, ranging from producing effective security plans to deal with humanitarian problems and demonstrating medical skills caring for wounded staff, our CSDP mission security and duty of care staff are always ready to step up to meet the challenge.