LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
Joint warfare is not a buzz word; it is a way of life for military members fighting the Global War on Terrorism.
Joint work was not talked about much when Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Thomas Hall of the Assault Amphibious Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, enlisted 20 years ago and his training with armored infantry rarely brought him together with other services.
During a site visit to Langley Monday, part of a new course for E-9s of all services, he said it is as easy to call in close air support from his own service as it is the Air Force, Navy or Army.
“Working in the joint community is the future of our armed forces,” he said. “When we leave Iraq, it was not just a one-time thing. We will carry on in this joint environment.”
If military members do not learn the tools of each service’s trade, they will end up duplicating efforts, squandering resources and taxpayer dollars, and, worst of all, be unable to accomplish the overall mission.
In an effort to share the experiences and knowledge of the services’ senior leaders, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, May 26, 1982, directed the National Defense University to establish a professional military education program for general and flag officer selectees -- now known in military circles as Capstone.
“Education at the general/flag officer level is inherently joint and unified in nature,” said Bonnie Swanson, vice director for Pinnacle, Capstone and Keystone. “Its focus is on the highest levels of strategy, integrating the elements of national power to achieve national security objectives.”
It also ensures newly selected generals and flag officers understand the fundamentals of joint doctrine and the joint operational art; how to integrate the elements of national power in order to accomplish national security and national military strategies and how joint, interagency, and multinational operations support national strategic goals and objectives, she said.
Recently, the university added a course for E-9s called Keystone; the first class met Jan. 30. It parallels the Capstone course, but it focuses on “those that do,” according to Mrs. Swanson.
“Specifically, the course will cover the very special relationship between the command senior enlisted leader of a joint force commander and the enlisted personnel from all the services operating under the commander,” she added.
Keystone students visit the combatant commands, joint task forces and senior leadership (both officer and enlisted) in the Washington D.C. arena to explore the relationships and challenges of operating in a joint environment.
The group of senior enlisted leaders visited Langley Monday, following a four-day Joint Operations Module conducted by the Joint Forces Command at the Joint Warfare Center, Suffolk.
While visiting the Air Force Command, Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center and seeing static displays of the 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 and F-15 and the Air National Guard’s F-16, many of the men and women reflected on the nature of joint operations and how important they will be to the future of conflict.
“We need to know what our sister services bring to the fight so we can augment them or be the lead as the situation fits,” said Chief Master Sgt. David Popp, Air Combat Command command chief.
The visit to Langley highlighted the great resources the Air Force has available and how it conducts missions and carries out the fight, according to Chief Popp. The tour of the command and control center demonstrated how aircraft are part of the integrated air picture -- a key element that highlights the Air Force’s capability to put the whole war effort together.
The technology and the abilities of the command and control center was the stop’s highlight for many of the warfighters. For Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Citola, 3rd Armored Corps at Fort Hood, it symbolizes where he would like to see the Army in the future.
“As dynamic an institution that I believe the Army to be, we are still a lot about brute force,” he said. “When I look at the technological advances of our sister services and I know that if we don’t embrace this ‘joint’ thing, we will end up reinventing most of the work developed in those other services.”
Reinventing the wheel each time the military goes through a transformation is costly. The benefits of the knowledge gained through the Keystone course are immense.
“We have to be interdependent as we go down the road with the transformation of the military and how we spend the taxpayers’ dollars more efficiently,” said Chief Master Sgt.
Rod McKinley, Pacific Air Force command chief. “Learning what other services bring to the fight makes us more efficient senior leaders for [our services].”