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 House
Armed Services Committee chairman tours command
Chairman
of the House Armed Services Committee Rep. Ike Skelton and
Rep. J. Randy Forbes toured parts of U.S. Joint Forces
Command's Suffolk, Va. complex
to see how the command
continues its work to advance the technologies and processes that support
global force management, joint
training, joint experimentation, and joint capability development.
By
USJFCOM Public Affairs
(SUFFOLK,
VA - Oct. 29, 2007) –-
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee saw
the
future of
joint
warfighting
during a visit to U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Saturday.
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) visited USJFCOM's Joint Technology
Exploration Center (JTEC) as part of a visit to the Hampton
Roads area which, in addition to USJFCOM, hosts various installations
of all five military services.
Skelton visited the command, which is responsible for military
transformation, to gain a better understanding of joint operational
concepts and to see the work the command is doing to prepare
the joint warfighter for the future.
Rep.
J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), who represents the Suffolk area
and chairs the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus,
accompanied Skelton during his tour.
USJFCOM
officials told Skelton that as the military continues to
move toward a joint future, the command would continue
its work to advance the technologies and processes that support
global force management, joint training, joint experimentation,
and joint capability development.
During his time in the JTEC, Skelton had an opportunity
to visit the Joint Advanced Training Technology Laboratory
and Joint Intelligence Laboratory. He also learned about
the command's efforts to help with defeating improvised explosive
devices through the command's Knowledge and Information Fusion
Exchange program.
"I must tell you it's very, very impressive," said
Skelton who has represented Missouri in Congress since 1977. "It's
the hub of the wheel which on the one end does such research
and on the other end develops important information for the
warfighter immediately."
Skelton
commented on the amount of effort which is going on in
Joint Forces Command. "I am not sure that many
people outside the experts probably know the depth of research.
Many of these things are difficult for a layman such as I
to understand. That's the one major lesson that I learned."
When asked about the difference between seeing the command
firsthand and receiving briefs on it in Washington, Skelton
stressed how important it is to see this type of work in
person rather than in a briefing room.
"If you're here and actually see it, there's an understanding
of where you want to go," said the chairman. "I'm
very, very glad I came."
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