ARTICLE

June 2003

War Game Gets High-Level Scrutiny

by Sandra I. Erwin

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.”

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