The U.S. Joint Forces Command and the Army are cooperating in an “unprecedented
way,” said Adm. Ed Giambastiani, head of JFCOM.
He cited the Unified Quest 2003 war game—which the Army co-sponsored
with JFCOM in April—as evidence of that cooperation. The war game was
not a routine event, Giambastiani told defense reporters. Proof of that was
the high-level attention it received. Attending the after-action review of the
war game, held May 2 at the National Defense University, were Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, Chief of Naval
Operations Adm. Vernon Clark, Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee and Air Force
Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Robert Foglesong. “I have never in my entire
career seen this level of seniority come to a game out-brief, he said. “It
was quite remarkable.”
Giambastiani said that Unified Quest proved the Army is “exploring in
the right areas,” when it comes to joint operations. “The Army is
lockstep with me on this and has been,” he said.
JFCOM plans to co-sponsor exercises with all the services, said Giambastiani.
Earlier this month, he was scheduled to lead a group of JFCOM officials on a
tour of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps simulation facilities, in Orlando,
Fla. The tour is designed to help JFCOM “figure out … what we ought
to be pushing, from a joint training exercise and simulation standpoint.”