SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii--The 196th Infantry Brigade (Training Support) hosted a visit by the U.S. Army Pacific Deputy Commanding General for Operations, Maj. Gen. Richard M. Burr, Feb 5, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Senior Leaders from the 196th briefed Burr on the capabilities of the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Capability (JPMRC), and took him on a tour of the JPMRC Instrumentation System (JPMRC-IS), an equipment suite designed to provide instrumented feedback to military units during training rotations.
The JPMRC is a Department of the Army initiative that consists of a deployable package of personnel and equipment designed to support training exercises across the Pacific theater.
Maj. Thomas Harris, Brigade Operations Officer for the 196th, summarized JPMRC value by stating that the JPMRC provides,"a way to enhance home station training for USARPAC units, and, in the future, to augment Theater Security Cooperation Program exercises."
The 196th Infantry Brigade was tasked to execute the initial proof of concept of this promising capability.
The first step in this testing phase, known as the First Unit Assessment or FUA, is a two-week training exercise on O'ahu, scheduled for the summer of 2014 and involving a battalion from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
The 196th Infantry Brigade will provide overall Exercise Control as well as Observer-Controller/Trainer (OC/T) coverage, and use the JPMRC-IS to monitor the exercise as it occurs in order to provide the training unit detailed feedback on its performance. This event will allow the 196th to identify strengths and weaknesses within the JPMRC's organizational concept as well as to validate the capabilities of the Instrumentation System and set the conditions for progressing to larger, more complex system tests in the years to come, to include an exercise involving a Brigade Combat Team headquarters and two maneuver battalions, currently planned for Fiscal Year 2015.
This test is meant to demonstrate Initial Operating Capability (IOC)--that is to say, that JPMRC has met its baseline requirement of being able to deploy from its home station in support of a Brigade-level exercise.
Col. Michael Forsyth, 196th Brigade Commander, explained to Burr that these tests would provide the basis for progress reports to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. An interim report will be provided after the FUA, and the unit will deliver a full report following IOC. Should the VCSA decide to continue to develop the JPMRC, the 196thcould assume permanent ownership of the JPMRC mission, in addition to its primary mission of providing Title XI training support to Reserve Component units.
Burr thanked Forsyth and his team for their insights and commended them on their efforts to date, stating that the JPMRC represente a tremendous capability whose potential is not fully appreciated or completely realized.
As an Australian Army officer, Burr said he was particularly sensitive to the importance of building partnerships with America's allies in the Pacific, stating: "The true power of this capability is to bring partners in and train together in the region, and improve as a multinational team. This is linked to USARPAC's engagement strategy, with the residual benefit of enhancing home station training for our own units."
Burr acknowledged that much remained to be done in order to fully develop the extraordinary potential of the JPMRC, and he encouraged the 196th to take on this challenge enthusiastically, knowing that they were at the forefront of a cutting-edge transition to multinational training facilitated by technological instrumentation and increasingly conducted not only in physical training areas but also in virtual and constructive training environments. "Everything that is exciting, you have to fight for," he encouraged his audience, assuring them of USARPAC's full confidence and support on the road ahead.
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