USJFCOM, NATO reach historic first for simulation federation

NATO and U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) officials recently completed the first use of a new jointly-developed Alliance modeling and simulation training capability, the NATO Training Federation.

By MC2 (AW) Nikki Carter
USJFCOM Public Affairs Office

(NORFOLK, Va. - Dec. 2, 2008) –- NATO and U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) officials recently completed the first use of a new jointly-developed Alliance modeling and simulation (M&S) training capability.

Exercise Steadfast Joiner was a computer-assisted command post exercise to train and evaluate NATO’s Response Force (NRF) 12 and showcased the first use of the Joint Multi-Resolution Model (JMRM) Federation, NATO's constructive simulation training capability and a central component in the NATO Training Federation (NTF).

Army Lt. Col. John Janiszewski, chief, USJFCOM Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) Technical Development and Innovation Branch, said USJFCOM assisted NATO with the development of the critical M&S capability. 

“Project Snow Leopard is NATO’s initiative to develop a distributed network linking NATO organizations, nations, and partners in order to enhance distributed training, education, and experimentation,” said Janiszewski.  “Over a two year period our team worked closely with NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and the Joint Warfare Centr to develop, test and field this training capability. 

“The Steadfast Joiner exercise is a major milestone for NATO and its 26 member nations that validated the NATO Training Federation as a viable training tool for NATO,” said Janiszewski.

He explained that the JMRM is a modeling and simulation federation consisting of two models, the Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) and the Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS).  This federation allows an organization to train from the operational level of war down to the tactical level of war.

USJFCOM’s Joint Warfighting Center manages both models and used them in the past to train U.S. forces.

“NATO was exercising a unit using fictional scenario. The units develop plans that were then input into the simulation,” Janiszewski said. “The simulation replicated the interaction or conflict between NATO forces, civilians and opposing forces.  The simulation then provided the results of the interaction to the training audience.”

He said using the NTF enables NATO to train their forces more effectively before deploying to a theater of operations like Afghanistan.

“This gives them a means into which they can certify forces as being ready to execute their warfighting mission,” he said.

According to Janiszewski, USJFCOM will continue working with NATO to enhance and refine the NTF.