British Peace Support Team (Eastern Africa)

Welcome to BPST(EA)

Welcome to the website of the British Peace Support Team (Eastern Africa). The BPST(EA) is an organisation that is part of the African Conflict Prevention Programme (ACPP) which sits as one of the strategies under the British government’s Conflict Prevention Pool (CPP). The ACPP and the CPP are funded by, and derive their mandate from, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Department For International Development (DfID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

All BPST(EA) activity is dedicated to the development of EASF and the creation of a viable force that can conduct Peace Support Operations (PSO). EASF is one of 5 regional brigades of the African Standby Force (ASF) which is the military element of the African Union (AU).

Mission statement

The transition of the Kenya based British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) into the BPST(EA) in 2000 and its subordination under the ACPP on its creation in 2001, were a reflection of the UK Government’s determination ‘to improve the UK contribution to conflict prevention and peace building in Africa by joining-up UK expertise across the three

Logistics support

The BPST(EA) SO1 Regional FD will also act as co-secretary to the EASBRIG Logistic Development Working Group. The task of this body will be to define the respective Strategic, Regional and national responsibilities for ASF logistic support. Deployability and sustainability of the national RDC elements will be central to this work. There will be direct read-across from this Regional LOD to concepts relating to Continental ASF Logistic support.

Commander BPST(EA)

Col. J R Cunliffe

Col J R Cunliffe
(Late RIFLES)
MDA psc

Colonel James Cunliffe (age 49) is a British infantry officer with nearly 30 years of military experience. He has served on operations in Northern Ireland (three tours), Rhodesia (Ceasefire Monitoring), Kosovo, Afghanistan (three tours - on secondment to the UN, the Foreign Office and US CENTCOM) and in DR Congo (MONUC), where he has just finished 12 months as the Divisional Chief of Staff, in Goma.

Regional Training Infrastructure

The forth ‘leg of the stool’ in terms of BPST(EA) support to EASF, is assistance in the development of Regional training infrastructure – both Kenya based facilities and the development of national PSO centres across the Region. Direct BPST(EA) support will focus on the dedication of two teams , one each to the International Peace Support Training

News

EASF Force Development (FD) sits directly on the SSR/PSO Continuum LOD in the BPST(EA) Campaign Plan (Annex A). There are obvious risk mitigation advantages in adopting a twin-track approach (i.e. top-down/bottom-up). BPST(EA) support to EASF FD is focused on the dedication of an SO1 (OF4) and encompasses the following developmental areas:

a. Defining National Force Contributions.

EASF requires development of the overarching force structures that will constitute the deployable elements of the EA Standby Forces . In the short term (12-18 months) this will require work to; confirm regional forces dedicated to EASF, define force generation processes, establish C2 links and develop readiness and sustainability. In the medium to longer term, this requirement would see EASF more capable of identifying the training needs of member states and coordinating the delivery of internationally supported regional assistance . BPST(EA) is in receipt of a formal request from Director EASBRICOM to assist in the FD process. The UK SO1 Regional FD will act as the co-secretary to the EASF FD Working Group, the role of which should be to define national force contributions to EASF. The FD Working Group should report on progress to the EACDS through the Director EASBRICOM.

b. Regional Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC).

In order to address the AU ASF mandated deployment scenarios , EASF must have call on national capabilities able to deliver the required level of response. UK and international assistance to the development of a Regional RDC must be done in a manner that increases national capacity in the context of delivering a ‘capability within a capability’. The intent by member states to assign national RDCs to EASF should be the pre-cursor to their receiving donor support for these assets. The establishment of national RDC HQs is the means by which member states demonstrate political coherence and commitment. They also provide a focus to ‘fix’ those individuals in whom the international community has invested training.

c. UK Bi-lateral Engagement.

BPST(EA) is still to provide bi-lateral military support across the Region as part of the broader UK Defence Diplomacy effort. However, increasingly and as focused by this Strategy, all future bi-lateral engagement conducted by the BPST(EA) should be linked to EASF (PSO) whilst encouraging the development of more professional, appropriately structured and accountable national forces (SSR, but linked to enhanced Regional PSO capacity). Examples of this approach will include:

    (1) Rwanda. A concept for concurrent UK assistance to the development of a professional NCO cadre in the RDF and its national RDC is illustrated at Annex B. This approach is entirely consistent the board ACPP objectives in Reference B.

    (2) Ethiopia. UK assistance with developing ENDF PSO capacity will be primarily geared towards encouraging Ethiopia to play a more positive role within the EASF vision as articulated in Reference E.

    (3) Tanzania. Despite being geographically, politically and economically linked to EASF member states, Tanzania continues to look to SADC militarily. Over time and through UK/Regional engagement, it may be possible to re-orientate their military linkage to EASF, with the obvious Regional rebalancing advantages.

BPST(EA) support to the harmonization of the EASF organs is focused primarily on the embedding of a dedicated SO1 (OF4) in the EASBRICOM structure, specifically, to act as the Military Advisor (MILAD) to its Director. In time, the UK MILAD may be one of a number of international ‘technical advisors’ (TAs) seconded to EASF. In order to deliver effect, all EASF international TAs need to be embedded and provided sufficient resources to help shape the development of the East African Peace and Security Architecture. In the short term (12-18 months), this means; the ability to directly influence the planning for and conduct of the Regional CPX in late 2008, assisting EASF to define its own strategic LOD and through the Project Definition process, develop linkages between the EASF Development Support Committee (EDSC) and the international ‘Friends’ Group. In the medium to longer term (3-5 years) it will be important to maintain these influential positions if the international community is to continue to support EASF in attaining its subsequent milestones to FOC by 2015

The BPST(EA) strategy articulates the direction that is taken by the team. Central to this strategy is the requirement to focus all activity on the development of EASF and its achievement of Full Operating Capacity by 2015. This development path can be seen in the campaign plan and engagement timeline.

This Plan can be distilled into the following four key Lines of Development (LOD), all of which need to be addressed concurrently, with activity synchronized internally, across the Region and with international partners, in order to deliver the Operational ENDSTATE by 2015:
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    a. Harmonization of the EASF organs (‘Top-down’). Read more...

    b. Regional Force Development (‘Bottom-up’). Read more...

    c. Logistic support. Read more...

    d. Regional training infrastructure. Read more...

Central to this strategy is the intent to support EASF in the development of its own strategic vision and development plan . Maintaining political buy-in to this plan by the EASF member states will remain the critical factor in delivering the ENDSTATE. In supporting the EASF plan, BPST(EA) must deliver its effect in a manner that complements the broader ACPP objectives in Sub Saharan Africa. Therefore, any enhancement to Regional military capability must be done in the context of making a demonstrable contribution to the African Peace and Security Architecture in accordance with broader UK government intent. Therefore, BPST(EA) can best be described as working for the ACPP (through the UK MOD) and in support of EASF development.

    References

   1. Africa Conflict Prevention Pool (ACPP) Performance Report 2001-05
   2. ACPP UK Sub-Saharan Strategy for Conflict Prevention (Rev Mar 2006)
   3. PDRS MOD Directive to Comd BPST(EA) dated 15 Jun 07
   4. ACPP Regional Conflict Prevention Strategy for Horn of Africa 2008-11
   5. Eastern African Standby Force Strategic Development Plan 2007-2015
   6. Def Dip BPST(EA) LSP Report (D/Dip/9/1/14) dated 27 Sep 07
   7. PDRS African Training Team Conference 9-11 Oct 07