Blog Posts tagged with "J9"

Interagency Synchronization Forum

“The JTF is seeking authorities for cross border pursuit of terrorist suspects.”

“Our Embassy can indeed provide support to a small military security force at the Evacuation Control Centers.”

These are two comments heard within the past two months at J9-organized Interagency Synchronization Forums (IASF, not to be confused with “ISAF” in Afghanistan): one for an exercise and the later for contingency planning. They are both interagency-related remarks and the IASF was the right venue for considering such issues.

The forum is chaired by the EUCOM Civilian Deputy to the Commander, a former ambassador and the most senior interagency representative on the staff. The meeting links EUCOM with affected U.S. Embassies, the State Department Operations Center, the political advisors of subordinate Joint Task Forces, and with agency representatives and members of the EUCOM headquarters staff.

The EUCOM IASF was born of necessity as a response to the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008. It was organized then by the J9 to better link the geographic combatant commander with the Crisis Response Team established at the State Department.

Even the timing of the hour-long video teleconference has been dictated by a desire to talk to decision-makers in Washington, DC, during their work hours. IASFs are now part of EUCOM’s “battle rhythm”and the outcomes are summarized and shared with other EUCOM leaders at scheduled command-wide briefings.

A military command is an acronym-rich environment, and the IASF is now very much a part of the EUCOM vernacular. Indeed, the forum has been lauded by a number of outside organizations who have observed and commented on the IASFs held during annual EUCOM exercises. “If it didn’t exist, I’d recommend that it should”, was just one comment Another said, “A “best practice” to be shared with other combatant commands.” Most recently, Special Operations Command and their observers, commented on the value of the venue.

This tool the EUCOM leadership “tool box” works because it simply does what its title implies: it offers a forum for synchronizing; it facilitates the coordination of interagency equities; and allows the command to consider important political-military integration issues.

The IASF is “whole of government” in action, with EUCOM, a military geographic command, fully recognizing that it does not have all the answers and wisely listening, considering and leveraging interagency viewpoints raised at this valuable venue.

Mr. Michael Anderson

Mike Anderson
Deputy Director
J9- Interagency Partnering Directorate 

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Words and Swords

Francois Bellon, the Head of Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross to both the EU and NATO, visted the command last week, the first senior ICRC visit to EUCOM in nearly two decades.

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Final Four and Interagency

As I followed the Final Four I was reminded that there were four common requirements necessary both for this basketball tournament and for interagency partnering, my line of work at US European Command (EUCOM).

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Happy Birthday, Lithuania!

Lithuania is a steadfast ally and friend of the United States. Also, US European Command is a bilateral partner with Lithuania’s new national Energy Security Center

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Trojans, Malware and Botnets got you down…?

We know that cyber attacks are employed not just for cyber crime (i.e. to access your bank account), but also to discredit national agencies and governments (i.e. the cyber attacks against Estonia and Georgia). It is incumbent on all of us to “know our enemy” to best defend against such attacks. The best means for doing so is for governments to regularly partner with academia and the private sector (i.e. with IT safety enterprises) to form a sort of cyber coalition.

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“Black Gold, Texas Tea”

Cooperation on Energy Security issues is in Lithuania’s and the United State’s common interests. The MOU outlines ways in which both organizations, EUCOM and the Energy Security Center, can continue to work and coordinate together.

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Interagency Teams Meet in Berlin

This was an outreach effort meant to enhance understanding and facilitate future cooperation between two interagency organizations.

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Why Public-Private Collaboration?

A few weeks ago, I had the unique and exciting opportunity to address the 28-member NATO Military Committee regarding Public-Private Collaboration.

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The Importance of Collaboration and Cooperation in 1648 and Today

The Treaty of Westphalia, signed in 1648 in the Rathaus of Muenster, Germany, ended one of Europe’s bloodiest periods: the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) fought mostly on German soil, and 80 years of war between Spain and the Dutch Republic. Today two nations that benefitted from that peace treaty, Germany and the Netherlands (it achieved its independence as a result), are the framework nations for a multinational NATO High Readiness Corps headquartered in Muenster.

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Dutch Treat: Interagency Collaboration in The Hague

These days The Hague, the Netherlands' third largest city, is most often in the news as the home of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the body that has recently indicted Muammar Gadaffi for war crimes or for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which saw last week’s appearance of the former Bosnian Serb military general Ratko Mladic. Certainly both of these courts serve a valued purpose and The Hague -- with its history of hosting the first international peace conference in 1899 -- is a well-suited site for these courts.

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Discussing Turkey, Foreign Policy and what lies ahead

Dr. Soner Cagaptay, Senior Fellow and Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy was a guest speaker for the EUCOM Forum for International Affairs Speaker Series Dec. 15.

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The Silk Road, Then and Now

The historic Silk Road traversed 3 present-day US geographic commands; European Command (EUCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and Pacific Command (PACOM), as it wound its way from Italy in the west to China in the east by way of Afghanistan pretty much right in the middle.

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Silly Bands, mood rings and… Interagency?

“Interagency…ah, that’s just a fad that will soon fade.” This was a comment overheard at a recent EUCOM meeting. The person seemed convinced that the pursuance of a “whole of government approach” and the continued emphasis on collaboration with interagency partners by EUCOM, a geographic military command, was just a fad. They also believed that this “fad” would soon fizzle once the novelty was gone or once there was new leadership in place. I beg to differ.

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An “ICEman Cometh” to EUCOM J9

Kevin works in the J9 Interagency Partnering Directorate and is one of a growing number of law enforcement/border protection-oriented interagency representatives now on the EUCOM J9 “interagency team”. Kevin, for example, is also joined by a Customs and Border Protection representative, Christina Bell, and will soon be joined by a Drug Enforcement Administration representative, Mr Nick Brooke.

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Time for a Paradigm Shift?

If you are a cable news junkie, then you’ve probably watched BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), one the largest, if not the largest, broadcasting organizations in the world.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to Nik Gowing speak courtesy of ADM Stavridis’ 'Notable Film and Author Series’ and the EUCOM J9 Directorate.  Nik presents the BBC's flagship news program, The Hub, which reports on global news for audiences across South Asia and the Middle East.  He interviewed ADM Stavridis about operations in Marjah this past February and also recently wrote 'Skyful of Lies' and Black Swans, a study that addresses the role hand-held, multi-media technology plays in shaping public perceptions of government responses in crisis situations.

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