THINKING GLOBALLY, TRAINING JOINTLY
DoD Programs Focus on Allowing Audiences to Train the Way They Operate.
Since the beginning of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, the very nature of combat has changed dramatically. And in order to keep service men and women out of harm’s way in light of these changes, the techniques that the military uses to train them have also transformed in recent years.
“We used to say, back in the early days right after September 11th, ‘train the way we fight.’ Now, much more appropriately so, it’s ‘train the way we operate’ and the way we are operating is in an integrative fashion with all the players in the theater of operations,” said Dan Gardner, director, readiness and training, policy and program, Office of the Secretary of Defense. “Our job is to create that training environment here in the United States before people go in harm’s way in theater. We want them to be comfortable prior to departure and arrival in theater, so that they’re not exposed to those integrated operations for the first time in a theater environment.”
In order to prepare soldiers for the current theater environment, the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM)—the U.S. Department of Defense’s joint force trainer— offers a catalog of about 100 training events for members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as partners from other federal agencies and multinational forces. USJFCOM, which has day-to-day management oversight of the Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability (JKDDC) and the Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) initiatives, provides realistic, relevant training to soldiers in a joint environment in order to ensure their success during missions.
JKDDC
JKDDC focuses on the individual training of joint, interagency, and multinational participants in an online environment. The online capability JKDDC uses, known as Joint Knowledge Online (JKO) (www.jko-global.net/), prepares individuals for the collective training exercises they will experience by familiarizing them with the concepts they need to know prior to group training. JKDDC’s building-block approach to learning allows users to be prepared for further training and contributes to their success when they are in theater. In addition, this system is used by those who are not able to attend the group training sessions because of their deployment schedules—thus allowing them to also benefit from individual training as well.
JKO is an invaluable resource for soldiers being prepared for theater. “You can’t have trained staffs and units if you don’t have trained individuals first,” said Colonel Dan Grymes, deputy, joint force trainer operations, USJFCOM. “This distributive learning capability takes current concepts—how joint task forces are organized and what their key functions are—as well as any number of specialty areas and allows for them to train prior to their exercise.”
According to Grymes, over the last two years JKO has grown exponentially thanks to the features that have made it so efficient and user friendly. For example, the system has fast course capability, which allows JKDDC to create new courses rapidly from emerging concepts so that users can immediately access them. In addition, JKO has a learning management system (LMS) that allows commanders to track the progress of their personnel and let them know when they complete the modules they are working on.
JKKDC’s successful inclusion of LMS and other enablers are a result of the initiative’s long-standing collaboration with the DoD Advanced Learning program.
JKO—which has become one of the pillars of USJFCOM’s training because it has replaced a lot of the on-the-job training that was costlier and more difficult to schedule—will also undergo some improvements in the near future. Grymes said one update to the program will be the addition of blended learning, where users will be able to hear a trainer present the material they are working on, because studies show that people learn more effectively when they hear someone speaking to them as they read.
JKDDC has also added a further element of realism to its exercises through the Joint Live Virtual Constructive (JLVC) environment, which can link to actual command and control systems with models and simulators. As a result, trainees are able to see exactly what they can expect to find when they are in the theater environment— making them all the more prepared for the realities of their missions.
“JLVC has increased the rigor of our exercises tremendously by our ability to generate all the same electronic signatures and common operating pictures that you would see in any joint operations center,” said Grymes.
JNTC
While JKDDC focuses on computer-based training and exercises, JNTC combines that training capability with live training from USJFCOM’s interagency partners and intergovernmental, as well as multinational, personnel. These joint exercises are made up of three training environments that enhance the realism of the exercises: live (with people in a training facility using real equipment), virtual simulation (where trainees use simulators during the exercises), and constructive simulation (where trainees work with computer-generated entities in a simulated environment).
As a result of these exercises, which are considered a win-win situation by USJFCOM and the other agencies involved, the Department of Defense not only trains its forces but builds long-lasting relationships with its partners—including coalition forces from The United Kingdom and Australia and other nations. One such partnership that can be found stateside is with the U.S. State Department, which has participated in a number of exercises with USJFCOM. According a lawyer that has participated in some of these joint training sessions, the experience has been a real learning experience for everyone involved in the exercises.“I’m a real supporter of this,” she said. “When we participate in JFCOM’s exercises, we’re not only providing assistance to JFCOM and helping DoD, but there’s very often a real benefit for the agency as well.”
OTHER JOINT TRAINING DEVELOPMENTS
In addition to the joint training efforts of USJFCOM, the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J7) controls strategic lift monies in support of combatant commander (COCOM) exercises that reside within the Joint Exercise Program. Further, the J7 Chairman sponsored exercise program coordinates Joint Staff and DoD participation in strategic national level exercises as part of the National Exercise Program and other largescale COCOM exercises. But no matter what agency is involved in joint training, Grymes emphasizes that at the end of the day, all of the training serves the same purpose—to keep soldiers safe.
“The reason that we do this is to improve soldiers’ readiness so that the mistakes they make are made in training and not made on the battlefield—which results in lost lives and injuries,” he said. “The technology is important, but it’s just as important to actually have people connect as teams and operate in realistic environments. Technology is a part of that, but it’s not all of it.” ♦