JUST IN: Army's Third Multi-Domain Task Force Fully Operational by May, Official Says

Soldier with a U.S. Army Multi-Domain Task Force

Army photo

As the Army focuses on deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, the service's third Multi-Domain Task Force is preparing to join two others in enhancing Joint Force capabilities in the region, an Army official said March 6.

The Army’s Multi-Domain Task Forces are theater-specific units that employ long-range precision effects, including cyber, electronic warfare, intelligence and long-range fires. After activating its third task force in September 2022 at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, the service expects its newest Multi-Domain Task Force to reach full operating capability by the end of May, said Gen. Charles Flynn, commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific.

Speaking to reporters March 6, Flynn said the first task force has been operating in the Indo-Pacific for several years, fully embedded in all exercises for Operation Pathway — a set of annual exercises focused on readiness and interoperability between Army Pacific forces and partner nations throughout the region.

The Army's second Multi-Domain Task Force was activated in 2021 in Germany in support of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.

“We look forward to that force being able to complement the positional advantage that the first Multi-Domain Task Force has gained in [2021] and [2022], and now in [2023]” he said.

As part of the first Multi-Domain Task Force, several gallantry weapons, long-range fires, integrated air-and-missile defense and intelligence collection and sustainment platforms have gone through certification exercises and are “fully up in the region and operating and learning from the growth of the first Multi-Domain Task Force,” Flynn said.

Flynn said he is encouraged by the speed and pace by which the third Multi-Domain Task Force is building itself to full operational capacity.

The new task force will also serve to enhance the Army’s Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, also located in Hawaii, as well as the Marine Corps’ Third Marine Littoral Regiment.

“So, we see the third Multi-Domain Task Force, the first Multi-Domain Task Force and the Third Marine Littoral Regiment as being able to learn, grow, train, exercise and experiment together, enhancing our capabilities as a Joint Force in the region,” he said.

Part of the Multi-Domain Task Force operations are to conduct long-range and precision fires exercises, including hypersonic weapons due late in fiscal year 2023, Flynn said.

“We have what we have in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and in Hawaii, what we're looking to do is rotationally, dynamically employ them in the region on Operation Pathway as part of our campaigning in the region,” he said. “So we can fulfill the three pillars of the national defense strategy of integrated deterrence, building enduring advantage and campaigning in the Pacific.”

Having the Multi-Domain Task Forces allows more depth and scale for the Joint Force to conduct joint targeting, joint fires and joint maneuver, he said.

Also contributing to preparedness in the Indo-Pacific, Flynn spoke to the training environments of the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center. The center has two campuses — one in Hawaii and one in Alaska. There is also a third leg, which Flynn called an “exportable version” that has been taken into the region in Indonesia in 2021 and 2022.

The campuses allow replication of environmental training constraints such as extreme cold, mountainous terrain and tropical conditions that mimic the conditions of locations they will most likely be operating in.

The campuses are also opportunities for a merger of multi-domain operations with other branches, such as the Marines Corps and the Air Force, Flynn said. Because of their proximity to the Marines’ Littoral Regiment and the conditions and environments that exist in Hawaii, the value of training there is “so important,” he said.

The airspace over the training areas in Alaska also creates joint opportunities with the Air Force, Flynn said. The Alaska campus can harness high altitudes, extreme cold and mountainous environments.

The training opportunities extend beyond the United States' military, Flynn said.

“At the end of the day, this is also an opportunity for our multinational partners.”

Last year, three countries — Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand — sent companies to the training center, while nine other countries sent observers, he said. This year will have “at least that,” he said.

“So the point I'm making is: this is the first regional combat training center that the Army has created in over 50 years, and it's in the Pacific. And it's our contribution to keeping forces in the region so we can generate joint readiness, generate multinational interoperability, and then project that readiness into the region and apply it in the region on our campaign and our operational approach to campaign which is Operation Pathway,” Flynn said.

Topics: Army News