Technical Evaluation Report - Nato

T-2
Throughout the symposium, there was a noticeable influence on the discussions of the terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001. As probably was the case with all military
disciplines in this period, there was a need to discuss the relation between the knowledge presented
here and the application of that knowledge in the fight of and defence against terrorism. Before
discussing the content of the meeting, I would briefly like to discuss how the recent events affect the
need for the expertise of the participants.
This discussion reflects remarks made in presentations as well as discussions between participants
between presentations.
Though terrorism in itself isn’t new, given the scale of the attacks and given the biological attacks
afterwards one can state that a new threat has emerged, quite different from the well-defined
‘classical’ military threat:
• The current threats are present in home countries, without a declaration of war,
• As for the offensive targets one can recognise that they are:
o Small; terrorist groups train and operate typically in small units;
o The targets are located within ‘civil’ areas, which makes any attacks politically highly
sensitive;
o Targets are difficult to locate, therefore requiring small reconnaissance units;
o Often located in extreme climatic conditions.
The home threat requires a discussion of protection of the civilian population. It can be expected that
the coming years will bring about a risk-benefit analyses in relation to civilian bacteriological and
chemical protection. More directly of relevance however is the protection of emergency services, as
their risk, being called to problem areas, is much higher. For these groups, the basic requirements for
heat, cold, and ballistic protection have not changed, but there is an increased need and renewed
interest in higher level NBC protection with the consequent heat burden in these workers. The
chemical attacks on the Tokyo subway system and the recent Anthrax scare show that protection for
such threats is essential, though it may be limited to special units. Here we would expect to see a direct
spin-off of military research as presented at the symposium and research in the protection area.
Regarding the point that counter-attack targets are often located in civil areas, and that the location of
these targets will require small military units for reconnaissance, one can envisage that such units
often cannot be reached with supplies. This implies that they will need to rely heavily on their
equipment and their clothing. Considering the target location in more extreme climates, the latter
needs to protect them from these climatic influences.
All these considerations above indicate the great importance of the topic of this meeting on ‘Protecting
Against Climatic Extremes’, as well as its interaction with NBC protection, for the military, the
emergency services, and, be it to a lesser extent, for the civilian population.
SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM
The overall symposium was chaired by Dr. (Col) John Obusek (US) and Dr. Wulf von Restorff (GE),
with Dr. Michel Ducharme (CA), Dr. Hein Daanen (NE) and Dr. Kent Pandolf (US) as additional
members of the programme committee, supported by Dr. Cornelius Wientjes (NE/F) as Panel
Executive.
The symposium was split in 4 sessions, each starting with a keynote address. Due to travel restrictions
related to the September terrorist attacks, 4 papers and one keynote were withdrawn.