Military

Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR's multi-national theater command and control structure is depicted below:

The JMC liaison and command relationship established during JOINT ENDEAVOR were one tactical level of command lower than the factions, as shown below:

Each echelon of command within the AO, from theater to battalion level, should have a dedicated JMC office. At theater level, the JMC is the central body for all parties to bring to the attention of the commander any military complaints, questions or problems concerning the military aspects of the peace agreement that require resolution.

Theater JMC

Unlike the MND's, the ARRC headquarters chose not to establish a completely separate staff section to deal with all aspects of JMC work, preferring to build on existing structures, and modifying them accordingly to meet the additional commitment imposed by JMCs. The COMARRC JMC was organized as shown below:

Highlighted staff sections with impact on the JMC process were the:

• G3 Plans, which remained the focal point for all Corps-level planning, including the theoretical and conceptual planning associated with JMCs. This staff section was responsible for collating input from all elements across the Corps HQ that was to be incorporated into JMC meetings. This involved assimilating all issues and including them as agenda points, and then preparing the briefs and speaking notes for the Chairman, JMC, usually the ARRC Commander or the Chief of Staff. This was a multi-disciplinary task involving all elements of the HQ but with G3 Plans clearly in the lead. This proved most successful, since G3 Plans was also responsible for defining and developing future Corps plans on all aspects of GFAP implementation. G3 Plans was ideally placed to determine how best to use JMCs, and what strategy to use at them, to implement those plans.

• Faction Liaison, under a general officer and a staff of one officer and two interpreters, had responsibility for developing and maintaining daily contact with each of the Parties. In so doing, the Chief Faction Liaison closely understood factional military leaders' personalities, their overall aims, and the best ways to deal with the factions. His advice was invaluable in ensuring that the JMC Chairman most effectively dealt with the Parties to achieve COMARRC's overall objectives. The Chief Faction Liaison eventually chaired bilateral meetings, again using his unique insights to retain the initiative.

• JMC Secretariat, which was largely based on the HQ, ARRC Organization and Coordination Branch, with additional augmentation to staff and run JMC meetings. COMARRC decided that initial Corps-level JMCs would be formal affairs to give the Chairman the initiative to impose his decisions and will on the Parties more readily than if the meetings were informal and unstructured. This decision was also based in part on UNPROFOR-run informal JMCs, at which the UN facilitated the Parties' dialogue, and hopefully agreement, with each other. This seldom worked as planned, so ARRC officers who attended UNPROFOR JMCs decided that IFOR JMCs needed to be disciplined, formal and structured if ever to achieve their ends. The JMC Secretariat collected and organized input to JMC agendas and speaking notes, and also wrote meeting minutes. The Secretariat's responsibilities also extended to other administrative tasks; transport for parties, security, accommodations, etc. As part of the campaign to maintain formality, the JMC Secretariat would, at the end of the formal part of each JMC meeting, produce typed copies of decisions reached at the meeting. The parties would sign, and then be bound, by the decisions. While the typed decision were produced, the JMC Chairman would conduct bilateral discussions with each Party -- an invaluable information exchange.

The COMARRC JMC Secretariat also relied heavily on three other staff sections for their input and assistance:

• The Political Advisor, a British civil servant, joined the HQ, ARRC, just prior to deployment into theater. He provided invaluable political advice to COMARRC and highlighted the political dimension of military problems.

• The Legal Branch quickly developed an important position in the planning cycle. Most operational issues had legal implications, particularly regarding JMC issues through D+120 which were central to the Corps' mission success.

• Media Operations inevitably gave advice on the implications of public perceptions, and thereby overall campaign plan success, of various actions being considered. Specific to JMCs, Media Operations was vital in ensuring that the true outcome of each meeting was accurately passed to the media in a timely fashion. The Corps HQ was always mindful any of the Parties could (but seldom did) manipulate the media to present a false impression of meeting outcomes. As a result, a press line was always produced immediately after each JMC and quickly released to the press so HQ, ARRC, was normally one step ahead of the parties in getting accurate information to the media.

Overall, the Theater/Corps JMC mission statement should include the following:

• Conducts mission analysis and determines primary (specified) and supporting (implied) military tasks embedded in the treaty language.

• Performs direct liaison with all faction army and political leaders and exercises treaty interpretative authority over military matters.

• Develops policies and procedures IAW the peace treaty to achieve primary tasks.

• Interfaces with the UN/NATO/Coalition and national command structures when established.

• Monitors subordinate forces' implementation operations to ensure unbiased application and compliance with the military aspects of the peace agreement by the parties.

• Assists the division commander in determining standards and implementing local compliance measures.

• Serves as final arbiter in theater for military issues in dispute.

Division JMC

Task Force Eagle's composition was as shown (Figure III-3).

At the division level, the JMC was the key command and staff link to coordinate the military factions' compliance operations. It was a command mechanism through which instructions were given, and through which procedures were established for supervision, monitoring, and verification of the actions of the factions. The JMC was also the central body for parties to bring issues to the attention of the commander, or military complaints, questions or problems concerning the military aspects of the peace agreement that could not be solved at the brigade level (See Figure III-4).

In addition to the roles diagrammed above, the division JMC performs the following functions on behalf of the CG:

• Serves as the command's primary communications and liaison link to the factions.

• Participates in policy development with corps- and theater-level commands.

• Advises the division commander on political, and military problems related to treaty compliance and their likely impact on division military operations.

• Integrates and coordinates faction operations and JMC issues with division G2 and G3 staff sections for information fusion and application to military operations.

• Develops and advises the division and brigade commanders on specific courses of action to ensure compliance by the parties with the military aspects of the peace agreement.

• Assists the commander in determining and implementing local cooperative measures and in resolving disputes between the parties.

• Analyzes subordinate units' JMC operations, and reports critical information and observations to the higher command.

• Develops and tracks measures of success for the commander's campaign vision (See Appendix A: Mission Analysis: Measures of Success Matrix).

• Develops agendas and facilitates bilateral and JMC meetings

Section II: Policy, Part 2

Section III: IFOR and JMC Structures, Part 2