ATrainP-2 training in the law of armed conflict

What it is

ATrainP-2 is the NATO Allied Training Publication that sets the minimum standard for training national armed forces in the law of armed conflict (LOAC). It exists to "standardize training in the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) by establishing a minimum standard of training to ensure that NATO operations are conducted in accordance with LOAC, where applicable." Nations commit to it through STANAG 2449 - "the agreement of nations to use this publication" - and the duty to deliver the training lands on nations, not companies: "Nations are required to train their personnel in LOAC. LOAC training is a national responsibility." It is Edition B, Version 1, promulgated in June 2019, superseding Edition A, Version 1.

Who has to care, and who does not

The publication names its own reader plainly: it "is envisioned to serve as a tool and guideline for (national) instructors in the preparation and conduct of their (national) training in the LOAC." Commanders are told to "ensure that personnel under their command are aware of their obligations under LOAC and that they comply with LOAC," and nations must "ensure that legal advisors are available, when necessary, to advise military commanders at the appropriate level on the application of LOAC." There is no supplier, contractor or acquirer role anywhere in the text. A company does not train against ATrainP-2; a nation's armed forces do, and a company meets it only at one remove, by knowing what training the personnel it works alongside are expected to have received.

Ratification can carry reservations, and this edition's front matter records several: Belgium, Germany and the United States each qualified parts of the training material, mostly around the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which not every NATO nation has ratified. That matters operationally, not just legally: officers are told to "know that in multinational operations obligations may vary among personnel of different nationalities according to national law or LOAC obligations, and reflect this in the planning and conduct of operations."

The training a nation has to define

Chapter 1 sets nine instruction principles that read like a checklist. Every person is to be trained, not only specialists, and training is folded into "all levels of military education, individual and collective training, and exercises" rather than delivered once. Depth scales with rank: a basic curriculum applies to everyone (Annex B), a more detailed one to non-commissioned officers (Annex C), and a further one to officers (Annex D). Specialised training, described as non-exhaustive, is expected for named categories of personnel (Annex E). Training must use "properly trained instructors," include "scenarios, exercises and practical field training" with particular emphasis before and during NATO operations, and its effectiveness is to be "evaluated at all levels of command," with lessons learned fed into future programmes. Nations are also asked to "regularly inform each other of LOAC training programmes."

What the curriculum covers

Annex B's baseline runs through LOAC's applicability and its relationship to national law, the four basic principles (military necessity, distinction, proportionality, humanity), combatants, protected persons, other battlefield actors, protective emblems, protected objects, means and methods of warfare, and enforcement (state, command and individual responsibility, war crimes). Annex C repeats it for NCOs with the added expectation that they can "fulfil their command responsibilities relating to LOAC and LOAC violations." Annex D extends it again for officers, adding truce and armistice, the law of occupation, and the multinational-obligations point above. Annex E lists roles that "may be provided with specialized LOAC training": commanding officers, flag and general officers, legal advisors, medical personnel, military police, personnel involved in targeting, personnel who handle captured persons, pilots and aircrew, religious personnel, special operations forces, and civil servants deploying on operations.

Annex A backs all of this with a non-exhaustive list of the treaties LOAC training draws on - the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the Hague Conventions and Regulations, and the specialist conventions on chemical, biological, cluster and anti-personnel weapons - with the caution that the list "does not impose any obligation on States that are not party to one or more of the listed treaties."

The training module template

Annex F is the bulk of the document: it runs from F-1 to F-125, more than three-quarters of the publication's 158 pages. It is an adaptable slide-deck template with suggested slide text and instructor notes covering the substantive law an instructor would teach, from the basic principles through combatant and protected-person status, the ICRC's role, protective emblems and protected objects, prohibited weapons and methods, planning and targeting precautions, the law of occupation, and enforcement. It is explicitly a starting point, not a script: "this training module template does not prescribe the substance of LOAC that must be taught because it fully recognizes that each TCN is responsible for providing LOAC instruction based on national obligations and interpretations," and instructors are told to consult their legal advisors "for additional support and guidance as to the appropriate, nationally approved content."

How it is evaluated

There is no certification scheme. ATrainP-2 names no accredited body, notified body or inspector who signs off a nation's training. Evaluation is a national exercise: nations "are encouraged to evaluate their national LOAC training programmes" using "a combination of methods," which "may include classroom assessment, test papers and field training scenarios." Above individual programmes, effectiveness is meant to be reviewed "at all levels of command," with after-action lessons folded back in.

How you get it

ATrainP-2 is published by the NATO Standardization Office and, like every NATO standardization document, carries no charge. The Standardization Document Database is the authoritative source; we neither sell nor host a copy ourselves.

Standards it references

• STANAG 2597Background
• STANAG 2070Background
• AJP-3.21Background
• ATP-3.7.2Background