Stabiliseringsoperasjoner: Forvitring av kjernekompetanse?

Abstract

Today, military force is being used in a wide range of scenarios and cover far more and other tasks than it was originally intended for. Both the width and complexity in what military forces are expected to handle is increasing. The 2006 Lebanon war is the latest example of how challenging it is to turn to warfighting when training for and performing other tasks has prevailed a long time. For Norwegian forces stability operations in Afghanistan mostly mean presence and dialogue and not combat. Will this focus cause erosion of warfighting skills? Based on how Norwegian military force is to be used this exploratory study sets out to describe how Norwegian forces train before deployment and their experiences from operations in Afghanistan. The research is based mainly on qualitative interviews with Norwegian military personnel who have previously served in Afghanistan. The research shows that the basis in doctrines and directives is warfighting and that this is the number one priority when Norwegian forces are training for stability operations as well. The research also shows that this focus on warfighting was the main reason why the forces handled combat situations in Afghanistan effectively. The research shows as well that Norwegian forces trained for combat do handle policing and humanitarian tasks in a very good way. There are several aspects which can give erosion of warfighting skills, but the most important is related to how the units train, training organization and mental training. First, units is being sent on operations with other equipment and structured differently than at home. Second, there is not established an effective training organization which take care of administrative aspects concerning the deployment as well as planning and execution of training, in order for the units to concentrate on training and force preparation. Third, focus on what it really means to be a soldier, to kill or being killed does not get enough attention in military training.