USJFCOM Update

Written by Lieutenant Colonel John T. Janiszewski and Lieutenant Colonel D. Keith Ochoa

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Collaboration with agency partners leads to increased
opportunities for joint irregular warfare training.

Today’s operational environment is complex, and the nature of irregular warfare requires a whole-of-government approach and the full synchronization of the resources of the United States. The Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept defines irregular warfare as “a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations. IW favors indirect and asymmetric approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capabilities, in order to erode an adversary’s power, influence and will.” To defeat our adversaries’ indirect and asymmetric approaches requires that we correlate and synthesize the massive amount of information that is attainable from the soldier on the ground to the national intelligence capabilities. The U.S. Joint Forces Command’s Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) has partnered with the National Security Agency (NSA) to provide a joint irregular warfare training capability that aids in the ability to synthesize information. The Department of Defense Capstone Concept for Joint Operations provides some common operating precepts that are required for successful future operations. This partnership supports two of these precepts: “combine joint capabilities to maximize complementary rather than merely additive effects and drive synergy to the lowest echelon at which it can be managed effectively.”

Improvements in technology have provided commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan access to information that was unavailable 10 years ago. NSA’s Real Time-Regional Gateway (RT-RG) represents the front end of NSA’s support operations in both countries. It is NSA’s technological answer to a challenging environment where adversaries use modern technologies in asymmetrical attacks against U.S. forces. In order for commanders to leverage this great capability, there is a requirement to ensure that intelligence analysts not only know how to operate RT-RG but also how to leverage these capabilities to provide customized signals intelligence (SIGINT) support to operations. Concurrently, commanders and their staffs need to understand the capabilities and limitations of RT-RG to fully maximize its impact on areas such as collection management and targeting. JWFC, on the other hand, has the task of developing a joint training environment that replicates the joint operating environment as closely as possible. To that end, JWFC and NSA are working toward integrating NSA’s joint cryptologic mission simulation (JCMS) into the joint live, virtual and constructive (JLVC) federation.

The JLVC is the de facto standard and the centerpiece of the joint training environment. It is an entity-based federation that is composed of joint and service combat and functional simulations. As its name implies, it provides the architecture that integrates live instrumented forces and virtual simulations. Its capabilities support multi-echelon training from the tactical to operational levels of war. When integrated with the JLVC, JCMS will replicate modern communication technologies to deliver enhanced training on classified capabilities and integration of signals intelligence support to operations. Key to its delivery will be simulation of the full suite of RT-RG capabilities. NSA will use JCMS to provide SIGINT support to intelligence and operations centers from national to tactical that mirror the support provided to Joint Operational Commanders and their staffs. They will directly benefit from JCMS as they become more knowledgeable of the signals intelligence capabilities available, the limitations and how to best leverage SIGINT in support of operations.

The partnership between JWFC and NSA started in early 2008 when senior leaders from both organizations agreed that our servicemembers required a training capability that replicated the real-world capabilities in theater. Since then the technical teams have worked closely to ensure that JCMS will be integrated into the JLVC by February 2010. Hard work by both organizations has kept that goal on track.

The effort to integrate JCMS into the JLVC will lead to increased opportunities for joint irregular warfare training, allow for a joint training environment that more accurately replicates today’s joint operational environment, and provide a training capability that supports current operations. In the end this will allow military commanders to follow the guidelines in the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations by “combining joint capabilities to maximize complementary rather than merely additive effects.” ♦

Editor’s note: LTC John Janiszewski is chief, Technical Development and Innovation Branch, and may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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