News From USJFCOM: Command prepares 101st Airborne Division for Afghanistan

Command prepares 101st Airborne Division for Afghanistan

A USJFCOM team will conduct Unified Endeavor Mission Rehearsal Exercise 10-1, an exercise designed to prepare the 101st Airborne Division for challenges they will face in their deployment to Afghanistan.

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By Army Sgt. Josh LeCappelain
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va., - Jan. 22, 2010) -- Members of U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) will conduct Unified Endeavor 10-1 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) 09-11 Region Command - East (RC-E) Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRX) Jan. 25 - Feb. 5 at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The MRX will assist the Army's 101st Airborne Division transition smoothly into Afghanistan as it replaces the 82nd Airborne Division, which currently commands RC-E. RC-E falls under the command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The exercise will focus on challenges the division will encounter during its time in Afghanistan, including counterinsurgency. security, development and reconstruction, said James Derdall, who works at USJFCOM as a U.S. Central Command deputy desk officer - Afghanistan planner.

"It's important to prevent dips in performance and losing ground on progress that's been made as one unit moves out and is replaced by another," he said. "We work to help ensure that there is continuity between rotations and that there is continued progress made in the goals and objectives of the campaign. So the mission rehearsal is designed to help eliminate those potential dips and losses."

According to Derdall, the MRX program provides support to the incoming commander, in this case, Army Maj. Gen. John Campbell, 101st Airborne Division commanding general, and his primary staff. The ultimate goal is that he is confident in ability of his headquarters to interact effectively with the higher command in Afghanistan and with the subordinate task forces assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-101.

Derdall says USJFCOM partnered with the U.S. Army's Battle Command Training Program and acts as the lead training support organization for design, development, planning and execution of the MRX. Approximately 300 USJFCOM personnel will participate in the exercise.

Afghan government officials are participating in the MRX to start building a relationship with the division. This will provide a cohesive and functional partnership with Afghan national security forces from the first day deployment.

Forthcoming changes to troop levels in Afghanistan are included in preparations for the MRX. Derdall said the exercise design staff worked hard to mirror new levels of military strength and command and control structures in country during the exercise.

"Since we're looking to present an operational picture that will be true during the window that the unit is Afghanistan, we have to project out to what those force arrays will be," he said, "It changes the capability set for what the commander can apply against the situations and the challenges in theater."

While conducting the MRX, USJFCOM will partner with U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, U.S. Army Forces Command, Air Combat Command and ISAF personnel from Joint Forces Command - Brunssum.

Other participants in the exercise include subject matter experts from the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Several international organizations are participating as well, including U.N. Assistance Mission Afghanistan and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Polish and French military personnel will participate, as will members of the Virginia National Guard. Other brigades will role-play the battle space owners, including Special Forces elements.

Exercise participants also will work concurrently from Suffolk, Va., Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Fort Stewart, Ga.