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Military
striving for higher training, readiness standards
U.S.
Joint Forces Command's most senior leader stressed the significance
of a trained and ready joint fighting force while speaking
at a warfighting exposition sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute.
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Read a transcript of the admiral's
remarks
By
Jennifer Colaizzi
USJFCOM Public Affairs
(VIRGINIA
BEACH, Va.-– Sept. 30, 2004) - Joint, organized, trained,
equipped, and ready – that’s how the U.S. military
fighting forces need to function in the 21st century, and
that’s the message Navy
Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, commander U.S. Joint Forces
Command, shared today with a audience of military and defense
industry personnel.
With
the asymmetrical and shifting security challenges since 9/11,
greater emphasis is being placed on transforming the military
to be able to respond to rapidly evolving security situations
and to do so as a trained and equipped joint force.
“Readiness
is absolutely essential” for providing joint forces
to the right place, at the right time – whether it is
peace keeping or war time operations, Giambastiani told the
U.S. Naval Institute’s Warfare Exposition and Symposium’s
attendees at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center.
“It
is literally unthinkable to deploy a carrier strike group
unequipped and untrained” and it becomes equally “unthinkable
to deploy a joint task force headquarters (JTFHQ) without
organizing it for success” and equipping it with best
weapon systems for modern warfare, said Giambastiani.
USJFCOM’s
military, civilian, and contractors, many of whom Giambastiani
recognized publicly during the presentation, are dedicated
to providing a trained and equipped joint force to combatant
commanders around the world.
USJFCOM’s
directorates work together to build the joint force of the
future and improve capabilities and processes that ensure
a high standard of readiness, according to the admiral.
Some
of these capabilities and processes include: aiding in the
standing up of joint task forces (JTF), executing the Joint
National Training Capability (JNTC), using lessons learned
from current real-world operations like Operation Iraqi Freedom,
and implementing joint training courses for senior officers
and enlisted.
This
past year USJFCOM’s Standing
Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) Core Element (CE), composed
of approximately 50 operational planners and command and control
experts, have deployed to assist the stand up of nine new
JTFs.
According
to Giambastiani, part of the process of doing warfighting
in the joint way is implementing change in command and control
systems that affect the services.
“We’ve
instituted a system to bring about changes. When we learn
from staff assist visits in Baghdad, Kabul, Horn of Africa,
and other places, we put these into a disciplined system of
change packages, he said.
“This
is something new – doing lessons learned at a joint
level,” said Giambastiani.
He
said that these lessons learned form the basis for USJFCOM’s
efforts to improve our joint warfighting capability. Already,
based on findings, SJFHQs are scheduled to form in each of
the five regional combatant commands. Additionally, USJFCOM
is concentrating on enhancing joint command and control through
development of a state of the art collaborative information
environment.
“We
do more complex operations in any given hour, minute, day,
or week when we are conducting combat operations” with
“more people involved and more risk” than any
commercial enterprise and “it requires a high level
of horizontal and vertical collaboration in the command and
control elements,” he said referring to the reason a
functioning collaborative information environment is so important
now and in the future.
USJFCOM
is also leading the way in training transformation with the
JNTC initiative. Three JNTC exercises,were successfully conducted
this past year, and involved the use of live, virtual, and
constructive forces to help prepare the individual services
to operate in the joint environment..
To
illustrate his point, the admiral repeated a conversation
he had with an Army officer who participated in a JNTC exercise
last January at the Army’s Western Training Range Complex
at Fort Irwin, Calif. The officer told Giambastiani that the
exercise allowed everyone involved “to play with all
the toys” during training instead of only during real
combat operations.
Giambastiani
also noted great strides in joint training courses for senior
officers and enlisted. Eleven years ago when he was first
selected to rear admiral, Giambastiani’s training as
part of the CAPSTONE program included only three hours of
discussion on joint operations.
Today
newly selected flag and general officers receive more than
40 hours of training on a wide range of topics focused on
improving their ability to command and control joint operations.
Additionally,
next week, USJFCOM will host for the first time several two
and three star flag and general officers assigned to standing
joint task force headquarters as part of a five-day intensive
training program called Pinnacle. USJFCOM has also recognized
the importance of training senior enlisted leaders and has
instituted a tailored training program that kicked off earlier
this year.
Giambastiani
concluded by saying that one of USJFCOM’s top priorities
is focused on improving joint command and control. He stressed
that this must be a joint solution and was committed to working
with the services and the regional combat commands to provide
this important capability to the joint warfighter.
•
Read a transcript of the admiral's
remarks
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