Professor Jensen discusses LOAC with the 2013 DIILS SOLARA class.

DIILS hosted 17 international military officers from 11 countries for the “Stability Operations: Rules of Engagement/Rules for the Use of Force: Afghanistan” (SOLARA) course in Newport, RI, 22 July to 2 August 2013.

The SOLARA course objective is to address the legal, operational, and policy aspects of rules of engagement in Afghanistan. It is designed for forces deploying or continuing deployments to Afghanistan or other stability operations.  Given the link between terrorism and many of today’s stability operations, SOLARA also includes an advanced counter-terrorism component.

Guest speakers included Professor Eric Jenson of Brigham Young University Law School, a retired U.S. Army Judge Advocate who drew from scenarios in his recent book “The Law of Armed Conflict: An Operational Approach” to help SOLARA students prepare for their exercises on the application of the law of armed conflict in a conflict environment.

In assessing the utility of the SOLARA course, one participant said, “ROE and issues connected were most important for me, since I'm taking part in giving lectures for soldiers going to Afghanistan.”  Another said “I got the picture of what LOAC is about not just theoretically, but in practice, so it will give me a clearer picture in my work on legal documents, especially how to 'interpret' ROE to other people.”  Finally, one described SOLARA as “simply the best course I ever attended through IMET. Great balance between academics, Field Studies, and general time on such a great Navy facility! A great personal experience.”

For more information see the SOLARA Course Report: https://www.diils.org/resource/solara-13010-course-report-schedulepdf