News From USJFCOM: Joint National Training Capability gets tactical at Northern Edge 06

Connectivity graphic Joint National Training Capability gets tactical at Northern Edge 06

The recently-completed Northern Edge 2006 provided opportunities to utilize U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint National Training Capability to link together operators all over the Pacific and enable seamless integration for operators from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

By Air Force Capt. Nathan D. Broshear
505th Command and Control Wing Public Affairs

(HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii – June 16, 2006) –- U.S. Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) initiative took another step forward at exercise Northern Edge 06 (NE06) here June 5-16.

U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) used distributed mission operations (DMO) to simulate a massive air and sea campaign in the Alaskan area of operations. It was the first time PACOM used the Pacific Air Operations Center here to conduct a tactical-level DMO event.

Phil Harvey, operations research analyst and assistant project officer for NE06 at the Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., heralded the exercise as a big step for furthering the development of the JNTC, reinforcing the value-added JNTC technology and processes bring to warfighter preparedness by broadening and deepening the reach of joint context to the tactical level.

"This is a tactical-level event that concentrates on the trigger-puller in the aircraft or onboard a ship to familiarize them with theatre operations and procedures prior to entering an actual combat situation," said Harvey.

USJFCOM is DoD's executive agent for developing and implementing JNTC globally. Military commands and agencies throughout the department use the capability to facilitate exercises and train forces.

"For the first time, PACOM and Alaska Command have integrated distributed training into an exercise so forces do not have to leave their duty stations to conduct this tactical-level training," explained Harvey. "We're able to integrate all of the joint players into a large-scale event using live training, virtual (people linked via simulators), and constructive (wholly computer generated) entities."

The center at Kirtland provided simulated enemy aircraft and air defenses to jets flying over the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific-Alaska range complex.

"While we're unable to field a large-scale enemy force in real-life, the pilot in the cockpit will still see a similar threat picture that they would encounter in combat," said Harvey. "The live world and virtual battlespace appear identical to players operating in either environment. Joint troops are able to train side-by-side as though they were working in the real world, under real stress, in real-time conditions."

"Live fly is limited to the number of players you can bring to the fight," said Air Force 1st Lt. Christopher Evey, an acquisition engineer at the 505th Distributed Warfare Group and project officer for NE06. "Using simulations piped in from several different locations, we're able to provide warfighters a more accurate picture of an air and sea campaign."

Evey said that during the exercise, ships in the Gulf of Alaska see a data-linked battle picture on their scopes. "For them, there's an incredibly large battle taking place on their computer screens and they must react accordingly. At the same time, real Navy ships are acting as enemy forces while others are friendlies.

"We're able to paint a picture in the cockpit or onboard a ship, so that the person pulling the trigger or sitting at their terminal is able to train at the tactical level," he said. "To that warrior, they're surrounded by an environment that appears to have hundreds, even thousands, of entities around them — just like in combat."

Other units participating in NE06 included Pacific Air Forces, Air Combat Command, U.S. Army Alaska, Marine Forces Pacific, Special Operations Command Pacific and the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Air Force Col. Leonard Moskal, the 505th Distributed Warfare Group's commander, said NE06 was a success as a proof-of-concept for forces in the Pacific theatre.

"Forces in the Pacific theatre are just beginning to stand up simulators that can be tied into a larger virtual battlespace," he said. "By proving that distributed training can work for a large geographically separated region more resources will be committed to virtual training — just as we're seeing in the continental United States.

"This is the only way to conduct a large theatre battle without actually going to war," concluded Moskal.