CF, SOF, JIIM WORK TOGETHER TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

FORT BRAGG, NC – Leaders from many different U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) teams and leaders from the 82nd Airborne Division gathered at the Fort Bragg Education Center in order to review the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotation 13-09 and previous rotations. LTC(R) Rusty Nance, Oak Grove’s Program Manager for support to the Special Operations Training Detachment at Fort Polk, attended the meeting. 

Throughout the rotation, Conventional Forces (CF), Special Operations Forces (SOF) and select elements within the Joint Inter-Agency Intergovernmental Multi-national Force (JIIM) worked together in an environment custom made to replicate the ever-changing future operating environment and its challenges.

The after action review (AAR) that took place from Sept. 24 – 27 was the culminating event for the most recent exercise, 13-09, which allowed attendees to increase focus on select best practices in an environment steeped with ambiguity. “We wanted to create an environment where a diverse group of Conventional Force, Special Operations Forces and select Inter-Agency personnel could examine elements of the future operational environment and JRTC’s ability to replicate this volatile environment and the associated hybrid threat” said Lt. Col. Lawrence W. Henry, JRTC’s Special Operations Training Detachment (SOTD) Commander. Approximately 90 personnel attended the opening of the AAR including various members of the USASOC, 18th Airborne Corps, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), the RAND Corporation, and elements from the Inter-Agency.

After the opening statements were made by the United States Army Special Forces commanding general, Maj. Gen. Christopher K. Haas, the personnel in attendance were separated into work-groups that specifically focused on CF, SOF, JIIM interdependence, challenges and successes of unconventional warfare (UW), expanding JRTC to better replicate the future operating environment, and the roles and functions of the Military Information Support Task Force (MISTF). The workgroups were chartered to focus on these topics and discuss them in length over the course of three days.

The UW workgroup was charged with the task to provide a common understanding of the inherent difficulties of conducting UW training and the requirements to modify doctrine and training as applicable. In order to meet their goal, this workgroup, along with the others, was created to include a diverse range of SMEs who could provide their own perspectives.

The MISTF workgroup contained many SMEs from the Military Information Support Operations Command (MISOC) that focused on providing information to the SOF and CF communities about MISTF activities and their capabilities. Other goals of the workgroup were to develop MISTF training objectives so as to achieve the MISTF 2022 concept and identify the way ahead in order to better develop a training environment that would allow the advancement of MISO capabilities.

“The driving premise of 13-09 AAR in review was to examine past training events at JRTC, identify the challenges and successes and determine ‘the why’ with respect to those challenges and successes,” stated Henry. Being able to utilize the findings of this AAR to inform and/or validate future training and doctrine is one of the main goals of the SOTD. The vision of ARSOF 2022 is to promote increased SOF, CF, and JIIM interdependence through the USASOC’s strategic framework and creation of an integrated training environment.

During the closing comments, Brig. Gen. Christopher G Cavoli, 82^nd Airborne Division Deputy Commanding General of Operations stated that “I don’t think that we can afford, in the next few years, to field a Special Operations army and a conventional army. We might be stretching to field just one army,” Cavoli said, “The budgetary pressures are going to become quite significant. This is not a time to [focus] on pride, or to [focus on SOF and CF] differences. This is a time to find the true commonalities and the true dependency on each other’s particular skill-set.”

According the leaders present at the JRTC 13-09 AAR in review, SOF and CF interoperability is vital to the success of USASOC’s mission. JRTC will continue to bring together SOF and CF in a complex training environment that will be able to better support the War Fighter’s ability to “Shape, Prevent, and Win” against the hybrid threat of the future.

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