REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- Members of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command welcomed the U.S. Northern Command's leader on his trip to Redstone Arsenal May 5.
Navy Adm. William E. Gortney, USNORTHCOM commander, made his first official visit to USASMDC/ARSTRAT for an overview and to meet key members of the command.
"This is phenomenal," Gortney said. "It is great to be here and see. There is great work being done by great people. Thank you all for what you do to defend our homeland.
"This is the first time I have been here and I had no idea of how much SMDC does," he added. "It is fascinating."
USNORTHCOM conducts homeland defense and civil support operations within the assigned area of responsibility to defend, protect and secure the United States and its interests. It is one of nine unified combatant commands, or COCOMs, of the Department of Defense and provides a broad range of strategic capabilities and options for the president and secretary of defense.
Upon his arrival at SMDC's headquarters, Gortney was greeted by leaders who welcomed him to the command headquarters. He then received a command overview where he was briefed on the overall importance of SMDC's mission and how the command's Technical Center and Future Warfare Center coordinate and develop current and future technologies.
He then was given an update on the latest status of the Army Space Training Strategy, or ASTS. Gortney learned how SMDC's G-3 Training, Readiness, and Exercises, or TREX, Division is the executive agent for the ASTS across the Army and is working to ensure that Soldiers serving in Army brigade combat teams understand space capabilities available to them and are prepared to operate when those space capabilities are contested.
The ASTS also includes efforts by the SMDC Future Warfare Center's Directorate of Training and Doctrine to incorporate space education and training into U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Center of Excellence schools and professional military education programs.
Gortney was told how the Army Space Personnel Development Office plays a key role in the ASTS by working with headquarters throughout the Army, placing Army space professionals in key billets where they can most effectively provide guidance to staffs regarding space capabilities.
"We want to inform the NORTHCOM commander what we are doing in the Army Space Training Strategy," said Col. Eric Handy, TREX division chief. "This briefing is a little bit more tailored than briefings of the past. We are looking at what he is doing with homeland defense and what he is doing with other national defense partners so we can figure out how to train those forces we are providing for him, especially when it comes to space."
Handy's briefing demonstrated how SMDC is playing an important training and readiness role for Army forces assigned to support USNORTHCOM missions.
The TREX team also demonstrated a suite of four space kits, used as training aids in support of mobile training teams. Gortney was told how the kits amplify instruction in normal, enhanced and contested space operational environments, and that Soldiers have consistently provided positive feedback on their use as "hands-on" reinforcement of concepts learned in training.
The demonstration also included an overview of the "TOC-in-a-Box" space kit, which is an unclassified space-based command and control capability designed for austere environments. "TOC-in-a-Box" provides an "enhanced" space capability to Army forces potentially under USNORTHCOM's operational control during a domestic response operation. Gortney was informed how the unclassified nature of the capability is useful for working with interagency, Mexican and non-government organizations during humanitarian and disaster relief operations.
"This briefing is significant because the NORTHCOM commander's mission of defending the nation touches our families on a day-to-day basis," Handy said. "Our ability to actually show him what we are doing to train our Soldiers to better safeguard our families and safeguard our nation, is one of the better things we are going to be doing to help further the Army Space Training Strategy."
USNORTHCOM is tasked with providing military support for civil authorities in the U.S., and protecting the territory and national interests within the contiguous United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico (and the air, land and sea approaches to these areas). It is the U.S. military command that, if applicable, would be the primary defender against a mainland invasion of the United States.
After learning about the space kits, the combatant commander received a briefing by Astronaut candidates Lt. Col. Drew Morgan and Navy Lt. Cdr. Victor Glover about the future of America's space program.
"It is a real honor to be invited here today to represent what the Army does and what Army space does for the NORTHCOM commander," Morgan said. "The military astronauts represent jointness and I am here with my classmate, Victor Glover, to let the admiral know what we are doing. It is pretty neat that we are able to go around and visit with leaders of other commands and meet other Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines around the country and tell them how proud we are of them and how proud we are to serve with them."
Gortney then visited the Technical Center's Concepts Analysis Laboratory, or CAL, where he learned how the command trains college students and future engineers.
SMDC serves as an Army Service Component Command and conducts space and missile defense operations and provides planning, integration, control and coordination of Army forces and capabilities. The command serves as the Army specified proponent for space, high altitude, and ground-based midcourse defense; serves as the Army operational integrator for global missile defense; and conducts mission-related research and development in support of Army Title 10 responsibilities.
He was then escorted to the Future Warfare Center's Joint Air Defense Operations Center-Developmental, or JADOC-D, to see how SMDC supports and protects the National Capital Region.
Gortney then traveled to the Reagan Test Site Operations Center-Huntsville, or ROC-H, to visit with Soldiers and civilians who control the test range located at U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and its mission of monitoring space and missile operations.
The admiral received a briefing on ROC-H operations, learning of the many ways the facility provides up-to-date information for the nation's space warriors. The center also provides SMDC with the tools to remain the Army's operational integrator and force modernization proponent for space, global missile defense, high altitude and related technologies.
"We explained what our mission areas are and how we can control those capabilities from 7,000 miles away," said Maj. Christopher L. Fairley, deputy for RTS space operations. "He was stepped thru the history and evolution of the Army radars and then we explained why RTS is a vital national asset with a unique location and unmatched instrumentation."
The admiral was informed that ROC-H provides the critical capabilities required to support space situational awareness, missile test and other mission support.
"The Warfighter is probably unaware of the type support we provide from space ops, missile test or from other emerging technologies," Fairley said. "But knowing the Soldier has the critical capabilities required that enable them to fight, is quite rewarding."
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