1. MULTINATIONAL FORCES STANDING OPERATING PROCEDURES (MNF SOP)
Mr. Bernie Carey MNF SOP Program Manager USPACOM J AUG 2016
UNCLASSIFIED 1

2. Information Brief Overview (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Information Brief Overview (U)
Purpose
Background
Status
Organization and Concepts
Way Ahead 2

3. Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Purpose (U)
Provide an overview of the Multinational Force Standing Operating Procedures (MNF SOP) 3

4. 4 Background (U) The requirement:
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Background (U)
The requirement:
The Indo-Asia-Pacific region does not have a multilateral security arrangement (like NATO) to address sudden onset crises
Most of the formal defense relationships that exist are bilateral (an exception is the Five Powers Defence Arrangement)
The 1999 East Timor crisis response showcased the need for multinational military planning skills and procedures among regional militaries
The result:
At the 2000 Asia-Pacific Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) conference, COMUSPACOM (ADM Blair) and counterparts agree to establish a cooperative multinational program (Multinational Planning Augmentation Team [MPAT] Program) to improve multinational military interoperability in the region 4

5. 5 Status (U) MPAT Program Objectives (directed by the CHODs):
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Status (U)
MPAT Program Objectives (directed by the CHODs):
Improve multinational speed of response in a crises
Improve multinational interoperability
Increase mission effectiveness
Increase unity of effort
Methods:
Establish a cadre of skilled multinational military planners able to rapidly support a multinational military response
MPAT Planners
Develop and maintain multinational military procedures for use by a coalition or combined task force headquarters (CTF HQ) (or enable coordinated multinational operations between separate national task forces [e.g., parallel Joint Task Forces])
The Multinational Force Standing Operating Procedures (MNF SOP) 5

6. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
MNF SOP Purpose: Provides organizational framework, procedures and processes for the planning and execution of multinational military operations
Focus:
Operational Level HQs (JTF HQs &/or CTF HQs)
Military Operations Other than War (MOOTW) / Small Scale Contingencies (SSC) *
Execution:
Theory: based on “Lead Nation Concept” (Coalition or Combined Task Force Operations [CTF] with time to organize / plan a unified response in a single force)
Practice: in the region, most crises are sudden onset with no time to organize a unified (CTF) response – most operations are parallel and separate coordinated (parallel) national responses
* Publicly stated mission area focus (but planning procedures [MDMP] are the same regardless of mission) 6

7. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Key principles:
Operational Start Points:
Predetermined “start points” prior to a crisis will improve speed of response and efficiency
Clear Understanding and Communications:
A common framework for organization and standardization of terminology, procedures and processes increases unity of effort
Common Planning Process:
Multinational planning structure provides an integrated and managed process for planning and execution of operations 7

8. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
MNF SOP Start Points:
Terminology
Lead Nation Concept
Common Command, Control and Coordination Concepts
Standardized Headquarters Organization
Common Planning Process 8

9. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Start Point 1 – Terminology
A common understanding of terminology should be established for clear communications and coordination
(Refer to Part E; Glossary and Abbreviations & Acronyms for details) 9

10. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Start Point 2 – Lead Nation Concept
Legal establishment: by United Nations or other legal basis
Responsible for strategic consultation / coordination
Single channel for direction to multinational forces based on agreement with participating nations
Vital or survival interests most at stake
Provide foundation for the operation &/or preponderance of forces
Capable of coordinating diplomatic efforts, leading planning & execution
(not to be confused with lead for functional responsibilities)
(Refer to Part B, Chapter 1: National Strategic Factors for details) 10

11. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Start Point 3 – Common C2 and Coordination
Chains of Command – always have two or more
National chain of command
Multinational chain of command
MNF Chain of Command
Participating Nation 2
Strategic Command
National Command Element
Nation 1 Forces
Lead Nation
MNF Command
Lead Nation Forces
Nation 2 Forces
Note: There are multiple ways to organize C2 among multinational forces.
(Refer to Part B: Chapter 2: Command, Control, Coordination and Cooperation Relationships for details) 11

12. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Start Point 4 – Standardized Headquarters Organization
Provides framework for integrated operations within multinational operations
Incorporates traditional staffing and integration concepts and validates coordination of participating nations’ military forces into the CTF planning and coordination processes
Provides the means to coordinate and cooperate with the Humanitarian Community (HC) using a cooperative framework for planning with the CTF headquarters
(Refer to Part B, Chapter 2: CTF Headquarters Organization for details) 12

13. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Start Point 5 – Common Planning Process
Provides common planning and military decision making processes tailored to meet the situation
CTF Planning Process is the heart of the multinational effort
There are three components to the CTF Planning Process:
(1) Planning Organization
(2) Crisis Action Planning
(3) Military Decision Making Process – Multinational (MDMP-M)
(Refer to Part B, Chapter 2: CTF Planning Process and Organization for details) 13

14. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Sections:
Part A: MNF SOP Foundations – explains the focus of the SOP (MPAT Objectives; focus [MOOTW / SSC]; key terminology; key considerations of multinational operations; level of planning)
Part B: Multinational Ops Overview – describes “operational start points,” activation and formation
Part C: Headquarters Procedures (and Processes) – for staff sections and special staff as well as processes that span across the HQs
Part D: Operations and Missions (NEO, PR, HADR, CBRN-TIM, Transnational Threats, peace ops, MARSEC, Transition Ops, Stability Ops)
Part E: Reference Library
Part F: Tables, Templates, Report Formats 14

15. Organization and Concepts (U)
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Organization and Concepts (U)
Resources:
MNF SOP Portal:
MNF SOP Ver 3.0 (dtd November 2015)
Handbooks (Extracts):
CBRN-TIM Consequence Management CBRN-TIM Defense
(dtd October 2010)
Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HA/DR)
(dtd October 2013)
Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) (dtd October 2013)
Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) (dtd October 2013)
Multinational Coordination Center (MNCC) (dtd December 2014)
Military Decision Making Process – Multinational (MDMP-M)
(dtd November 2015)
MDMP-M Academics (dtd November 2015) 15

16. 16 Way Ahead (U) Utilization of the MNF SOP:
Defend the Homeland
Fight Tonight
Lead Rebalance
Drive Activities in TCO
Operationalize Theater C2
Organizational Coherence/Climate
Way Ahead (U)
Utilization of the MNF SOP:
Training and Exercises: per the USPACOM Joint Training Plan (training and exercise annex to the Theater Campaign Plan) and Annex M (training and exercises) the USPACOM Theater Campaign Order
Feedback:
Via MNF SOP Workshops (held biennially); next workshop is in 2018 (Location: TBD)
Via to MPAT Secretariat (
Via exercise AARs (need specific change recommendations in “issue, discussion and recommendation” format or via Comment Resolution Matrix template) 16

17. Discussion 17