The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command (JECC) has released a five-year strategy, “Force for Today. Force for the Future,” 2013-2017, which outlines the command’s vision and objectives for the coming years.
The strategy is “based on our commitment to enable future joint operations envisioned by the Capstone Concept For Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020.” JECC Commander Rear Adm. Scott Stearney said in a preface to the strategy.
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| Lt. Col. Jeff Settle Led Strategy Development Photo: JECC |
The CCJO describes the future operating environment as one full of “uncertainty, complexity, rapid change and persistent conflict” (Defense Daily, Jan. 24, 2012). Adaptability and versatility are hallmarks of the document from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As the Department of Defense resets the force and aligns capabilities toward a new defense strategy, Stearney said there was a need for the JECC to develop a strategy that not only aligns with the imminent priorities of DoD and the JECC’s higher headquarters, U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), but prepares the command to adapt to the ever-changing operational environment.
The JECC was reassigned to USTRANSCOM May 2, 2011, as part of the process of closing down U.S. Joint Forces Command (Defense Daily, May 3, 2011).
“This strategy leverages the JECC core competencies and targets those capabilities most needed by our combatant command customers when resources are tight, time is short and risk is high,” Stearney said.
The JECC exists for crisis response and has become DoD’s principal source of rapidly deployable professionals through the employment of small, high–performing mission packages tailored to meet the specific skills and capabilities required to address emergent joint force headquarters requirements.
The JECC’s three subordinate joint elements: the Joint Planning Support Element, the Joint Public Affairs Support Element and the Joint Communications Support Element form the backbone of the command and provide tangible command and control (C2) capabilities to joint force commanders across all types of military operations.
“These flexible, expeditionary joint planners, public affairs and communications experts form a set of unique enablers that builds on a culture of superior training and readiness, shaped by a wide array of formal education, practical knowledge and hard-earned experience in complex contingency operations,” said Stearney in a command statement.
“The JECC Strategy is the most comprehensive, collaborative document in the command’s history,” said Army Lt. Col. Jeffrey Settle, who led the JECC Strategy development efforts. “It outlines a clear direction for the JECC and enables the command to adapt as future operational level C2 requirements evolve.”
The “Capstone Concept for Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020,” which was one of several strategic documents referenced during development of the JECC Strategy, reinforces the need for flexible joint C2 that enables the joint force to rapidly assemble Service-provided capabilities within the concept of “Globally Integrated Operations.”
“Operational level joint C2 of globally integrated operations requires the rapid assimilation of highly-trained, low-density, high-demand enablers into designated joint force headquarters staffs,” Stearney said. “The JECC’s role in this broader context is to enable rapid transition of existing joint and Service C2 structures into headquarters that can conduct agile, globally integrated operations at the operational level of war.”
The JECC Strategy centers on four areas that work together to help achieve the command’s vision of delivering unmatched joint operational C2 enablers to joint force commanders conducting emergent full spectrum operations.
• Train and build experience to be ready to respond to emergent joint operations.
• Engage with combatant command customers to prepare and enable seamless joint force headquarters solutions.
• Innovate with an eye to expand a joint force commander’s expeditionary command and control capability
• Operate in complex environments with high-performing, mission-tailored teams that provide the right force at the right time to meet and accomplish global mission requirements.
These joint enabling paths are expected to create the forward momentum to achieve the JECC’s future goal, while allowing the organization to remain lean, focused and cost-effective in an uncertain world with increasingly restrained resources.
“Over the next five years, the JECC will assume an expanded role in how our nation responds to emergent global events.” Stearney said. “The JECC Strategy guides our future choices with a focused vision and ultimately ensures the JECC remains the trusted enabler of joint C2 capabilities in complex operational environments.”