News From USJFCOM: USJFCOM’s Standing Joint Force Headquarters provides interagency perspective for exercise Yama Sakura

Interoperability cogs graphic USJFCOM’s Standing Joint Force Headquarters provides interagency perspective for exercise Yama Sakura

U.S. Joint Forces Command recently sent personnel from the command's Standing Joint Force Headquarters to bring a concept designed to encourage interagency cooperation to an exercise in the Pacific.

By Nicole Robinson
USJFCOM Standing Joint Force Headquarters

(NORFOLK, Va. – February 15, 2006) – U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) deployed a team to provide interagency perspective and support for exercise Yama Sakura 49.

Yama Sakura is an annual exercise that simulates Japanese – U.S. military operations required to defend Japan. The exercise is designed to strengthen military operations and ties between the U.S. Army I Corps and Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force.

The USJFCOM SJFHQ replicated a joint interagency coordination group (JIACG) from Jan. 21 through Feb. 4 at the request of the commanders of the I Corps and U. S. Pacific Command (PACOM).

“During the exercise, the JIACG served as a conduit for communications with the joint task force (JTF) and U.S. government departments and agencies to obtain and coordinate information,” according to Michael McGonagle, interagency and multinational activities lead of USJFCOM’s SJFHQ.

“One of the primary roles of the staff JIACG is to provide reach-back capabilities and support for the JTF staff and the combatant command to collaborate with the other U.S. government departments and agencies,” said McGonagle.

The JIACG works as part of the combatant command’s staff and brings the other U.S. government departments’ and agencies’ perspective into the Department of Defense’s operational planning process.

The team consisted of six SJFHQ personnel - five were deployed to U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, Hawaii as the main JIACG providing support in an environment that stressed realistic time and distance issues, and one JIACG liaison officer forward with the JTF headquarters in Japan.

“We looked at the specific needs of the JTF and appropriately deployed a JIACG liaison with State Department experience to support the team in Japan,” said McGonagle.

As part of the exercise, the team conducted virtual collaborative sessions with the Department of State Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization on a daily basis. In addition to conducting these sessions, the JIACG provided materials and responses to formal requests for information.

The use of a collaborative information environment enabled partners in Washington, Hawaii and Japan to coordinate and support one another in the planning and execution processes. The USJFCOM SJFHQ regularly engages and trains in this virtual collaboration processes and was able to take full advantage of the benefits and capabilities it provides in replicating the JIACG.

“Our virtual reach-back capabilities allowed us to discuss issues more freely than e-mail and telephone permit and we were able to share ideas from disparate locations,” said McGonagle.

“The SJFHQ will provide feedback in the evaluation stage of the exercise,” said McGonagle. “Lessons learned from this exercise will be provided to the Joint Warfighting Center, PACOM’s SJFHQ and the Army Battle Command Training Program to help better design future exercises for interagency involvement in planning and operations.”