The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revived interest in and discussions about NATO. When 31 countries, each with their own national interests and goals, come together, interoperability becomes a driving consideration. Giovanni Corrado and Joel Gleason conducted a study of NATO interoperability and doctrine as their research project for the Carlisle Scholars program at the U.S. Army War College. They join podcast editor Ron Granieri to share the findings of numerous interviews and studies. What they found was that despite all the different languages, interests, equipment and procedures, multinational formations on the battlefield make it work. Much of that is due to well-formed doctrine that most members aren’t aware of in their daily routine.
Doctrine is not meant to be something that you have to pull out when you’re in the foxhole in order to succeed. It’s meant to be something that gives us a common foundation so that when we operate together common sense is tied by some initial ideas that we all have that are the same.
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Giovanni Corrado is a colonel and an airborne infantry officer with a second specialty in intelligence in the Italian Army. He was an International Fellow, a member of the Carlisle Scholars Program and a graduate of the AY23 Resident Course at the U.S. Army War College.
Joel P. Gleason is a colonel and a logistics officer in the United States Army. He has published a number of professional articles, including a 2016 article on allied parallel planning published through the center for Army lessons learned (CALL) that became the basis of an Annex in NATO’s publication for tactical planning in the land domain, Allied Planning Pub 28. He was a member of the Carlisle Scholars Program and a graduate of the AY23 Resident Course at the U.S. Army War College. After graduation Joel will serve as the V CORPS G5.
Ron Granieri is Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: Soldiers with the Canadian Army’s 2nd Battalion, Royal 22 Regiment receive urban operations training from an Italian soldier in Adazi, Latvia. The Canadian and Italian troops are in Latvia as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence. Canada leads the battlegroup. 13 Feb 2019
Photo Credit: Courtesy of NATOChannel Communication Services, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO Headquarters