 Newsmaker Profile: Director of Joint Training Army Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya
Charged with coordinating the U.S. military's overall joint training efforts, U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Training Directorate and Joint Warfighting Center in Suffolk, Va. plays an important role in joint training transformation. Recently, Army Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, director of joint training, discussed the goals and expectations of his training team, their progress under his watch, and what lies ahead.
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By Robert Pursell
USJFCOM Public Affairs
(SUFFOLK, Va. - Feb. 4, 2008) -- As U.S. Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) Director of Joint Training, Army Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya and his team play an integral role in preparing U.S. - based forces for joint and multinational operations.
USJFCOM's Joint Training Directorate and Joint Warfighting Center (J7/JWFC), is responsible for supporting Combatant Command training exercises, advocacy for service and component joint training programs, preparing joint forces with a focus on joint task force headquarters, and developing and managing joint doctrine.
To gain the widest range of expertise, the J7/JWFC works with a broad range of partners to support training and readiness of joint warfighters, including the office of secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Staff, other combatant commands (COCOMs), the services, as well as U.S. interagency and multinational partners.
Kamiya recently took the time to discuss the goals and expectations of his training team, their progress under his watch, the current state of joint training and where he thinks it's headed in the future.
Q: When you took command in July 2006, what were your expectations and goals?
A: I felt that I was really in a unique situation, one which would allow me to give back to USJFCOM and to the joint force lessons that I had learned during the train up and deployment of my combined joint task force to Afghanistan. I thought the assignment was a tremendous opportunity to work with the JWFC staff, the services, and COCOMs (combatant commands) to address any gaps and to reinforce training successes in order for JWFC to continue to provide relevant and rich training experiences to the variety of training audiences.
Outside of an exercise, I didn't know what the Joint Warfighting Center did in terms of capability development and doctrine aside from what I was told during the four-day joint operations module that I attended here during CAPSTONE. USJFCOM is really a unique COCOM with a very broad portfolio and set of responsibilities. I've been the JWFC commander now for about a year and a half and am still learning how everything we do internal to JWFC and across USJFCOM fits together. We just can't afford independent, non-integrated programs since in the end, this typically translates to missed opportunities to get new joint capabilities in the hands of warfighters in a timely, efficient way.
Q: Since you've been in command of the J7/JWFC, what are you most proud of?
A: I'd say number one that I'm most proud of the JWFC workforce, a mix of uniformed military, government civilian employees, and contractors. We initiated in the fall of last year an enormously complex initiative to realign ourselves against a growing list of joint training requirements from the field. This is still a work in progress and has allowed us to see ourselves in ways never imagined, peering into the very soul of our organization and awakening our consciousness. Naturally, we are discovering blemishes as well as successes, but we are making progress each day toward improved organizational performance.
I've challenged our workforce to place in better balance the joint training needs of today and the joint training needs of the future for it is strength and capacity to deliver in the latter that I believe will posture JWFC as a leader in creating the next wave of joint training transformation. This has understandably not been easy for our workforce. But given our collective competencies and experience, if there is any organization that can push the ball over the finish line, we can.
Tied to our realignment work, I am also proud of the level of increasing transparency we are giving to our counterparts in OSD, Joint Staff, COCOMs, and services as to how we are holding ourselves to very, very high standards when it comes to fiscal responsibility and accountability.
If JWFC is going to continue to lead the Department of Defense in the transformation of joint training, then we must do so upon a solid foundation of trust and confidence.
Over the last several months, we have returned millions of dollars to service and COCOM training programs and to the four joint training programs we are directly responsible for here in JWFC from what could be considered our operating overhead. Most if not all of these resources were derived from efficiencies gained through our organizational realignment efforts.
Q: How does the J7 link up these training programs or initiatives to each other internally within the directorate and externally with other directorates?
A: This has been a very important area of focus for JWFC over the last year. We are working very hard with the USJFCOM chief of staff and our counterparts in other USJFCOM directorates to better integrate what we collectively do. Fielding a new joint capability to the warfighter that is born out of any single USJFCOM directorate is relatively simple. But, take that same capability and decompose it into its many parts related to doctrine, organization, training, material, leader development, personnel, facilities, and policy; then deliver it to the field as a total package…now you've got a different sort of challenge on your hands and one that demands cross directorate integration.
Consistent with cross integration, we have also got to become masters of transition, or how ideas, concepts, and capabilities transition from one directorate to another. For example, we have done some great work with the [Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate (J9)], to increase situational awareness of what we both are doing, and to understand how results from an experiment, for example, can transition to the joint training community where the results can inform training capability development, doctrine, our exercise program, and the array of other work we do with the COCOMs and services. JWFC in this manner can become part of the necessary segue of new joint capabilities, tactics, techniques, and procedures, etc. into the operational environment.
If I look back a year and a half ago, I think the level of integration that we have with other directorates inside USJFCOM has remarkably improved. We're not there yet, it requires continual thought and emphasis, but it's getting a lot better.
Internal to JWFC, we are also learning to see and understand more clearly how the activities of one program can add value to another. For example, you know about the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise (CJTF-HOA MRX) just completed in January. You also know about our Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) capability. Independently, these two programs are of great value to the warfighter.
But, imagine what is achievable when you link JKO capabilities to the MRX training audience a year prior to the exercise. Now, all of the sudden, you've developed the capability to raise the entry level training and readiness of the training audience prior to the exercise, have a means to assess the effectiveness of JKO. Tie this in to the front end work we are doing in examining functional training related to areas such as information operations, IED system defeat, etc. and you've developed some real synergy, and oh, by the way, we're doing this with little if any increased cost in terms of time, manpower, and fiscal resources.
So you see how our approach is much more than merely the metaphorical left hand knowing what the right hand is doing. It is also about figuring out what to do about it once you've attained this level of understanding.
Q: What role does Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) play in integration?
A: JNTC is our principle means to deliver joint context to the joint force. It's a complex program, but let me try to explain it to you by describing its four major elements.
First, it involves accreditation of COCOM, service, or service component training programs or organizations to ensure they have the capability to provide their respective training audiences a realistic joint training environment to meet the commander's specified training objectives.
Second, it involves certification of COCOM, service, or service component training sites, systems, and infrastructure to ensure they are compliant with specified DoD and JNTC technical architectures and standards required to create a realistic joint training environment and deliver it to the user.
Third, it involves working with COCOMs, services, and service components to mitigate gaps discovered during accreditation and certification. And finally, JNTC involves developing networks such as the Joint Training and Experimentation Network (JTEN) as a means to link together and deliver joint training context, such as what is offered through modeling and simulations for example, to distributed U.S. and multinational partner locations throughout the U.S. and overseas.
Q: Where do you see joint training headed in the future?
A: We've had a series of very high level discussions with our OSD and Joint Staff J7 counterparts on answering that question. The USJFCOM staff had a really great opportunity several months ago to discuss with the Transformation Advisory Group what transformation really means and the role USJFCOM should play.
One of the key takeaways that I got from the discussion was understanding the difference between true innovation and what is simply polishing the cannonball. I've taken these idea to [Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Readiness Dr. Paul Mayberry], [Director, Readiness and Training Policy and Programs Mr. Dan Gardner], [Joint Staff J7 and Deputy J7 Navy Rear Adm. Dick Mauldin and Army Brig. Gen.Mike Rounds] and the key leaders in JWFC. This has stimulated very rich dialogue about the future and about the characteristics that will help define the next wave of training transformation.
Once we get greater granularity as to what those characteristics are, we'll be able to then ask ourselves what the right processes are to get there. We're also getting some great guidance from [USJFCOM Commander] Gen. [James] Mattis as to where he thinks our focus should be given his previous command, staff, and enormous operational experience. Taking these discussions to the joint training senior leadership has been very useful and productive.
Q: What role do you play in the preparation of senior military leadership?
A: Senior leader joint professional military education is one of USJFCOM's and the Joint Warfighting Center's top priorities. We execute this in support of the National Defense University through PINNACLE for three-stars, CAPSTONE for one-stars, and KEYSTONE for senior enlisted leaders.
If you are ever able to sit in and listen to discussions in any one of these courses, you'll find that we learn much more than we teach. The diverse backgrounds and experiences of the students, of the guest speakers and subject matter experts, and of the senior mentors stimulate discussion that is really remarkable. I often tell folks that going to one of these courses is like going to class to earn your PhD in joint training, joint, multinational and U.S. interagency operations, or in a variety of other associated subjects. We work in concert with NDU to ensure the program of instruction for all three courses remains this way. In doing so we leverage what we are learning from our contacts with COCOMs and the services every day.
I remember when I was a student at CAPSTONE, it was my first real exposure to USJFCOM, the Joint Warfighting Center, and to the subject of joint force operations. It was very humbling because I completed the course rather intimidated by the amount of things I didn't know. I hope that we leave today's students with a similar feeling, but also make them feel confident that the experience afforded them by their respective Services serves as a great foundation to becoming a future joint force commander.
Q: Can you describe, overall, what it has meant for you to be in command of this team?
A: I told [former USJFCOM Commander Air Force Gen. Lance Smith] directly and I told [current USJFCOM Commander Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis] indirectly that speaking as an Army two-star and former combined joint task force commander who commanded a joint, coalition force of 18,000 in Afghanistan, I can't think right now of a better job for an Army major general.
The opportunities that this job provides to not only work with U.S. joint forces and interagency partners, but also with multinational partners through Allied Command Transformation (ACT), have been really remarkable. My combined joint task force worked very closely with the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during our year in Afghanistan, so I have a good appreciation for the importance of the NATO mission there and what it portends for the future of the Alliance. We're doing all we can within existing policy and legal guidelines to support NATO ACT and, through this partnership, both learn and share as much as we possibly can.
In the year in a half here, I've gained a new appreciation of what USJFCOM does in joint force providing, joint capability development, joint force training and a lot of other things we do and I try to use every opportunity I can to help Gen. Mattis market the things that USJFCOM does and the important role that it fulfills today.
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