The Multinational Civil–Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Group HQ
The MOU transformed the CIMIC Group South into the Multinational CIMIC Group, which will have its headquarters in Motta di Livenza, Italy. The need for a CIMIC has been highlighted by NATO’s recent operations. Recent conflicts have been characterized by the involvement of civil or non-combatant organisations, leading to a significant presence of international assistance personnel in the Area of Operation. This has vastly increased the number of actors that must be coordinated in order to succeed in the force’s mission. As a consequence, NATO developed a new doctrine and endorsed the creation of specialized staff to be responsible for civil–military cooperation. CIMIC groups can be tasked with operating in Collective Defence Operations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. They will likely play a significant role in non-Article 5 Crisis Response Operations in support of peace and international security. A group of NATO nations led the way to create CIMIC specialized units. On Jan. 1, 2002 Italy, as the lead nation, established the CIMIC Group South at its army facility in Motta di Livenza. CIMIC Group South included contributions from Greece, Hungary, Portugal and Romania. In 2009, Bulgaria and Slovenia also committed forces to the unit. CIMIC Group South has been rebadged as the Multinational CIMIC Group after the MOU was signed. This Multinational CIMIC Group is the only operational CIMIC Headquarters within NATO and can be deployed in support of units up to army corps’ level. With the support of assets from participating nations it will act as a bridge between Alliance forces and the civil agencies. A “Deployable Module” provides the permanent specialist core able to coordinate any kind of CIMIC effort as well as providing consultancy and advice to the Force Commander. The complete CIMIC Centre, including nearly the full operational and logistic staff of the Head Quarters, can be deployed en masse or in modules depending on the situation. The Multinational CIMIC Group also provides a centre for training, education and permanent expertise and consultancy in matter of Civil-Military Cooperation. It organises multilateral meetings as well as NATO tactical CIMIC courses and is constantly in contact with the main international organizations, national and foreign non-governmental organizations.
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On April 28th 2009, military representatives of five NATO nations, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Romania and SHAPE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing the Civil-Military Cooperation Capability (CIMIC) which will act as a bridge between Alliance forces and civil agencies. Maj. Gen. Rudy Wright, Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations, concluded the signing ceremony by expressing the hope that other NATO nations will participate in the initiative; increasing Allied Command Operation’s ability to interact with civil organisations and enhancing its peace keeping and crisis response missions.