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ATrainP-1

ATrainP-1 Training and education for peace support operations

NATO and partner-nation training establishments preparing individuals, units and headquarters for NATO-led peace support operations

NATO's Allied Training Publication setting common training and education objectives for personnel, units and headquarters that nations prepare for NATO-led peace support operations; no certification scheme exists.

Edition
D
Published
2019-03

What it is

A curriculum nations agree to use

ATrainP-1, known within NATO as the TEPSO Manual, is the Allied Training Publication that sets common training and education objectives for personnel, units and headquarters that nations put forward for NATO-led Peace Support Operations (PSOs). Its own stated aim is "to enhance interoperability by recommending overarching training objectives to contribute to the development of capabilities of personnel and units designated or selected for NATO-led PSOs". Nations' agreement to use the manual is recorded in a separate agreement, STANAG 6023, and this edition - Edition D, Version 1, promulgated 14 March 2019 - supersedes the previous Edition C, Version 1.

The document is explicit about where authority sits: "Training and education remains primarily a national responsibility." NATO's own role is advisory - it "has a responsibility to recommend on training and education objectives for NATO-led PSOs to maximise interoperability for operational readiness and effectiveness" - while nations "are expected to conduct training and education for PSOs in accordance with the training objectives as stated within the training modules." Nothing in the manual creates an obligation for a company: it addresses nations and their training establishments, not suppliers, manufacturers or certification bodies.

Who it addresses

"The TEPSO Manual is applicable to NATO nations and partners, as well as formations of the NATO Command Structure (NCS) and the NATO Force Structure (NFS)." Within that, the training content itself is written for "all military personnel, regardless of rank, and civilians operating in a military (PSO) environment," structured at four levels: the individual soldier, key personnel (commanders and specialists), the collective unit, and headquarters staff. Nations and organisations outside NATO that contribute to a NATO-led PSO "are expected to use this manual as a guide" rather than as a binding text, and the manual "may, on a need to know basis, be released to non-NATO nations and/or International Governmental Organisations".

The Record of Specific Reservations at the front of the document shows the manual is not applied identically everywhere: Belgium records that it uses national regulations for the respiratory/protective mask and excludes the "Investigation" module from combat missions assigned to land units, and the United States rejects several proposed terms, including "kinetic or non-kinetic" as a type of operation and "international humanitarian law" as a synonym for the law of war.

Ten training areas, thirty-eight modules

Chapter 4 is the bulk of the document: ten training areas broken into 38 numbered modules (M01-M38). Each states an overall training objective, then separate, testable objectives at the four training levels, a list of training contents to be covered, compulsory prerequisite modules, and its own references and supporting documents.

Force Protection (M01-M05) carries some of the manual's few quantified performance standards: a soldier must be able "to properly don, seat, clear and check respirator/protective mask within nine (9) seconds and complete the adjustment/attachment of the hood, if available, within six (6) seconds, for a total of fifteen (15) seconds maximum response time following an alarm or recognition of CBRN incidents" (Module M03), and first-aid refresher training must be "provided by medical personnel every three (3) years" (Module M04). Operating Techniques (M06-M16) cover checkpoints, observation posts, patrols, convoys, escorts, fact-finding, inspection and verification, negotiation and mediation, investigation, communications and liaison. Supplementary Tasks (M17-M23) cover detention, custody and arrest; crowd and riot control; cooperation with international and non-governmental organisations; public affairs; supporting humanitarian relief; counter-IED; and personnel recovery.

Legal Implications (M24-M25) cover international law and the law of armed conflict, and a mission's legal framework (mandate, Status of Forces Agreement, Rules of Engagement). Tactics (M26) covers cordon and search operations, with a carve-out most readers would miss: a unit "knows the exceptional nature of health-care facilities searches and is able to apply measures to minimise the impact of searches in health-care facilities on both patients and health-care personnel" - such premises are not searched the way any other building is. Cultural Awareness (M27-M29) covers mission area information, the code of conduct, and gender perspective, including Women, Peace and Security and conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.

Security Sector Reform (M30-M33) covers disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; control of Host Nation weaponry and infrastructure; training and mentoring Host Nation forces; and advising, partnering and augmenting them. Protection of Civilians (M34-M36) covers the NATO PoC framework and its sub-modules, mitigating civilian casualties, and children in armed conflict. Module M37 covers Civil-Military Transition Teams, and M38 covers stress management.

Evaluation is national, not a certification

Chapter 5 opens: "Evaluation is a critical examination of the results against the defined training and education objectives for PSOs and is meant to provide feedback on the level of performance and operational readiness achieved." As with the training itself, "Evaluation remains a primarily national responsibility. Nations may request support from NATO." Where they do, four NATO programmes are available: CREVAL for land forces, TACEVAL for air and ground-based air defence units, MAREVAL for naval units, and, for partner nations, the two-level Operational Capabilities Concept Evaluation and Feedback Programme.

The manual's own glossary defines "certification" only in the abstract, as "the official recognition that an organisational element or an individual meets defined standards and is therefore capable of performing its or his mission" - it names no such scheme for itself. What Annexes E and F record instead is a rating (Excellent, Satisfactory, Marginal or Unsatisfactory) at each training level, rolled up into a grade of Interoperable, Partially Interoperable or Not Interoperable.

Standards it references

  • STANAG 6023 - the covering agreement recording nations' agreement to use ATrainP-1; this edition was "developed with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) involvement."
  • AJP-01 - NATO's capstone doctrine, cited for the intra-state conflict trend that shapes PSO training.
  • AJP-3.2 - Allied Joint Doctrine for Land Operations, describing the stability activities the training areas support.
  • ATP-3.2.1.1 - the tactical stability-activities guidance the manual "should be used in close conjunction with," and the single most-cited reference across the individual modules.
  • STANAG 2181 - covers AJP-3.4.1, Allied Joint Doctrine for the Military Contribution to Peace Support, named alongside ATP-3.2.1.1 as companion doctrine.
  • STANAG 6001 - the English-language proficiency standard key personnel must meet.
  • AJP-3.14 - Allied Joint Doctrine for Force Protection.
  • AJP-3.8 and ATP-3.8.1 - CBRN defence doctrine and the CBRN defence training and evaluation standards behind Module M03's quantified mask-donning requirement.
  • ACIEDP-01 and AJP-3.15 - counter-IED training requirements and doctrine.
  • AMedP-8.15, AMedP-8.7 and AJMedP-2 - casualty-care training requirement, first-aid kit specification, and medical evacuation doctrine behind the Self and Buddy Aid/First Aid module.
  • ATrainP-2 - Training in the Law of Armed Conflict, a compulsory prerequisite for the legal, detention and cordon-and-search modules.
  • ATP-3.7.2 - NATO Military Police Guidance and Procedures, cited from checkpoint, convoy, escort, investigation and cordon-and-search modules.
  • AJP-2.1 - Allied Joint Doctrine for Intelligence Procedures, behind the Fact Finding and Information Gathering module.
  • AJP-3.7 - Allied Joint Doctrine for Recovery of Personnel in a Hostile Environment, the Personnel Recovery module's core reference.
  • AJP-3.16 - Allied Joint Doctrine for Security Force Assistance, behind the modules on mentoring Host Nation forces.
  • STANAG 2611 and AJP-3.22 - counter-insurgency doctrine and stability policing doctrine, referenced from the Security Sector Reform modules.

The manual's own Annex A lists 49 STANAGs and Allied Publications in total, and Annex B a further 68 supporting documents, mostly UN and NATO handbooks. Each of the 38 training modules cites the narrower ones relevant to its own technical content; most of these are in our catalogue even where this page does not name them individually.

How we help

ATrainP-1 is an operational training curriculum, not a management-system standard, and it addresses nations and their training establishments, not companies. The work it describes - donning CBRN protective equipment inside a timed standard, running a checkpoint or a cordon and search, mentoring a Host Nation security force - happens on a range or in a schoolhouse. It is not something software does.

What ComplyTrain can hold is the evidence trail around that training: individual and unit training records against the module objectives, instructor and course qualifications, the Annex E/F evaluation checklists and their ratings, and the corrective actions that follow an evaluation finding. It does not run the CBRN drills, conduct the cordon-and-search exercise, or evaluate a unit's interoperability - that is a national training establishment's job, and, where invoked, a NATO evaluator's, using the methodology of the chosen NATO programme.

Which training obligations actually apply to a given contract is set by the contract and the customer's quality clause, not by this page. See the standards explorer for the doctrine ATrainP-1 sits alongside, and talk to us about the training-records trail behind a defence contract.

Standards it references

Questions

Is ATrainP-1 mandatory for a company?

No. ATrainP-1 addresses NATO and partner nations and their training establishments, not companies. Nations' agreement to use it is recorded in STANAG 6023; a company's own obligations, if any, come through a national arrangement or a contract that references this doctrine, not from the manual directly.

Can a unit be "ATrainP-1 certified"?

No. The manual names no certification scheme; it defines "certification" only as a general term in its glossary. Readiness against ATrainP-1's training objectives is evaluated, "a primarily national responsibility," using national procedures or, where requested, NATO's own evaluation programmes (CREVAL, TACEVAL, MAREVAL or OCC E&F), and the result is an interoperability grade, not a certificate.

What is the difference between ATrainP-1 and STANAG 6023?

STANAG 6023 is the agreement recording nations' commitment to use ATrainP-1; ATrainP-1 is the actual curriculum, its ten training areas, 38 modules and evaluation formats.

Does ATrainP-1 apply to non-NATO nations?

Non-NATO nations and organisations contributing to a NATO-led PSO "are expected to use this manual as a guide" rather than as a binding text, and it may be released to them, and to international governmental organisations, on a need-to-know basis.

What edition of ATrainP-1 is current?

Edition D, Version 1, promulgated 14 March 2019, superseding the previous Edition C, Version 1.