letters to the editor - Department of Defence

S A S O L D I E Rstories from 2009Exercise GOLFINHOBy L Cpl Itumeleng Makhubela (anextract of what was published inSA Soldier: October 2009, page 11)Photo: S Sgt Lebogang TlhaoleExercise GOLFINHO is a multinationalpeacekeeping operationwith over 6 000 participantsfrom different securityforces and support elements.This unique approach topeace support missions has taken theSouthern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC) region by stormthrough its complexity and execution.The SADC Standby Force was establishedas agreed upon by the AfricanUnion timeline of 2010 with the aim ofparticipating in peace support missions.Its main objective was to prepareelements of the SADC StandbyForce for a multidimensional peacesupport operation in line with theAfrican Union (AU) standby forceroad map.Briefing the media about ExerciseGOLFINHO, Brig Gen LawrenceSmith, the Force Commander, saidthey had selected scenario six of theprescribed AU training structure, anintervention that posed difficulties interms of interoperability. He describedit as a way of testing impossibilities byputting together people of differentgroupings and backgrounds. The compositionof the SADC Standby Forceconsisted of the Mission Headquarters,a civilian component, a police componentand the military component thatmade an immense contribution by providingpersonnel.Exercise GOLFINHO was structuredin three phases. The first was theIt is a multinational peacekeeping operation withparticipants from different security forces andsupport elements.MAPEX, which was the initialpart of the exercise and entailedmapping and operational planning.This was followed by theCPX command post exercise,and lastly the training exerciseFTX, a month-long field trainingexercise at the SA ArmyTraining Combat Centre inLohatlha that took place from 1to 28 September 2009. Thisinvolved the execution part ofthe exercise and mobilisedforces in member states. It alsocomprised intervention by airborneforces and marrying updrills by integrating SADCstates and their different forces.Brig Gen Smith said each componenthad a sector commanderto oversee its engagementand successfully interactedwith other components despiteminor obstacles. Of the 15countries that form the SADC,only three: Mauritius,Seychelles and Madagascarwere non-participants in theexercise. Each SADC state hadto provide for their own forces. TheNaval Joint Maritime Task Force atWalvis Bay in Namibia also ran anexercise concurrently with the one inLohatlha.A simulated hostile take-over of rebelmilitants on armaments vehicles wasstaged during a demonstration. TheSoldiers lowering flags during thedecommissioning parade.scene depicted how a well-integratedSADC force would handle such incidents.The objective of the exercisewas to test the interoperability andcompatibility of the mission components.Unlike the military and policecomponents, the civilian componenthad to provide assistance in humanitarianrelief operation.42• M A Y 2 0 1 1