The Forum constituted a continuation of the recommendation reflected in the Record of Discussion (ROD) dated 15 May 2014, in which participants of that Provost Marshal meeting unanimously concurred with organising the above-mentioned event by the NATO MP COE annually.     

The principal aim of this Forum was to enhance and strengthen co-operation among NATO Command Structure (NCS) and NATO Force Structure (NFS) Provost Marshals as well as to focus on the role of “Military Police (MP) in Joint Task Force (JTF) Structure”.

In order to make the Forum efficient and effective, the NATO MP COE assumed the following objectives of the Meeting:

-to develop PMF as a working platform for PMs;

-to inform about the latest developments in NATO;

-to inform about decisions taken during the recent Military Police Panel (MPP) and Military Police Chiefs Conference (MPCC);

-to provide the members with current MP doctrinal status on employment of MP in operations;

-to achieve mutual and better understanding of PMs role within NATO force structure particularly in JTF;

-to inform about the current situation in terms of MP role in current operations.

Furthermore, having an intent to systemize the scope and manner of future deliberations, the PMF Terms of Reference (ToR) had been elaborated, subsequently were accepted by PMs and officially signed by the NATO MP COE Director.

What is of considerable significance is the fact that not only were various topics covered during UNCLASSIFIED and CLASSIFIED part of the Forum, but the Meeting also constituted a beneficial platform to identify valuable information of common interest shared in open discussions amongst respective Provost Marshals. The Participants had a unique occasion to carry out a live discussion with PMs of Resolute Support TAAC - North during organized Video Transmitted Conference with Afghanistan.

Moreover, the PMF identified several areas for improvement in order to standardize PM work within the Commands and in operations. Amongst others, the standard MP Reporting System, incorporated into the NATO Catalogue of Reports, was postulated. There is also a strong need to set up clear and standard policy of Detention Operations at strategic level of command as well as to accommodate the Captured Persons policy within exercises. Furthermore, the PMs were interested in the NATO MP COE’s support during exercises’ preparation, execution and evaluation.