JP 3-16, Multinational Operations - Defense Technical Information ...

Planning and Execution Considerations
(b) Conduct activities with partner nations to confront threats and challenges
before they mature into a crisis;
(c) Conduct military-to-military senior leader and staff talks and exchanges;
(d) Promote regional cooperation to meet shared challenges as well as decrease
tension and rivalries;
(e) Conduct bilateral and multilateral exercises; and
(f) Conclude formal arrangements for the use of facilities, basing, or transit of
military forces.
e. Employment. In most multinational operations, the differing degrees of national
interest result in varying levels of commitment by partner nations. While some countries
might authorize the full range of employment, other countries may limit their forces to
strictly defensive or combat service support roles. Some examples of partner nation
contributions can be seen in Figure III-2. However, offers of national support should not be
declined outright. Instead, every offer should be vetted through the MNFC and multinational
partners, and recognized as support to the operation or campaign. This process helps
maintain the support of allies, friends, and partners and enhances the relationship.
Additionally, multinational support will help increase the perceived legitimacy of operations
domestically as well as internationally.
For additional information regarding legitimacy, see JP 3-0, Joint Operations. For NATO
operations, see Allied Joint Publication (AJP)-3, Allied Joint Doctrine for the Conduct of
Operations.
2. Building and Maintaining a Multinational Force
a. Building an MNF starts with the political decisions and diplomatic efforts to create a
coalition or spur an alliance into action. Discussion and coordination between potential
participants will initially seek to sort out basic questions at the national strategic level. These
senior-level discussions could include organizations like the UN or NATO, existing
coalitions or alliances, or individual nations. The result of these discussions should
determine:
(1) The nature and limits of the response.
(2) The command structure of the response force.
(3) The essential strategic guidance for the response force to include military
objectives and the desired end states.
b. Command Issues. When the response force is resident within an alliance, the
procedures and structure of the alliance will normally determine operational-level leadership
for the response force. When the response force is based in a coalition (or an LN structure in
an alliance), the designated LN will normally select the operational-level leadership. The
III-3