ABCANZ Armies (formally, the American, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies' Program) is a program aimed at optimizing interoperability and standardization of training and equipment between the armies of Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, plus the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

and the Royal Marines. Established in 1947 as a means to capitalize on close cooperation between the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the program grew to include Australia (in 1963) and New Zealand (as an

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

from 1965, with full membership in 2006, although the organization's short title remained "ABCA Armies' Program").

History

The program started in 1947 as the "Plan to Effect Standardization" between the armies of the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada (the ABC Armies), with the three nations looking to capitalize on the close cooperation between the forces during

. In 1954, the Plan was replaced by the "Basic Standardization Concept". Australia joined the organization in 1963, and the ABCA Program was established with the ratification of the "Basic Standardization Agreement 1964" on 1 October 1964. In 1965, Australia successfully sponsored the introduction of New Zealand to the agreement as an

. Originally, the role of ABCANZ was limited to issues of standardization for soldier equipment, training, and tactics. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, a review by the Program's Heads of Delegations saw the Program modified to address the changing security environment and improve responsiveness, relevance, and focus on interoperability. The overhaul was completed by June 2004. Also in 2004, the increasing involvement of the

was formally recognized with a Memorandum of Understanding between the Corps and the United States Army, allowing both forces to be represented by a single position. Following this, the United Kingdom delegation successfully incorporated the Royal Marines. New Zealand became a full member of ABCA in early 2006.

Equivalent organizations

Equivalent organizations for the nations' navies ( AUSCANNZUKUS - Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States naval C4 organization), air forces (ASIC - Air and Space Interoperability Council), the military scientific communities (TTCP -

The Technical Cooperation Program The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) is a long-standing international organisation concerned with cooperation on defence science and technology matters, including national security and civil defence. Its membership comprises Australia, Canada, ...

), and the Intelligence communities (

UKUSA The United Kingdom – United States of America Agreement (UKUSA, ) is a multilateral agreement for cooperation in signals intelligence between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The alliance of intell ...

and

Five Eyes The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in sig ...

) also exist.

References

*Durrell-Young, Thomas, ''Cooperative Diffusion through Cultural Similarity: The Postwar Anglo-Saxon Experience'' in Goldman & Eliason (eds.), The Diffusion of Military Technology and Ideas, Stanford Univ Press, 2003.

External links

ABCA: A Petri Dish for Multinational Interoperability
dtic.mil

Australian "Army News"
Making the Case for Multinational Military Doctrine
dtic.mil {{DEFAULTSORT:Abca Armies Anglosphere United States Army doctrine British Army Canadian Army Australian Army New Zealand Army International military organizations Military standardization

History

Equivalent organizations

See also

References

External links