Project Case Study
Evaluating British Military Advisory Training Teams
Assessing Ministry of Defence investment in military training for partner countries
In 2009, we were commissioned by the UK Ministry of Defence to undertake the first external evaluation of the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) since its creation in 2000.
The BMATT was established in the Czech Republic to provide military training courses, training assistance and training advice to partner countries. It is intended to develop their armed forces and their capacity to participate in multinational Peace Support Operations.
We were asked to deploy a military adviser to examine the full range of BMATT activities in the Czech Republic and partner countries.
Our adviser joined an evaluation team that visited the BMATT training centre at Vyskov, in the Czech Republic, and individual training teams in Morocco, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kazakhstan and Georgia. The team interviewed UK Embassy staff, partner country military personnel, defence officials and BMATT alumni, and UK Ministry of Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials.
The evaluation was published in a final report given to the Ministry of Defence and other stakeholders within the British government to inform the development of the future programme and funding decisions. It assessed BMATT activities against its mission statement, and concluded that it had succeeded in delivering its objectives. The evaluation also made recommendations to increase BMATT alignment with the Conflict Prevention Pool International Capacity Building objective of ensuring effective and efficient UN-mandated peacekeeping.
