Chapter 26

Center for Law and Military Operations (CLAMO)

I.  OVERVIEW.  The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize operational legal professionals with the Center for Law and Military Operations (CLAMO), encourage the use of CLAMO as a resource provider, and request the submission of information to CLAMO. This chapter also provides information concerning the Army’s Combat Training Centers (CTCs) and the Mission Command Training Program (MCTP).

II.  MISSION.  CLAMO is a joint, multi-composition, and multinational legal center responsible for supporting legal advisors to military operations by training and educating, collecting and sharing lessons learned, publishing legal resources, and facilitating multinational legal interoperability. CLAMO manages a central repository of information relating to legal issues arising in military operations and disseminates resources addressing these issues to facilitate the development of doctrine, organization, training, material, leadership, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) as these areas affect the military legal community.

III.  Contacting CLAMO.  CLAMO invites contribution of operational legal materials and suggestions, including legal after-action reports (AARs), ideas from the field, comments about its products, and requests for information or assistance.  Please e-mail, or write to request or submit materials and ask questions. You may e-mail CLAMO at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-tjaglcs.mbx.clamo-tjaglcs@army.mil. CLAMO’s Secure Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) e-mail address can also be obtained by contacting CLAMO at that address. You may write to CLAMO at 600 Massie Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-1781.  The CLAMO SharePoint web page[1] contains CLAMO’s repository and publications, as does its webpage at https://tjaglcs.army.mil/clamo  CLAMO’s most current AARs are posted on it Sharepoint/Intelink site.[2]  

IV.  CLAMO:  A RESOURCE PROVIDER FOR OPERATIONAL LEGAL PROFESSIONALS

A.   Description

1.    Established by order of the Secretary of the Army in 1988, CLAMO is located at The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) in Charlottesville, Virginia.  CLAMO is a multi-component, joint, and multinational team.  It includes representatives from the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and National Guard Bureau, as well as legal advisors from the Polish Armed Forces and German Ministry of Defense. CLAMO’s location at TJAGLCS enables the rapid communication of current operational materials and lessons learned to the school faculty and legal center directorates. This allows timely incorporation of current best practices and lessons learned into the JAG Corp’s educational processes, as well as into force structure, doctrine, and training development. In a matter of days from receiving the latest observations from operational legal professionals, the Legal Center and School can produce training material to inform the greater force.

2.    CLAMO strives to be the most responsive resource provider for operational legal professionals in both the classified and unclassified environments, disseminating current best practices and timely lessons learned provided by the operational force, and serving as expert analysts of emerging legal issues.

3.   CLAMO operates along four mutually supportive Lines of Effort: Education and Training; Publication; Collection, Analysis, and Dissemination; and Multinational Legal Interoperability.

B.    Education and Training

       1.    Education.  CLAMO provides blocks of instruction in at paralegal, legal administrator, and judge advocate professional military education courses at TJAGLCS. Additionally, CLAMO provides instruction during Senior Officer, General Officer, and Congressional Official Legal Orientations.

       2.    Training.

              a.    Short Courses.  CLAMO annually hosts the Domestics Operations Law Course, as well as the biennial Hurricane Combined Arms Rehearsal (HurriCAR).  Additionally, CLAMO provides blocks of instruction during multiple short courses hosted by the TJAGLCS National Security Law Academic Department and supports other organizations hosting events in the national security law discipline.

              b.    Operational Training.  CLAMO assists Army Service Component Command (ASCC), Corps, and Division Offices of the Staff Judge Advocate, as well as Brigade Legal Sections (BLS) prepare for exercises utilizing a “Road to War” program.  In collaboration with the CTCs and MCTP CLAMO is available to assist legal teams prepare and improve in areas such as legal personnel manning, staff integration, participation in the military decision making process, multi-echelon synchronization, and multinational interoperability.

C.    Publication.

       1.    General.  CLAMO informs the field of the practical information it collects from exercises and deployments through a number of publications.

       2.    National Security Law Quarterly (NSLQ).  The NSLQ is CLAMO’s quarterly publication of articles from the field.  Each edition features contributions from senior JAG Corps leaders, the National Security Law Department, Office of The Judge Advocate General, one of the Army Service Component Command legal teams, and national security law practitioners from across the joint, multi-component, and multinational force. CLAMO desires and highly encourages contributions from sister Service and paraprofessional communities.  You may request to be added to the NSLQ distribution list on CLAMO’s webpage at:  https://tjaglcs.army.mil/clamo.  The NSLQ is also available via JAGCNet.

3.    Bound Publications.  CLAMO has softbound copies of the most recent handbooks and resources. CLAMO writes on a wide variety of topics, including current overseas contingency operations, domestic operational law, and rule of law operations. Additionally, to assist operational legal professionals in avoiding the relearning of lessons previously identified, CLAMO has published a compendium of lessons learned during major operations since 1994. Use the contact information above to request copies of CLAMO publications (or the Operational Law Handbook and Law of Armed Conflict Documentary Supplement published by the TJAGLCS National Security Law Academic Department). All CLAMO publications are available online on the CLAMO TJAGLCS website.  Those identified below with an asterisk (*) are also available in paper copy.  CLAMO’s publications include:

1. Law and Military Operations in Haiti, 1994–1995:  Lessons Learned for Judge Advocates (1995).
2. Law and Military Operations in the Balkans, 1995–1998:  Lessons Learned for Judge Advocates (1998).
3. Law and Military Operations in Central America:  Hurricane Mitch Relief Efforts, 1998–1999:  Lessons Learned for Judge Advocates (2000).
4. Rules of Engagement Handbook for Judge Advocates (2000).
5. Law and Military Operations in Kosovo, 1999–2001:  Lessons Learned for Judge Advocates (2001).
6. Legal Lessons Learned from Afghanistan and Iraq:  Volume I, Major Combat Operations
   (11 September 2001 to 1 May 2003) (2004).
7. U.S. Government Interagency Complex Contingency Operations Organizational and Legal Handbook (2004).
8. Legal Lessons Learned from Afghanistan and Iraq:  Volume II, Full Spectrum Operations
   (1 May 2003 to 30 June 2004) (2005).
1. Forged in the Fire:  Legal Lessons Learned During Military Operation 1994–2008 (2008).
10. Tip of the Spear:  After Action Reports from August 2009 – August 2010 (2010).
11. Deployed Marine Air-Ground Task Force Judge Advocate Handbook (2013).
50. Rule of Law Handbook:  A Practitioner’s Guide for Judge Advocates (2015).
1000. Domestic Disaster Response 2017 Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria: Lessons Learned for Judge Advocates.
14. *Domestic Operational Law 2021 Handbook for Judge Advocates.
15. Multinational Legal Interoperability (2021)
16. *Operation Allies Welcome After Action Report (2022)
17. Tactical Legal Interoperability Smartbook for Judge Advocates and Legal Advisors, Center for Law and Military Operations and Headquarters, British Army Operational Law (February 2022)

D.   Collection, Analysis, and Dissemination.

1.    Collection.  The primary formal means by which CLAMO collects information is the After Action Report (AAR) process.  The JAG Corps expects its legal professionals to contribute to the profession of military law by producing and sharing written AARs following significant operational training, exercises, and deployments.  Operational legal professionals should submit their AARs to CLAMO using the contact information above.

1. CLAMO AARs.  CLAMO has AAR questionnaires to engage individuals and units prior to the deployment or exercise to facilitate preparation as well as capture information on pre-deployment/exercise training.  During deployments, CLAMO will again engage at the midpoint to identify changes and updates to legal support.  Finally, CLAMO has a post-deployment questionnaire and will work with the unit/individual to produce a consolidated AAR approved by the contributing legal organization.  Information may occur via email, phone or virtual platform, or in person.  In the event CLAMO does not identify your exercise or deployment for purposes of AAR production, please contact CLAMO to participate in this process.
2. Operational Products and Information.  CLAMO also collects information provided by deployed legal personnel.  CLAMO encourages legal professionals to send any of their products and best practices directly to CLAMO.  Additionally, CLAMO strongly encourages units and personnel to add CLAMO’s email address to any standard distribution list used to keep their subordinates and higher headquarters informed.  Legal situation reports, operational law updates, and operational summaries contain a wealth of useful information.  Placement on the distribution list allows CLAMO to remain apprised of the most current information in the deployed environment without placing an additional burden on deployed legal personnel.
3. Deployed CLAMO Personnel.  CLAMO occasionally deploys its personnel to operational theaters to collect the most current information directly.  These deployments are typically of short duration (90 days) and funded by the receiving unit.  The receiving unit is free to use the deployed CLAMO member as best suits the needs of the unit.
4. Other Sources.  Finally, CLAMO constantly monitors a variety of sources for information that might be of use to operational legal professionals.  Such sources include the Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL), classes and lectures at TJAGLCS, the Army’s various combat training centers, other services and our allies, public symposiums and conferences, and other open sources.

2.   Analysis.  Lessons observed and experienced during exercises and operations must become lessons learned.  Lessons observed become lessons learned by incorporation into doctrine, education, and training. CLAMO analyzes the AARs, products, and materials collected from exercises and operations and disseminates them to institutional organizations such as the Future Concepts Directorate, the Training Developments Directorate, and the TJAGLCS academic departments and Non-Commissioned Officer Academy to inform development and revision of doctrine, education, and training.

3.   Dissemination.

1. Online Repositories.  CLAMO’s primary platform for dissemination to the field is through its online repositories. These repositories are organized according to CLAMO’s Lines of Effort, but also include “special topics” to aid individuals’ searches.

NIPR (CAC enabled): Sharepoint/Intelink https://intelshare.intelink.gov/sites/clamo/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/SitePages/Home.aspx

SIPR: Sharepoint/Intelink                                                                                  https://intelshare.intelink.sgov.gov/sites/clamo

CLAMO also maintains a site on the All Partners Access Network (APAN) at https://www.apan.org/ for multinational legal interoperability products and materials.  This site easily allows ally and partner legal advisor access to facilitate information sharing and collaboration when preparing for and executing multinational operations. Additionally, CLAMO maintains a site NATO’s e-LAWFAS legal library.

2. AAR Digest.  On a periodic basis, CLAMO updates its AAR Digest by incorporating recently collected AARs as well as published NSLQ articles.  The digest is organized topically.
3. Published Collections.  Occasionally, CLAMO compiles lessons and products gathered on a particular topic or operation and publishes them as a collection.  Examples are listed in the Publication section, above.
4. CLAMO Deployers Resource Library and Sea Deployers Reference Library (formerly, CLAMO Deployer). Recognizing that operational legal professionals are not always in an environment where there is Internet access, CLAMO  produced the Deployed Resource Library DVD.  However, the content of this DVD is now available at https://tjaglcs.army.mil/clamo for download prior to deployment.  This library contains those materials most likely to be of use to a legal professional in an immature theater or contingency environment.  CLAMO regularly updates the library content. 

E.    Multinational Legal Interoperability. To further “legal interoperability,” CLAMO focuses on exchange officer and multinational exercise opportunities.  CLAMO’s objectives include enhancing to the maximum extent possible the experience of those participating in those exchanges and exercises (e.g., theater-level, Warfighter Exercises (WfX), and CTC rotations) as well as capturing lessons and materials for institutional development of doctrine, education, and training and distribution to practitioners through CLAMO’s repositories, NSLQ articles, and formal publications.  CLAMO relies heavily on the Army Service Component Commands (ASCC), CTCs, and MCTP to identify its priority of efforts.

1.    Formal Exchanges.  CLAMO collaborates with National Security Law Division, Office of The Judge Advocate General to identify formal exchange officer opportunities and, once in place, maximize those U.S. and ally exchange officers’ tenure.  CLAMO routinely hosts exchange officers on a one to three-year basis.  These officers take primarily responsibility for CLAMO’s efforts in strengthening multinational interoperability.  For those exchange positions outside CLAMO, CLAMO often collaborates and coordinates their support and involvement in exercise opportunities.
2.    Legal Interoperability Exchange Program.  The Legal Interoperability Exchange Program (LIEP) consists of informal, ad hoc, and shorter duration exchanges during exercises.  The program has three scenarios.  The first scenario is when an ally or partner is contributing forces to an exercise, but no legal advisor will accompany that force.  In this situation, CLAMO facilitates, usually with the support of the appropriate ASCC, informational exchanges between U.S. and participating ally/partner legal advisors to identify the potential legal challenges to interoperability.  The second scenario is when a U.S. or ally/partner legal advisor imbeds with the legal office of the unit executing an exercise without forces from the imbed’s nation participating.  The Joint Multinational Readiness Center Observer, Coach, Trainer (OC/T) team has executed this scenario multiple times during its ALLIED SPIRIT and COMBINED RESOLVE exercise series with tremendous success.  Lastly, the most ideal scenario is when the U.S. or ally/partner legal advisor imbeds and has forces participating in the exercise.
3.    Exercises. Tied to the LIEP, CLAMO collaborates with ASCCs, rotational units, ally/partner legal advisors and organizations, and OC/T teams in executing robust “road to war” plans in preparation for multinational exercises.  CLAMO assists with development of a deliberate training and exchange program with explicit midpoint and final outputs and products.  CLAMO is also able to establish a website on APAN accessible by all parties to facilitate information sharing and collaboration.

V.  COMBAT TRAINING CENTERS, THE MISSION COMMAND TRAINING PROGRAM, AND NATO JOINT WARFARE CENTER.  The Army has three CTCs and one Training Program:  The Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), the National Training Center (NTC), the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), and the Mission Command Training Program (MCTP).  Each of these focuses on specific elements of a broad spectrum of military operations and incorporates lessons from recent operations.  CLAMO’s relationship with the legal personnel assigned to the CTCs and MCTP allows it to both gather lessons learned during training rotations and share those and other lessons with and among the CTCs and MCTP for immediate implementation by training units.  Additionally, CLAMO has a similar relationship with NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, which provides a link to training events with our NATO Allies.

A.   The Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC).

1.    The JRTC is located at Fort Polk, LA.  This CTC focuses primarily on training brigade combat teams (BCTs) and attached units for Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) and the Global Response Force Mission using Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE) scenarios.  The JRTC and Operations Group provide realistic, relevant, and rigorous training conditions in both remote and urban environments.

2.    A rotation at JRTC generally lasts twenty-one days. This includes ten to fourteen days of Force on Force operations and the option of a four-day live-fire (LFX) sequence.  Units ordinarily begin planning for their JRTC rotation more than seven months before the rotation and identify their training objectives to JRTC from home station 210 days before execution.  The BJA should conduct parallel planning and liaise with the legal OC/Ts at this time to communicate training objectives and focus.  The BJA should also conduct parallel planning and liaise with their OSJA to ensure maximum JA and paralegal Soldier participation in the JRTC rotation.  Around ninety days before the rotation, the unit will send primary staff members to JRTC for the Leaders Training Program (LTP).

3.    The Brigade Judge Advocate (BJA) and the Paralegal NCOIC should both attend LTP.  The organic Military Justice Advisor (MJA) and/or NSL attorney should also attend if their schedule permits.  During the LTP, the brigade staff members—including the BJA—use the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP)[3] to plan their operation.  The BJA will prepare the brigade legal appendix, rules of engagement, and conduct a legal review of the full draft operations order (OPORD).  Preparation of the order requires access to classified and unclassified computer systems.  Without access to those systems, the BJAs will not complete their responsibilities at LTP.  The BJAs will meet the NSL OC/Ts during the LTP session.  BJAs should be prepared to discuss their training objectives with the NSL OC/Ts and capture best practices from the OC/Ts to prepare their brigade legal section (BLS) for rigorous training at the JRTC.  BJAs should identify their personnel, equipment, and training requirements for the upcoming rotation.

4.    Based on the requirements identified at LTP, the BJA and Paralegal NCOIC should develop a deployed standard operating procedure (SOP) which includes a draft battle rhythm, duties and responsibilities, equipment list (including communication and automation requirements), investigation guide, foreign claims guide, reporting format, and battle drills.  The SOP should also include example claims packets, investigations packets, detention packets, rules of engagement (ROE) matrices, claims guidance, and a concept of operation (CONOP) review SOP.  The BJA and Paralegal NCOIC must prepare their team for their JRTC rotation through counseling and training.

5.    Battalion paralegals can either work at their battalions, in accordance with Army doctrine and unit authorizations, or be consolidated at the brigade level.  Take the time to review battalion-level tactical standard operating procedures (TACSOPs) and integrate paralegal tasks into the battalion TACSOP.  If the paralegals are not consolidated at brigade level, the BJA will have less daily contact with battalion paralegals while at the JRTC, but proper planning for battalion paralegal communication platforms will allow for horizontal and vertical communication.  Pre-rotational training and the SOP must give the battalion paralegal the confidence to operate at the battalion with minimal daily guidance from brigade.  For example, a battalion paralegal with minimal supervision must be able to understand the ROE and mission approval authority; identify/report legal significant acts (SIGACTs); provide administrative assistance for investigations; review detention packets; and support legal services for the battalion command and Soldiers.

6.    The BJA must determine how, when, and where BCT units and augmentees will receive operational legal support and ROE training for the rotation.  Besides the approximately 3,500 troops organic to the BCT, there may also be units augmenting or requiring support from the BCT during a rotation.  These units may include an aviation battalion, an engineer battalion, a combat hospital, or Security Force Advisory and Assistance Teams (SFAATs).  Other supporting elements may include Civil Affairs (CA) and Military Information Support to Operations (MISO) detachments.

7.    The JRTC provides a legally rich training environment.  The BLS will encounter issues with ROE (including escalation of force, fire control measures, collateral damage estimation, and dynamic targeting); detention operations; human intelligence collection; claims; Rule of Law; and investigations (including fratricide, escalation of force, ROE and law of armed conflict incidents).  Very few of the issues that arise for the BLS are “injects.”  Instead, the vast majority of these issues arise as the result of actions taken by the brigade.  For example, with over 1,000 local nationals (civilian role-players), units may see a significant number of issues arise as a result of damage or injuries in civilian-populated areas.  Units may have to investigate fratricide or civilian casualties, even though the unit may not be aware that it caused the deaths of those persons, except from allegations made in the local media.

8.    The unit’s actions or inactions will shape the operational environment, either garnering more support for the host nation or the enemy force.  Reactions and attitudes of the local population often shift based on their perceptions of U.S. Forces.    Units will encounter non-governmental organizations (NGOs), competing inter-agency governmental organizations, news media, police and paramilitary forces, and local militia.  The presence of these organizations may require JA involvement to determine their status and appropriate treatment by U.S. forces.  The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) may conduct inspections of the brigade detention/internment facility, and JAs will be present during such inspections.

9.      Three JAG Corps personnel at JRTC serve as OC/Ts—two JAs and one paralegal NCO.  The OC/Ts take a hands-on role in teaching, coaching, and mentoring the BLS members involved in the exercise in an effort to help them improve their respective contributions to their unit’s mission.  Another JA serves as the NSL Planner responsible for the legal content of scenarios and replicating the Division or Combined Joint Task Force SJA.  OC/Ts will conduct in-stride AARs during the training rotation in order to assist the BLS to see themselves and to reinforce positive actions or trends within the BLS.  The intent of AARs is to help the BLS improve as a collective whole.

10.    Formal AARs occur after the Force on Force (FoF) phase, and a final consolidated BCT AAR occurs at the conclusion of the JRTC rotation.  Upon leaving JRTC, the BLS and the unit receive a Take Home Packet capturing OC/T observations to assist the unit over both the short and long-term.

11.  A BLS should begin preparing for its rotation a minimum of 90 days before the rotation.  Greater preparation by the BLS results in a higher level of legal support to the brigade during operations.  A BLS that arrives with personnel who are trained for the mission, armed with the prepared materials, and has trained the BCT on ROE will have a much more successful rotation than a BLS who does not prepare.

B.    The National Training Center (NTC).

1.    The NTC is located at Fort Irwin, CA, in the middle of the Mojave Desert.  It trains brigade combat teams (BCTs) and attached units to conduct multidomain operations during large-scale combat with the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE.  The NTC is the only training facility in the world with the ability to provide BCT-sized live-fire and combined arms maneuver training.  The NTC and Operations Group provide realistic, relevant, and rigorous training conditions to replicate the challenges of both open desert warfare and urban operations. Each training rotation is tailored to meet the unit specific training objectives and the unique challenges that may be faced during specific deployments.

2.    The NTC regularly hosts Infantry, Armor, and Stryker BCTs as well as other brigade-size units.  Much like at the JRTC, this training uses realistic joint and combined arms training in DATE scenarios and MREs.  The NTC provides comprehensive training scenarios from brigade-size live fire to contested reception, staging, movement, and onward integration (RSOI).

3.    The maneuver box at the NTC is as large as the state of Rhode Island (1,001 square miles).  The depth and width of the operational environment gives a brigade the unique opportunity to exercise all of its elements in a realistic training area.  An NTC rotation is often a unit’s only opportunity to test its combat service and combat service support elements over a doctrinal distance.  Brigades must be able to communicate through up to eight communications corridors, evacuate casualties over forty kilometers, and navigate at night in treacherous terrain with few distinguishable roads.  Other environmental conditions, such as a forty-to-fifty-degree diurnal temperature range, winds over forty-five knots, and constant exposure to the sun, stress every system and Soldier to their limits.  The NTC is the only training area in the United States that allows a complete brigade-sized unit to conduct both a live fire attack and a live fire defense integrating all war fighting functions, including direct air support from Air Force and Naval platforms. 

4.    A rotation at the NTC consists of 28 days of realistic, complex operational challenges which test the ability of a BCT to simultaneously conduct offensive, defensive, and stability operations; employ organic and Echelons Above Brigade (EAB) assets; coordinate and deliver joint fires; and conduct Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA), while simultaneously conducting area security, planning follow-on operations, and engaging with unified action partners, host nation official and the local populace to achieve tactical and strategic goals.  Units ordinarily begin planning for their NTC rotation more than seven months before the rotation; communicating their training objectives to NTC 210 days before execution.  The unit will plan and execute a rigorous home station training calendar across all warfighting functions, advancing from individual through collective training, and culminating in a brigade-level field training exercise (FTX) in preparation for their rotation.  The Brigade Judge Advocate (BJA) should conduct parallel planning, develop a brigade legal section (BLS) training calendar, and liaise with the legal OC/Ts during this time to communicate his or her training objectives and focus.  Early and active participation by the brigade JAs and paralegals throughout this training cycle is critical for success of the BLS at the NTC.  This participation in training exercises by battalion paralegals and JAs facilitates staff integration, operationalizes legal support roles and responsibilities to commanders and staffs, and identifies and develops BLS communication, transportation, and logistical requirements concurrent with brigade timelines.

5.    Around 90 days before the rotation, the unit will send primary staff members to the NTC for the LTP.  The BJA and the Paralegal NCOIC should both attend LTP.  During the LTP, the brigade staff (including the BJA) receive training on effective techniques for employing Army Design Methodology (ADM), completing the MDMP, and executing an operation.  The BJA will integrate into the planning process, prepare the brigade legal appendix and rules of engagement (ROE), and conduct a legal review of the full draft OPORD.  Preparation of the order requires access to classified computer systems, so the BJA should plan accordingly.  The BJA will meet with the OC/Ts during the LTP.  BJAs should use those meetings to incorporate the lessons learned from previous rotations and get best practices from the OC/Ts to prepare their BLS.  BJAs and Paralegal NCOICs should finalize their personnel, equipment, and training requirements at least 90 days in advance of their NTC rotation.

6.    From the requirements identified at LTP, the BJA and the Paralegal NCOIC should refine their deployed SOP, including a draft battle rhythm, duties and responsibilities, equipment list (including communication and automation requirements), investigation guide, foreign claims guide, reporting format, and battle drills.  The SOP should also include example claims packets, investigations packets, detention packets, ROE matrices, and a)CONOP review SOP. 

7.    The DATE scenario deploys the brigade into a nation facing both external and internal threats.  The external threat manifests in the form of invasion by a near-peer force from a neighboring country.  The internal threat consists of various insurgent groups and criminal syndicates.  The brigade is challenged to repel the invading forces, restore the international borders, and to assist the host nation government in reestablishing internal security and building legitimacy.  The BCT’s actions or inactions will shape the Operational Environment, either garnering more support for the Host Nation or the insurgency.  For the BCT, having plans in place to mitigate the effect of operations on the civilian populace and to quickly and decisively respond to events that adversely affect the populace can have a significant positive impact on the area of operations.  Units will encounter NGOs, competing governmental organizations, political parties, news media, police and paramilitary forces, lawful enemy combatants, and insurgent forces.  The presence of these organizations may require JA involvement to determine their status and appropriate treatment by U.S. forces.  The ICRC may conduct inspections of the brigade detention/internment facility, and JAs will be present during such inspections.

8.    JAs can expect to encounter a broad range of legal, moral, and political issues during all phases of the rotation.  Those issues include, but are not limited to, ROE advice covering all aspects of self-defense and deliberate offensive operations, detainee and prisoner of war operations, international agreements, authorities to fund and assist humanitarian operations, administration of investigations, foreign claims, and support to MDMP and targeting.  BLSs should be prepared to help the BDE conduct high-profile, short suspense investigations under degraded communications, security, and logistical conditions.  OC/Ts at the NTC do not inject legal assistance or military justice issues into the training scenario as real-world problems typically arise from the training units during rotation. 

9.    There are currently four JAG Corps personnel at the NTC: one senior JA OC/T, one JA OC/T, one paralegal NCO OC/T, and one NSL Planner.  The OC/Ts take a hands-on role in teaching, coaching, and mentoring the BLS members involved in the exercise in an effort to help them improve their respective contributions to their unit’s mission.  The NSL Planner is responsible for the legal content of the scenario and for replicating the Division or Combined Joint Task Force Staff Judge Advocate.  OC/Ts will conduct “green book” AARs during the training rotation to reinforce positive and negative actions or trends within the BLS or throughout the brigade.   Formal BCT staff AARs occur periodically during the training rotation with a final consolidated BCT AAR occurring at the conclusion of the NTC rotation.  The BJA will attend each of the AARs.  Additionally, the NTC legal training team will conduct an AAR with the BLS following the training rotation.  Upon leaving the NTC, the BLS and the unit receive a Take Home Packet capturing OC/T observations to assist the unit with home station training following the training rotation.

10.  Brigade legal sections should conduct deliberate planning for their NTC rotation in parallel with the rest of the BCT, approximately 210 days prior to the rotation, and contact the OC/Ts at least 120 days prior to the rotation to communicate training objectives.  For more information on what to expect during an NTC rotation, contact the NTC OC/Ts at (760) 380-8697, DSN prefix 470, or CLAMO at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-tjaglcs.mbx.clamo-tjaglcs@mail.mil.

C.    The Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC).

1.    The Joint Multinational Readiness Center is located at Hohenfels, Germany.  The JMRC contributes substantially to the strengthening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance, bringing together multiple allied and partner nations’ armies to train with U.S. forces for decisive action, joint operations, and combined operations.  It provides Brigade Combat Teams, our allies, and our partners, with tough, realistic, Army/Joint/Multinational battle-focused training.  The focus is on training adaptive leaders for decisive action operations within a multinational context by integrating Joint, Interagency, and Multinational elements, and focusing on execution of simultaneous, non-contiguous operations.  The integration of multinational forces and combined and joint operations scenarios are major training enablers available at JMRC.

2.    The JMRC is the premier venue for up to brigade-level force-on-force training, with selected division/corps and Joint Force assets, in the decisive action training environment – Europe (DATE-E).  Rotations routinely feature several thousand participants from allied and partnered nations.  Given the various types of units and nations that participate, every rotation conducted at JMRC is different.  The JMRC is a place where U.S. Army units build readiness and learn to interoperate with allies and partners while training for unified land operations against a near-peer adversary incorporating emerging trends.  The JMRC also supports numerous “away game” exercises across Europe, and other missions such as reception, staging, onward movement, and integration for regionally aligned forces (RAF).

3.    In addition to the DATE-E scenario, the JMRC continues to plan and conduct mission readiness exercises (MRX) to prepare U.S., allied, and partnered units for operational missions across Europe, and conducts live fire exercises at the nearby Grafenwoehr Training Area.  The JMRC also supports the U.S. Army Europe – Africa (USAREUR-AF) Expeditionary Training Center with the Mobile Instrumentation System providing CTC capabilities across Europe and to deployed forces.  It provides doctrinally sound observations, training feedback and trends and lessons learned.

4.    The JMRC typically conducts approximately six brigade rotations per year, each with embedded battalion rotations, and three MREs per year.  The JMRC also supports multiple NATO unit training cycles throughout the year (commonly referred to as “away game” exercises) in countries such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, Estonia, and Latvia.  Each brigade rotation is comprised of up to three battalion-sized maneuver task forces in addition to a cavalry squadron, field artillery battalion, brigade engineer battalion, and brigade support battalion.  Rotations typically employ the 5-5-10-3 day rotational task force window model:  5-day multiple integrated laser engagement system (MILES) draw and RSOI / infiltration (via ground assault convoys, air assault operations or airborne operations); 5-day battalion modules (with company focused training) and brigade CPX; 10-day force-on-force maneuver exercise in a DATE-E environment (including movement to contact, defend, and attack stages); and, finally, a 3-day recovery period.

5.    JAs can expect to encounter a wide variety of legal issues at JMRC, whether involved in decisive action, peacekeeping/enforcement, or stability and support operations.  Issues that routinely arise include the application of the law of armed conflict in large scale combat operations; national caveats; legal aspects of multinational interoperability; ROE training and annex production; detention operations; foreign claims; targeting (lethal and non-lethal); LOAC and ROE violations and investigations; and the handling of displaced persons.  Although a JMRC rotation is intended to focus broadly on the brigade’s systems, judge advocates can provide input to the training scenario development (approximately six months prior to the rotation) to incorporate additional judge advocate specific training events.

6.    Currently, there are three JAG Corps personnel at JMRC:  one Senior Legal OC/T, one National Security Law OC/T and one NCO Paralegal OC/T.  The role of the legal OC/Ts is to provide expert, doctrinally-based, observation, coaching, and training to U.S. and Multinational Commanders and their staffs on legal considerations.  Additionally, the legal OC/Ts serve as the primary coaches and mentors for U.S. Judge Advocates, multinational legal advisors (LEGADs), and their staffs involved in an exercise, to help improve their contribution to the unit’s mission, to include the operations process and the relationships between core military legal disciplines and the warfighting functions.  The legal OC/Ts also assist with the formulation, instruction, and implementation of international and operational law and policy of the operational environment specific to each exercise. 

7.    The legal OC/Ts conduct multiple informal AARs throughout the rotations and a formal AAR at the culmination of the unit’s training exercise.  Two brigade-wide, instrumented AARs occur during the rotation:  one at the mid-point of the rotation (MIDRO) and one upon conclusion of the rotation.  The legal OC/Ts capture observations in a take home packet provided to the BJA at the end of the rotation.  The legal OC/Ts continue to provide support to legal sections as they revise standard operating procedures and develop tailored home-station training following the rotation.

D.   The Mission Command Training Program (MCTP).

1.  MCTP is located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  It is the Army’s Capstone Combat Training Center. MCTP supports the Chief of Staff of the Army and the FORSCOM, TRADOC, and CAC Commanders’ guidance by preparing FORSCOM units to fight and win in large-scale combat operations against a free thinking opposing force in a contested, multi-domain environment. MCTP supports realistic training for Army Service Component Command, corps, and division commanders and their staffs, through the execution of WfXs. Exercises.  “Mission command” is the exercise of authority and direction by the commander using mission orders to enable disciplined initiative within the commander’s intent to empower agile and adaptive leaders in the conduct of unified land operations. In accordance with TRADOC Regulation 350-50-3, “MCTP supports the collective training of Army units ... to provide Commanders and Leaders the opportunity to train on Mission Command in Unified Land Operations.”

2.  MCTP differs from NTC, JRTC, and JMRC in two respects. First, MCTP is a deployable CTC.  MCTP OGs travel to the unit to conduct Warfighter Exercises (WfX) and other training events.  Although the OC/Ts primarily interface with training audiences during WfX, three distributed, permanent sites (Fort Leavenworth, Fort Lee, and Hurlburt Field) provide support necessary to conduct exercises.  Second, there is no tangible operating environment or “box.”  Instead, training occurs via simulation within a notional computer-generated operating environment known as Warfighter Simulation (WARSIM)).  This provides some level flexibility for the training audience to focus on a specific issue or area for its WfX.

3.    In 2022, MCTP reorganized into a streamlined structure composed of a Headquarters and four Operations Groups (OGs).  MCTP is commanded by a post-brigade command colonel; each OG is led by a colonel called the Chief of Operations Group (COG). National Security Law Observer/Coach/Trainers (OPLAW OC/Ts) are assigned to three of the four OGs.  The JAGC usually assigns three NSL JAs (a colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major) and a paralegal NCO (E-8) to MCTP at any given time.

4.  MCTP executes its mission through four distinct functions. Planning exercises; designing fictional scenarios and orders; employing command, control, communications, computer, and intelligence (C4I) instrumentation; controlling exercises; providing competitive world class OPFOR; and providing observations and feedback.    

5.  OG-A primarily focuses on Corps and Army Service Component Commands as the training audience. The senior NSL OC/T and the paralegal NCO support OG-A.

6.  OGs-B and C focus on Divisions and multi-functional brigades as their primary training audiences. OG-B is supported by a lieutenant colonel NSL OC/T and OG-C is supported by a major NSL OC/T.

7.  OG-J provides support and training to special operations with an emphasis on the integration between special operations and conventional forces. OG-J also incorporates information related capabilities. NSL-OC/Ts support OG-J as augmentees, when needed.

8.  OPSGRP Contemporary Operating Environment (COE) integrates the training objectives/requirements of MCTP OPSGRPs and external agencies into comprehensive exercise design and control plans.  COE oversees all Division/Corps WFX/MRE coordination/synchronization/integration planning events and meetings.  COE also provides an opportunities-based opposing force (OPFOR) and manifestations of emerging/future threats and threat TTPs.

9.  Legal issues arise naturally during the course of a WfX—just as they do during actual operations. As MCTP exists to assist the training audience to assess their systems and processes along with their warfighting function integration, the NSL OC/Ts provide feedback on the OSJA’s ability to spot legal issues and to guide the commanders and staff toward shared understanding to mitigate legal risk. MCTP is able to script issues outside of the simulation as well to further stimulate the training audience. Ultimately, this additional stimulation must meet the commanding general’s training objectives and be approved by the exercise control group before being put into the exercise. 

10.  The training unit commander’s training objectives (approved through FORSCOM and based upon mission essential task list (METL)) is the focus of each MCTP exercise.   NSL OC/Ts support the unit’s training objectives by monitoring events that indicate how well the unit has integrated the SJA cell into the operations process (plan – prepare – execute – lead – assess). All MCTP OC/Ts observe the relationships between the training unit’s SJA cell and commanders and staff sections to help identify ways in which the SJA cell can better integrate into the command information process and support the commander’s ability to exercise mission command. NSL OC/Ts work directly with the SJA to help improve staff functions, information flow, and management processes.

11.  Every OG rotation includes at least two formal AARs led by the COG. In addition, the NSL OC/T conducts at least one informal AAR with the SJA cell, several “hot washes,” and frequent one-on-one mentoring for the JAs undergoing training.

E.    The NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC).

       1.    The JWC is a NATO International Military Headquarters established in Stavanger, Norway in 2003. It is subordinate to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), Norfolk, VA. JWC provides both non-Article 5 Crisis Response and Article 5 Collective Defense Computer-Assisted Command Post Exercises (CAX/CPX) for NATO Command Structure (NCS) and NATO Force Structure (NFS) headquarters at the strategic and operational levels of warfare.   It is comprised of 270 military and civilian members from 17 countries. 

       2.    The JWC is also a warfare development establishment supporting SACT’s mission of transformation.  As a catalyst for NATO’s warfare development, the JWC conducts wargaming, ensures adherence to NATO joint operational doctrine and standards, implementation of experimentation and new concepts, and supports the delivery of NATO’s lessons learned process. 

       3.    The Centre creates, maintains and develops NATO’s synthetic training settings and scenarios.  The JWC conducts multiple large-scale exercises per year.  Exercises take from 12 to 18 months to prepare and complete. 

       4.    Legal support to JWC is provided by an international legal staff manned through a centrally managed Peacetime Establishment manning document.  The three legal advisors on staff include a senior Norwegian Army legal advisor, a NATO civilian legal advisor, and a field grade US Army Judge Advocate.  In addition to providing general legal advice to the JWC’s two-star command, the legal office also supports the exercise process, including scenario development and scripting.  The legal advisors act in a capacity similar to an OC/T, joining the JWC’s advisory teams observing and advising training audience HQs during all phases of the exercises.  JWC legal advisors may also fill crucial roles in the Grey Cell as notional host nation government legal advisors, as well as portray higher command legal advisors, including SHAPE and the NAC.  Additionally, JWC legal advisors support NATO’s individual training efforts by preparing courses of instruction and lecturing at the NATO School in Oberammergau, Germany. 

       5.    The JWC legal team supports interoperability by incorporating US military augmentees during exercises, contributing to common understanding via academic publications, incorporating innovation into JWC exercises and program of work, and coordinating exercise lessons learned with stakeholders, including CLAMO.