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Bangladesh Army officers pose with Mr. Derek Boothby, the exercise UN Special Representative to the Secretary General and retired U.S. Maj. Gen. Clive Milner, the exercise force commander.

The After Action Review officer with each country and Brigade HQ noted staff responses to each situation/event. At the end of the day, a review of the activities discussed what happened, what responses were logical for executing on ground to achieve battalion and mission aims, and what plans/actions they needed to improve and refine.

Days two and three followed a similar pattern; however, the themes of the CPX turned more hostile to the UN force. A number of scenarios involved resolution of such situations, such as a stand-off between two warring factions, kidnapping and detention of UN military and civil personnel, and exchange of fire between UN troops and the armed factions.

Players received well thought out inputs culled from real-life experiences of other UN missions. To facilitate this, exercise coordinators had developed and prepared a Master Scenario Events List that was the driving force behind the exercise.

One of the unique features of this exercise was the full integration of civil police and UN military observers from Madagascar, Maldives and Mauritius. Participants from each of these countries served in various capacities in the UN and exercise structure.

The closing ceremony involved the summing up by the After Action Review team and closing remarks by the senior participants, including the Exercise Director, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Loop.

The South Asia PKO CPX proved to be a valuable learning experience for all participants. The CPX achieved its objectives of enabling all participants to achieve a better understanding of each other’s capabilities to conduct a multilateral PKO, establishing common staff procedures for a functioning multinational force HQ, and achieving a higher state of readiness and interoperability for the actual conduct of similar PKOs in the future.