North Africa LibyaBlog Analysis

operations in Libya. Who orders who? Who controls what? Synthesis (maj2)

(BRUSSELS2/Synthesis) Regarding military interventions in Libya, confusion reigns, skillfully maintained by several of the actors in the file. There is not one operation in Libya but four, even five (if we count the Frontex mission). Tour of the owner(s)…

The distribution of tasks appears clear on four of these five missions. Operation “No Fly Zone” to come under NATO control Sunday March 27. All that remains, in fact, is that on the “protection of civilians”, the sharing of tasks between NATO and the Coalition remains to be clarified (1). The first meeting of the contact group took place in London on March 29, 2011. The progress of the opposition on the ground could facilitate and accelerate the search for a solution.

A sharing of means and a confusion of roles

First of all, you should know that there is no complete seal between all these operations. Particularly in terms of the means used. These (ships, planes and soldiers/experts) remain essentially under the control of Member States which only delegate – to varying degrees – command to multinational structures (NATO, EU, Coalition). As no country has unlimited resources, resources allocated to one operation can be used for another, particularly in terms of air intelligence or aerial surveillance. This is rather classic in certain international operations where several missions coexist. Thus in Chad, during the Eufor Chad operation, French planes carried out missions called “Alpha” and “Bravo” during the same outing, one on behalf of Eufor Chad, the other on behalf of of the Epervier national mission.

You should also know that commanders wear several hats. Thus, Admiral Sam Lockwear who currently commands Operation Odyssey Dawn (no fly zone and protection of civilians)) is commander of the American naval forces of Africom and Eucom but also the NATO commander of the JFC (joint command) of Naples which will supervise and/or coordinate most of NATO's military operations in Libya. And he has as his deputy General Bouchard who will take charge of the command of operation “No Fly Zone” on behalf of NATO and will report to his hierarchical superior at NATO who is… Lockwear (2).

sky control “No Fly zone” (NATO)

Goal : " ban all flights in the airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect civilians”

Code name: “Odyssey Dawn” (USA), “Harmattan” (france) / Ellamy (Uk). Legal basis: §6 to 12 UN resolution 1973. Start: March 19, 2011. The mission comes under NATO control Sunday March 27 (2). Duration: 3 months.

Political control: the ambassadors of the 28 NATO member countries (NAC), extended to other contributing countries. Commander: Lieutenant General Bouchard (Canada). Chain of command: NATO (SHAPE) / JFC Naples / Izmir Air HQ (Turkey) / CAOC Poggio-Renatico (Italy). Funding: Participating States / NATO Member States

Resources: Belgium, Denmark, United Arab Emirates*, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Qatar*, United Kingdom, Turkey, USA.

“Protection of civilians” (Coalition / NATO)

Objective: to take “all necessary means to protect populations and civilian areas threatened with attack “, in particular the strikes on the military means of the regime.

Code name: “Odyssey Dawn” (USA), “Harmattan” (france) / Ellamy (Uk). Legal basis: §4 UN resolution 1973. Start: March 19, 2011. The mission comes under NATO control Thu March 31

Political control: NATO Contact Group/Ambassadors (NAC). Chain of command: NATO / USA (Africom) / Coalition.

Command structure: Africom HQ (Stuttgart) – USS Mount Whitney) – France (Lyon) – United Kingdom (Northwood) =>NATO (SHAPE) / JFC Naples / Izmir Air HQ (Turkey) / CAOC Poggio-Renatico ( Italy).

Commander: Admiral Sam Lockwear (USA) => Lieutenant General Bouchard (Canada).

Essential resources: France, United Kingdom.
Other means: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Spain, Qatar*, USA

Arms embargo control by sea (NATO)

the aircraft carrier Garibaldi 551 (credit: Italian Navy)

Goal : " guarantee the strict application of the arms embargo, inspect on their territory and on the high seas, ships and aircraft coming from or going to (Libya) ».

Codename: “Unified Protector”. Legal basis: §9-10 resolution 1970, §13 resolution 1973 UN. Start: March 22, 2011. Funding: Member States / NATO

Political control: the ambassadors of the 28 NATO member countries (NAC).

Chain of command: NATO (SHAPE) / JFC Naples / MCC Naples Maritime Command. Commander: Vice Admiral Rinaldo Veri (Italy).

Essential resources: Italy, Turkey.
Other means: Belgium, Canada, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, Bulgaria, Romania.

Humanitarian support (European Union)

Migrants at the Tunisian border (Credit: UNHCR)

Objective: provide means to international organizations “at their request” to: 1) repatriate refugees and displaced persons (air and sea bridge), 2) manage or secure refugee camps in Tunisia, Egypt, or in “other country” (NB: Libya, Niger…).

Code name “Eufor Libya” (provisional). Legal basis: §26 UN resolution 1970 / European Union decision. Startup: April 2011 (to be specified)

Political control: 26 EU PSC ambassadors. Command structure: Brussels HQ / OHQ Roma (to be defined). Chain of command: EU.

Means: to be defined (could participate: Finland, Greece, Poland, Sweden, Saudi Arabia*?).

Border surveillance (European Union / Frontex)

Coast Guard on the Mediterranean (Credit: EU/Frontex)

Objective: to monitor the arrivals of boats loaded with immigrants.

Code name: Hermès (civil mission with coast guard resources and certain military resources). Legal basis: art. 67 and 77 Treaty on the functioning of the EU. Start: February 19, 2011.

Political control: Interior ministries of neighboring states (Italy / Malta). Command structure: coordination between Member States / Frontex.

Means: Italy (naval + air) + France, Germany, Netherlands, Malta, Spain (+ experts: Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Romania, Malta, Sweden, Switzerland *). Funding: EC budget.

Read also:

(*) Non-NATO member, non-EU member
 
(1) American General Carter Ham, who commands US Africom, clearly distinguished the 3 operations (March 25): “There are three components of implementing the provision of UN Security Council Resolution 1973. Maritime, which is the arms embargo that has transitioned to NATO and is under the command of an Italian admiral; no-fly zone, which will transition very soon, probably this weekend, and there'll be a Canadian three-star operating under NATO command for that; and the protect civilians mission, which NATO, as my understanding has agreed to in principal, and I think they'll have discussions over this weekend as precisely how to accept that mission. This should occur pretty soon. In the interim, the protect civilians mission and currently the no-fly-zone mission are under my authority, and I work for the secretary of defense and the president of the United States.”
 
(2) American General Carter Ham, who commands US Africom, confirmed this “loop” to our colleagues at NBC: “the next higher NATO commander is Admiral Sam Locklear, who is, in his NATO capacity, is the commander of Joint Force Command Naples – a NATO position – but he is also the US commander of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, so he is intimately familiar with this mission. And he is exercising presence simultaneously – some US responsibilities and his NATO responsibilities. Ultimately, when the entirety of the mission goes to NATO, assuming that decision is made, there'll be the three-star Canadian officer who I know and have great confidence in, will be the commander and he will report to Admiral Locklear in his NATO role, and of course Admiral Locklear reports to Admiral Stavridis, US officer who is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe
 
(updated Thursday, March 31)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

Comments closed.