Train the Force spacer

Train the Force, one of three mutually supporting lines of operation, is a critical component of the JIEDDO mission to defeat the IED threat as a weapon of strategic influence.

The Joint Center of Excellence is JIEDDO's lead organization for the train-the-force line of operation and is responsible for development of training capabilities that enable the services' and combatant commanders' mission of preparing U.S. forces to defeat this threat.

Led by JIEDDO's deputy director of Training, the JCOE, located at the Army's National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., facilitates individual, collective and unit counter-improvised explosive device training; enables the development and propagation of new tactics, techniques and procedures; and provides a venue for training and support for the experimentation and testing of emerging counter-IED equipment and concepts.

The JIEDDO training enterprise provides battle staff training support to joint and service institutions and assists with development of joint and service counter-IED doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures. The training enterprise has contributed significantly to the institutionalization of combat-proven counter-IED training capabilities, ensuring they will remain readily available to warfighters. Additionally, the training enterprise has been instrumental in addressing the immediate training needs of units preparing for combat deployments.

In support of this mission, JCOE's four subordinate centers of excellence are strategically located at high-throughput training locations across the country.

The Army Center of Excellence, also located at the National Training Center, supports Army fielding of new equipment and the integration of counter-IED training into corps, division and brigade combat team pre-deployment training. The Marine detachment, located at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., supports Marine battalion and regimental combat team pre-deployment training. The Air Force Center of Excellence at Lackland AFB, Texas, provides joint subject-matter experts in electronic warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and military working dogs. The Navy Center of Excellence, located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, Md., provides expertise in counter-radio-controlled improvised explosive device electronic warfare, robotics, homemade explosives and explosive ordinance disposal.

The deputy director of Training's top priority is to identify counter-IED training shortfalls in joint and service training and education curriculums and develop, integrate and deliver relevant counter-IED training to overcome these shortfalls.

JIEDDO works with U.S. Central Command and the services to improve implementation of counter-IED pre-deployment training guidance. To accomplish this, JCOE provides mobile training teams, manages the fielding of counter-IED training devices and equipment, supports exercise planning and execution and provides counter-IED enablers to the services' training events. JCOE also supports Combined Joint Task Force Paladin in Bagram, Afghanistan, by developing and providing mission-essential training to the forces deployed in the theater of operation.

Because the IED threat is constantly changing, the counter-IED fight is dynamic, and maintaining effectiveness remains an enduring requirement of training solution development. To meet this requirement, JCOE executes JIEDDO's lessons-learned program, conducting detailed debriefs of brigade and regimental combat team staffs at 90-day, mid-tour and post-deployment milestones. Additionally, JCOE heavily augments CJTF Paladin's training section with expert personnel who deliver a wide range of courses. A small team of JCOE personnel located in Afghanistan serves to gather lessons learned, assess effectiveness of counter-IED equipment and provides oversight of JIEDDO's in-theater contract trainers.

Minehound IED dector in use

A consistent demand from deploying units has been for counter-IED equipment to conduct home-station training. The shift of U.S. operational focus from Iraq to Afghanistan required U.S. military forces to transition emphasis from mounted operations to dismounted operations. This created a need for increased training and equipping of service members with handheld and man-portable detection devices. To address this requirement, JIEDDO authorized funds for the dismounted surge capability equipment initiative designed to rapidly procure specific equipment supporting dismounted training operations at the services' home-station training sites and combat-training centers. As a result, the services were rapidly provided Holley Sticks, hook-and-line kits, patrol search kits, Goldie, Minehound and Beachcomber handheld devices for training. They were also provided the corresponding training scenarios, lane training programs and smart books to effectively employ them in an operational environment. This equipment is significantly improving the proficiency of units deploying to Afghanistan.

JIEDDO-supported courses and exercises instruct and rehearse units in effective execution of attack-the-network operations, teaching commanders and their staffs how to integrate counter-IED capabilities into their operations. During the past two years, the JIEDDO training enterprise greatly improved the quality of attack-the-network training through exercise-design support and integration of counter-IED enablers. Units are shown how to identify, map and target insurgent and terrorist networks, while positively influencing friendly and neutral populations and networks. These courses, and the supporting exercises, train battle staffs to integrate weapons technical intelligence, biometrics, ISR capabilities, attack-the-network enablers and new analytical intelligence tools.

replicated Afghan village

To be effective, pre-deployment training must accurately replicate the IED threat environment that warfighters will face in the operational theater. JCOE course development has consistently been focused on accurately replicating the multi-dimensional battlefield environment (tactical, physical and cultural) forces will face and is essential to their readiness. Executing individual, collective and staff training in the most realistic environment possible is critical when developing doctrine, equipment and tactics, techniques and procedures that will be effective against the IED threat.

HME lab replicationJIEDDO conducts and supports a wide range of live, virtual and constructive training programs, including onsite equipment training and exercise support, training videos, interactive simulation systems and smart books. These programs are designed to communicate mission-essential knowledge and skills to warfighters during pre-deployment training.

JIEDDO has transitioned to the services many direct-instruction courses taught to soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, while remaining heavily involved in supporting the service trainers and battle staffs in their counter-IED training areas of interest. Transitioned JCOE training courses that address enduring capabilities are in the process of being institutionalized into service doctrine and professional military education.

Along with the services, combatant commands, interagency and partner nations, JIEDDO is developing a long-term, systematic process to identify, vet, action and resolve counter-IED training issues. To accomplish this, JIEDDO has forged strong ties with the USMC's Training and Education Command, the Army's Forces Command, the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, U.S. Central Command, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Department of Energy's national laboratories at Sandia and Los Alamos and the NATO-sponsored counter-IED Center of Excellence. Bringing these partners together to pool resources and knowledge creates a synergy that optimizes counter-IED effectiveness, fiscal responsibility and overall support to the warfighter.

Time and history have continually reinforced the argument that training is critical to countering the IED threat. It is the director's imperative to ensure U.S. military forces, as well as allies and interagency partners, remain properly trained and prepared to defeat this enduring threat.