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The NATO Training Federation will ensure exercises like NATO's Steadfast Jaguar are not the first time troops from different nations work together. (Official NATO photo)

USJFCOM teams with ACT to help develop NATO Training Federation

U.S. Joint Forces Command is working with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation on the development of the NATO Training Federation, a capability that will allow for better training of multi-national forces deploying in support of operations.

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By Robert Pursell
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va. – June 2, 2008) – U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) is working with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT) on a capability that will allow for better training of multi-national forces deploying in support of operations.

The NATO Training Federation (NTF) is designed to provide NATO countries with an interoperable and common training environment, one that is faster, more compatible, and of higher-quality and fidelity

British Lt. Col. Mark Shelford, ACT project manager for NTF, explained the purpose.

“The NATO Training Federation allows distribution training and multi-commander training means that you can get everybody working together, literally, on the same piece of music, training together, meeting each other via VTC, and getting to trust each other before they actually deploy to theater rather than never having done it before.”

Shelford explained how the new training capability will offer something unseen by NATO.

“As far as NATO’s concerned, we haven’t had a centrally-organized, computer-assisted exercise system before.  So the NATO Training Federation is going to give us a huge uplift in exercise and training capability.”

Army Lt. Col. John Janiszewski, chief of USJFCOM’s training development and innovation branch and USJFCOM lead for the project explained how this will benefit the warfighter.

“What that enables us to do is conduct coalition training in a common environment.  We’re increasing our relationship and our ability to work together with the NATO countries.  We’ve got the similar training environment so when we come together to train we’re using the same thing, we’re all familiar with it and ultimately that’s going to lead to better coordination when we actually do real world operations.”

Shelford discussed some of the instances where NTF can help prepare warfighters going into theater.

“How are we going to use the NATO Training Federation?  Well, we’ll be able to train prior to deployment on all types of operations that are required by the commander to successfully execute his mission, so everything from time-sensitive targeting, hostage release, conventional battle group interactions, as well as the air and maritime pieces.”

Janiszewski said the next step is to provide the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway with the latest software version of the Joint Multi-Resolution Model, the core simulation tool for NTF, this July.  He said the plan is to test it in the Joint Warfare Centre’s laboratory to make sure everything runs properly. 

This will allow NATO to get one step closer to their ultimate goal - using NTF for the first time during the Steadfast Joiner exercise in November 2008.

“The first time that we’re going to operate with our coalition partners will not be on the ground during a real world operation.  It will be in a training event and this is the capability that allows us to do that.”