News From USJFCOM: Command providing continuum of training on evolving concepts

Command providing continuum of training on evolving concepts

U.S. Joint Forces Command's Standing Joint Force Headquarters streamlines its program for teaching an effects-based approach to joint operations.

By Jennifer Colaizzi
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va. - March 10, 2006) -- U.S. Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) is streamlining the way it instructs personnel in the effects-based approach to joint operations and other key topics.

Leaders using an effects-based approach to joint operations seek to bring about desired results by integrating military actions with those of other instruments of national power. It is an evolving concept sometimes referred to as "effects-based operations" or "effects-based thinking."

The SJFHQ provides warfighters with trained, standing core elements to help joint force commanders command and control joint and multinational forces. According to SJFHQ officials, the mission requires continuous training, a fact illustrated by the organization's recent involvement in relief efforts in Pakistan and the United States.

The SJFHQ staff supports combatant commanders in a variety of situations, including disaster relief efforts, exercises and full combat operations.

"By having a group of people with a more comprehensive understanding of planning processes, combatant commanders will be able to avoid a cold start when they have to establish a joint task force," said Patrick Oosterhuis, SJFHQ's deputy chief of standards & readiness.

SJFHQ's two 57-person deployable core elements recently went through an initial training program that involved about six weeks of training over a three month period. They will receive refresher training in the future. The training included academic instruction and practical exercises centered on mission analysis and course of action development.

Personnel reporting to SJFHQ in the future will receive a two-to-three-week block of instruction that will provide a basic understanding of the effects-based approach to joint operations and related tasks unique to SJFHQ. Refresher training will help develop area situational awareness, campaign objectives, and effects supported by an operational net assessment.

SJFHQ personnel learn to develop a more enhanced view of the joint operational environment through an effects-based approach, helping them create plans designed to influence or change a system's behavior or capabilities. Joint force commanders seek to exert that influence by applying selected instruments of national power (diplomatic, informational, military and economic) to achieve the desired effect.

"They look at the political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, and information elements of a potential adversary to determine what actions need to be taken to cause a specific effect while at the same time avoiding undesired effects," said Oosterhuis.

The training course also provides attendees an opportunity to operate in the collaborative information environment. The command will eventually offer the course several times a year.

Army Lt. Col. Marc Anthony Garcia recently attended the course and said the training helps him be more effective at his job.

"Things are evolving everyday and with all the transformation, this class is essential to stay up-to-date on effects-based thinking," said Garcia.