FORT BENNING, Ga., (Sept. 2, 2015) -- A collection of more than 200 joint, interorganizational and multinational partners met for a seminar at the Maneuver Center of Excellence Aug. 26-27. The purpose - to achieve better working relationships and interoperability between components.

Col. F. Wayne Brewster II, director of the Maneuver Battle Lab, said the seminar goes back to building smarter, faster, more lethal and precise forces.

"A lot of this is just being smarter, and smart can be a part of just having more people who have a better understanding than you do," Brewster said.

Those involved in the seminar included representatives from more than 15 nations, the Department of State, a former three-time ambassador, a host of doctors from various schools or institutes, Army Training and Doctrine Command and other centers of excellence.

Brewster said so many representatives were invited because the best solutions can be found when more people are involved in the dialogue.

"As we look at our doctrine and what we need to do as the whole of government solutions for national security matters. It's not just the military that is doing any one of these things at any point in time," Brewster said. "It's a little bit of everybody, whether they are behind the scenes, on the front line or both, from all three of those communities (- joint, interorganizational and multinational)."

The seminar started with the question "What is the big challenge that is affecting you, and what's the best practice that we can share with the group," Brewster said.

While the seminar did bring out some solutions, it was mainly to begin the dialogue on several issues facing the JIM components. It also allowed networking between all involved.

"The great thing is, you get a gathering of people, and you might sit next to someone who actually has the answer to one of your questions and you never knew it," said British Army Maj. John Carey-Hughes, executive officer of the Maneuver Battle Lab. "You get people you need to speak to in the right place, and a lot of that dialogue will continue afterwards. It's keeping the momentum going."

Brewster said the biggest takeaway he took from the seminar was identifying big ideas and key questions to ask.

Brewster said refining a broad problem down to the basics and learning what questions to be answered helps in solving the problem.

"It's all about bringing the right people in," Brewster said.

Brewster used the example of "can an American unit communicate with a British unit using the current systems?"

"Some of those things, because we have advanced technologically, are not as easy as they used to be," Brewster said.

For this reason, the Army is working with partners in European theater to figure out how to communicate at the lower tactical levels.

Brewster said forces across the globe, especially the U.S. forces and their allies, are getting smaller.

"With smaller forces, you have to be able to do more and do more well," Brewster said.

Carey-Hughes said if there is an opportunity for countries to work together for the same shared goal, it makes sense to do so.

"No one country has a monopoly on good ideas," he said. "The more people you have working on a problem, the more chance you have of getting a good answer."