MAGAZINE
FALL 2019
The 2nd NATO Mountain Warfare Congress
BELOW ZERO
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By Lt . Col . Reinhold Ramesberger ( DEU ) and Lt . Col . Aleš Centa ( SVN ), Doctrine & Standardization Branch ( D & SB ), NATO MW COE .
The 2002 NATO Summit in Prague resulted in the creation of Headquarters , Supreme Allied Command for Transformation ( HQ SACT ) with the responsibility for further development of strategies , doctrines and technologies . As one aspect of the tangible outcomes of this , our current Centres of Excellence ( COE ) are expected to provide expertise to NATO and the partner nations . For this reason the Mountain Warfare COE , based in Slovenia , hosted the 2nd Mountain Warfare Congress from April 9-12 . A total of 92 participants from 14 nations attended the event .
The comprehensive topic of the 2nd NATO Mountain Warfare Congress was Risk Management under an overaching theme of Acting based on Knowledge . The goal was to expand the competence of the participants in order to increase their ability to act within their area of responsibility . The Congress aimed first to gain a broad understanding of the basics , then to cognitively expand participants ’ expertise in order for them to mature as decision makers . For this purpose , organisers hired a mix of scientists and practitioners to ensure that verified knowledge and a systematic approach , not gut feelings , formed the basis for Risk Management in the field of Mountain Warfare .
Initially , the issue of overall risk management was highlighted broadly before narrowing the more specified topic of military risk management in winter , especially from the perspective of avalanche danger . The speakers highlighted civilian as well as military perspectives using national and international approaches . Additionally , presenters also covered failed risk management and the transition to local crisis management . A total of 16 experts hailing from the United States , Norway , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia and Germany contributed their knowledge and experiences . Engineers from Germany and Slovenia also demonstrated technological approaches to the minimisation of risk .
What we learned The keynote Speaker , Dr . Franz Fischer , Ph . D , of Danube-Krems-University in Austria , presented the theoretical Risk Management framework . Fischer discussed both the historical development of standards in risk management as well as some popular theories . Building on this , MW COE ’ s follow-up speaker , Lt . Col . Reinhold Ramesberger , gave an overview of NATO ’ s Risk Management doctrine , and presented a “ 4-Step Risk Management ” approach to Mountain Warfare .
German extreme mountaineer , Philipp Reiter , and Deputy Chief of Groupe de Haute Montagne , French Maj . Jacques- Olivier Chevallier , discussed risk management in extreme situations . In this presentation they compared extreme mountain situations to extreme situations in combat , citing similarities re-
Four steps to assess the risk
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