Third Army hosts IAMD conference

By Staff Sgt. Anthony TaylorAugust 6, 2009

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3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lt. Gen. William G. Webster, Third Army/U.S. Army Central, commanding general, shakes hands with Richard A. Ritter, SES-4 from the Missle Defense Agency, prior to the opening of the Third Army Integrated Air and Missle Defense Conference at Camp Arif... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Third Army/U.S. Army Central hosted a two day Integrated Air and Missile Defense

Conference at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, that began on July 24.

The conference focused on IAMD throughout U.S. Central Command Area of

Responsibility, specifically looking at past issues and progress, their present status and upcoming developments, in addition to developing methods to improve training between joint and coalition command posts using simulation and stimulation.

During the opening remarks to the conference, Lt. Gen. William G. Webster, commanding general of Third Army/USARCENT, discussed the importance of forming a more united front in missile defense and that this union should grow alongside their gulf partners.

"We must look for ways to pull together an integrated joint and coalition air defense alliance that would cause us to protect one another throughout the gulf region," said Webster.

Attendees at the conference included key members from CENTCOM and components, U.S. Air Forces Central, U.S. Navy Forces Central, the Missile Defense Agency, Space and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Strategic Command, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, and the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Facilitating the conference was Maj. Gen. Charles Anderson, deputy commander, Third Army/USARCENT. The conference examined the CENTCOM commander's Bilateral Air Defense Initiative, which is the first step in integrating the region, and the goal to increase Gulf Cooperation Council member state's capacity to defend themselves from air and missile attacks; foster interoperability with U.S. forces and systems; and lay the foundations for eventual regional and missile defense cooperation.

On the second day, the conference attendees were flown to Qatar for a site visit at the Combined Air Operations Center, where air and space operations are executed. In addition, attendees were given a tour at the Battle Space Command and Control Center AFCENT, which monitors and controls the air picture and the traffic within the Arabian gulf and Afghanistan.

The conference ended with a tour of the 11th ADA "Imperial" Brigade. The brigade presented a mission brief and gave a brief orientation of their tactical operations center, which directs the Patriot battalions in the region.

"Acknowledgement that we have a great capability that we are going to improve on using 21st century simulations and stimulations to make it even better," said Col. Joseph DeAntona, commander, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.