Operation Trenton: Adaption of Royal Engineer Doctrine to Manage Infrastructure Projects for the United Nation Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)

CAPTAIN A TEW MinstRE

In early 2020, the UK completed its contribution to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping in South Sudan (Operation Trenton). After four successful years constructing hospitals, bridges, roads and mission support infrastructure for the UN.  Challenges for UK Military Engineers Integrating into the UN.  Over time, the UN has developed their own methodologies and procedures that form their Engr Sect SOPs, entitled UN Engineering Procedures and Management. However, the information in the SOP was vague in some areas which often led to confusion. The procedure for requesting engineering support would generally start with an email from the Engr Sect requesting support for a project. The request would sometimes include a Statement of Need (SON), but it was usually ambiguous at best. The loosely defined requirements proved challenging as they allowed space for misinterpretation unless regular communication with the Engr Sect was maintained. Based on the UN’s requirement, the Engr Gp HQs would produce a works assessment for the task (essentially an estimate of time, scope and cost (resource demands)).

The types of task ranged from larger projects such as a level 2 hospital, to smaller tasks such as HESCO wall upgrades for camp perimeters. ME Vol 1, PAM 3, Planning and Control of Engineer Tasks, provided an excellent framework for managing construction projects, particularly for personnel in Malakal Engineer Group and Bentiu Engineer Group that had little or no construction experience outside of the training environment.  How was Existing Doctrine Modified for a UN Construction Project? RE doctrine, whilst relatable, was perhaps not the most applicable tool in an UNMISS context. The need for a sequence of events that suited this specific environment but was sympathetic to the fragility of UN procedures and its supply chain, became evident. It needed to allow the MCF the ability to process many tasks but also have the flexibility to include specialist design processes and assurance should it be required. Both groups of UK engineers identified this requirement and developed their own models for task processing.