EUTM Mali: a demanding training

(BRUSSELS2, exclusive) Six months after its establishment, the European training mission of the Malian army (EUTM Mali) has found its cruising speed. A progress report should thus take place at the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the European Union this Tuesday (September 17) (*). This should start the process of reflection on the future of the mission.

Mission perfectly identified

This task is " perfectly identified in the Malian political landscape. Its scope is well defined, in perfect complementarity with other missions in the country (such as the UN missions, Serval, etc.). It is a well-born mission, perfectly recognized told us General Guibert, who succeeded General Lecointre at the start of the summer. The mission is actually in the middle of the ford. The formation of the second "elou" battalion (elephant in Tamashek, the Tuareg language) is complete. The training of the third battalion will start, after a 2-week break, on September 30.

Intensive training

This training of 10-11 weeks which may seem a bit short in the eyes of the layman. But 10-11 weeks, for a battalion with equipment, with men staying together, European trainers in number - we reach 3-4 men for a trainer, a level rarely reached even at European level -, it is " huge on the scale of a Malian army “, who had so far only little training except some shooting training; there did not exist no real permanent culture of operational readiness ". Our " training is demanding assures General Guibert. " From Monday to Saturday, with sport every day, sometimes marches or fights at night, the rhythm is important”.

Multinationality: an asset rather than a disadvantage

As for multinationality, often decried in certain circles of experts, " not only is it not an obstacle, but rather an asset. Each nation has put the best in its specialty. The principle of the mission was, in fact, to avoid any interference between the different countries with an axiom: "A specialty = a doctrine = a nation". " European soldiers and trainers are, above all, soldiers. That's why it works well. They are soldiers training soldiers. They do the same thing as in Europe when we train. This also represents for the European Union a " opportunity: consolidate its CSDP military component and show that it works ».

Bluffing...

For General Guibert, who has seen others. " It's stunning. We have an elite section trained in shooting by the Hungarians, for example. It was excellent. I didn't see any differences compared to the training we could have given. European countries have very similar doctrines. There are few differences. There is collective learning also at European level. »

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(*) This progress report did not finally take place for diary reasons, it is postponed to the beginning of October

Public chat B2 - the Club  (for subscribers): the results of the engagement of the first battalion, the mission of expertise with the Ministry of Defense, the first ideas for the future military programming law of Mali, the contours of the evolution of the mission, etc