Over 200 delegates from 22 countries attended the opening session of the Urban Peacekeeper conference at Future Soldier 2008 in Prague. Sponsored by NP Aerospace from the UK, the conference was designed to bring together military and police forces who both work in the same environment of counter terrorism and peacekeeping. Inevitably, these two forces come under different political control in nearly every country, with the military under a Ministry of Defence, and police under a Ministry of the Interior. The equipment required is often the same, particularly with regard to body protection, load carriage and communication. Yet each Ministry procures independently, and this often includes research and development; Governments can make major financial savings through inter ministry collaboration.

Whilst the majority of the speakers at the conference were reporting from a Defence Ministry background, one particular presentation was from the Police in Northern Ireland, where the UK military and the police have been working together for many years, and sharing research and development costs and ideas. Paul Crothers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland gave an illuminating talk on how forensic evidence from terrorist incidents is shared by both forces to help develop countermeasures and protection against bomb and IED attacks. This included areas where the military has developed specific armour based on police information. He gave one interesting comparison in body protection procurement, in that the police specify a level of protection, whilst the Army designs a helmet!

The conference was opened by General Miroslav Bálint, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Czech Army, and he introduced Mr Richard Froh, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Armaments Defence Investment Division who attended the first conference session. On leaving he commented that this was an ideal programme to support interoperability within NATO, and was to be greatly encouraged. The conference commenced at 1300 on the first day, and continued until midday on the second day. This timing prevented the often customary emptying of the exhibition hall during a conference, and was warmly approved by both exhibitors and delegates.

Speakers were from Czech Republic, UK, Germany, USA Marine Corps, Canada, UK Police Service of Northern Ireland, and France. The subjects covered both the requirements for Future Soldier needs, based upon operational experience, and from technical solutions underway, usually provided by industry research. Some common threads emerged during the presentations which included:

The need for lighter armour
Resilient and novel power supplies
The similarity of requirements for Police and Military especially for body protection
The need for standardisation within NATO, particularly for logistic support
The problems in defining Risk levels for forces engaged on specific missions
The soldier id NOT a Christmas Tree, to hang everything on without any integration
Urgent Operational Requirements detract from a co-ordinated Future Soldier policy

When the formal conference ended, companies who were exhibiting at the exhibition were given opportunities to present their products in 25 minute sessions. The whole conference was translated simultaneously between English and Czech, was chaired by Stephen Taylor from the UK, and managed by Robert Horn, also from the UK

This first Urban Peacekeepers conference was clearly well received, and gave the delegates a choice of sitting through the all the sessions, or choosing which presentations they wanted to concentrate on. The audience altered from subject to subject, and it is planned to develop this opportunity at the next conference I this series in October 2010. By this time, some of the national schemes will have been put into service, and it is hoped that peacekeeping experiences which are shared between military forces and police will be presented to the audience. The conference will also be seeking wider international programmes and experiences. Even at this stage, the conference organisers for 2010 are keen to build up a list of speakers, and both individuals and government organisations interested in making a presentation should contact Robert Horn at: rahorn@seebold.co.uk. Potential sponsors, who will be allowed a presentation, should contact Stephen Taylor on: dandstayl@aol.com.