Better JIPS

U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate recently concluded a two-year project that improved the way the command manages its processes "for tasking, collecting and assessing Joint Integrated Persistent Surveillance (JIPS) capabilities," according to a JFCOM statement. Further:

"The project developed standardized training and doctrine to keep pace with current battlefield needs and accurate assessment of all information collection assets," said Army Lt. Col. Stan Murphy, USJFCOM JIPS project leader.

"Regular or irregular warfare makes no difference," Murphy said. "It is all about how we integrate, manage and synchronize all of our limited resources and capabilities to be the most effective possible."

Navy Capt. Terry Morris, J9 Battle Space Awareness division chief, oversees projects such as JIPS and said that aerial unmanned surveillance assets such as the Predator and human ground-based communications intelligence need to be integrated.

"Persistent surveillance is more than just video screens and cameras," he said. "It is blending the right information at the right time for the commander so that he can make real-time decisions on the best utilizations for assets to be able to support the warfighters on the ground."

Proper training and information disbursement across a joint force can have a huge impact on increasing JIPS information collection abilities.

"This increases commander's awareness of what's happening in his battlefield, allowing him to make decisions much quicker" Morris added.

The project identified gaps dealing with surveillance operations and processes used by the joint force not adequately reflected in joint training and doctrine.

Inside the Pentagon reported last month that the planned closures of U.S. Joint Forces Command and the Business Transformation Agency -- part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' proposed overarching efficiencies initiative -- are expected to save $1.9 billion from fiscal year 2012 to 2016. Further:

Regarding JFCOM, the disestablishment plan was signed by Gates earlier this month, with the nearly 6,000-person command being disestablished by August 2011, and all personnel moves completed by next March.

"When the transition is complete, roughly 50 percent of JFCOM personnel and budget will remain along with core missions, such as joint training, joint force provider, joint concept and doctrine development and joint integration," according to a Feb. 9 JFCOM press release. "These functions will be aligned under the Joint Staff for leadership and direction."

During the budget briefing Monday, Hale also noted that the money savings will not start immediately.

"There will certainly be some cost," Hale said. "We will offer some buyout incentives in cases where we need people to leave." He said costs could also be incurred by terminating contracts.

"My rule of thumb, and it doesn't relate directly to JFCOM, but having done a lot of these drawdowns in the past, is that you don't save any money in the first year," Hale said. "You do well to break even, frankly."