Federal Strategic Leadership Exercise (SFU)
Over 40 participants attended the interactive specialist event on the Strategic Federal Leadership Exercise (SFU) 2017, which was rounded off with an aperitif over the rooftops of Olten.
Strategic Federal Command Exercise (SFU) sounds like a big challenge, but fortunately there are experts:
Erika Laubacher-Kubat, Deputy Head of the Strategic Command Support Section in the Federal Chancellery, did an excellent job at this event organised by the Risk Management Network of explaining the challenges and solutions to be considered in a large-scale exercise.
She pointed out that clear guidelines for action are a key factor in determining whether an exercise is successful or not.
General conditions
If the framework conditions are precisely defined, this creates confidence among the "exercised". Another key point is that the contents of the scenario must be correct. The various trading scenarios were therefore developed with technical specialists. The exercise thus proved to be close to reality and was taken correspondingly seriously. The recommendations resulting from the exercise, which the Federal Council adopted at the beginning of May 2018, were also taken seriously.
The exercise scenario
In a second part, the participants worked out a possible exercise scenario themselves. There was lively discussion about who should be represented in a crisis team and who should report on the exercise as a critical observer. The discussions within the groups were intensive and the results remarkably detailed.
Rolf Götschmann, Head of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of the Federal Department of Finance, gave a fascinating insight into the role of a crisis team. Self-critically, he pointed out that the resilience within the crisis team had been overestimated, that the premises were not suitable for a longer stay and that certain preparatory work - for example draft minutes - was lacking.
The need for action has been identified and the deficiencies will be addressed by mid-2018.
Nicole Heynen, President of the Risk Management Network, highlighted the role of the observer in the Border Guard Corps crisis team. The latter reacted quickly to the crisis situation and led in a structured manner. Even a real power cut in the crisis unit's building could not upset the crisis organisation.
Further information on critical large-scale projects and strategic countermeasures can be found at
http://www.netzwerk-risikomanagement.ch
