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Purpose

Today Host Nation Support (HNS) is applied in most multinational military exercises and in multinational operations such as the Iraqi Wars, in Afghanistan and Mali. Processes and activities are tailored and adjusted according to the knowledge and capacity of the different Host Nations, although often at an ad-hoc basis (Tilson, 1997). On the civilian side, the concept became known at the turn of the century, when for example Croatia used HNS principles in the IDASSA exercise in 2007 (DUZS, 2007). HNS as an idea has evolved both in the military and the civilian sector. Academic research on HNS is limited, except from doctrines and principles developed by NATO, EU, and individual nations, few academic studies can be found. There exist a few papers discussing national capabilities (Rzadkowska & Ziółkowski, 2016; Škvařil, 2013). To our best knowledge, there are no previous studies concerning the needs of the Sending Organisations and the effects HNS will have on the logistics footprint of those organisations. Based on an open systems perspective, the purpose of this paper is therefor to explore and describe general principles of HNS, and to apply a theoretical framework for analysing logistics implications for the sending organisations receiving support.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on existing available strategy documents and research literature, an understanding for the basic concepts of HNS is developed, followed by a discussion on HNS as a preparedness strategy. Then a theoretical framework is developed to analyse the perspectives: permanent or temporary, central or de-central dimension, and vertical and horizontal coordination. The plan is to analyse the theoretical findings on two cases, one military and one humanitarian. Important aspects to look for is if HNS really makes responses more rapid or if HNS is one way to create binding commitments between sending organisation and receiving nation, when a need for rapid response exists.

Findings

Based on theory we conclude that HNS deals with employing resources available in a Host Nation in such a manner that a Sending Organisation can perform its tasks without having to bring own resources along. Such resources would encompass both infrastructure, means of transportation, subsistence, maintenance capacities, access to, and knowledge of local markets, and the ability to coordinate and deconflict needs of all relevant actors. HNS will be activated when a Host Nation requests assistance from other nations or from foreign based organisations. In this respect, it seems that the focus of HNS today has evolved from being mainly a question of minimising costs for deployed forces to also include the ability to add agility or responsiveness to Sending Organisations’ supply chains. Hence, HNS could be regarded a preparedness strategy serving both a Host Nation and Sending Organisations. The Host Nation controls resources and actors that the Sending Organisations, which could be classified as preparedness and emergency response organisations, depends on in order to perform their tasks efficiently.

Research limitations/implications

We delimit our study to HNS as a preparedness measure. That is, not the old fashioned, stable efficiency aim, instead primarily being able to conduct a rapid response or possibly the creation of commitment between sending organisations and Host Nations when a response is required.The study will have limitations since the concept only rarely has been used, except for military exercises. This limits the practical experiences and empirical data to validate conclusions from strategy documents, but even with limited amount of data where the concept is used, it is evident that there exists a political commitment to the concept in many nations.

Practical implications

The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection has developed guideline (DSB, 2014). Belgium state that they have developed a HNS system, according to the EU guidelines, if a need emergency assistance occurs (UNISDR, 2015). Today the HNS concept also has reached the Classrooms, e.g. UNDP held a training course in Beirut in 2015 (UNDP, 2015).This means that there is a growing awareness both in civil and military organisations, that HNS is an important concept both for receiving nations and sending organisations to give a rapid response to an emergency.

Social implications 

HNS can develop dormant relationships between organisations and nations. This means that the capability to react rapidly can be improved and developed during crises, which will reduce time to assist vulnerable populations.

Original/value

In this paper is the concept of HNS is analysed. The paper shows in what way HNS plays an important role to create preparedness for disaster relief or military assistance. The study discusses several aspects of HNS which creates the fundaments to theoretically understandand practically use the concept.