MARIETTA, Ga. – The Georgia Department of Defense hosted a mobile training team from U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, to deliver a five-day Joint Forces Headquarters/Joint Task Force Staff Training Course.
The course, conducted Aug. 17-22 at the Clay National Guard Center, focused on enhancing Georgia’s homeland defense capabilities and strengthening interagency collaboration.
More than 30 members of the Georgia National Guard’s joint staff participated in the course, bringing decades of combined experience to the event. The Joint Forces Headquarters/Joint Task Force Staff Training Course provided classroom instruction and practical exercises to equip the staff to respond to both sudden and planned natural disasters, threats and emergencies. The course also provided an opportunity for the Georgia Department of Defense, or DOD, to validate its “All Hazards Plan” and develop concept plans to respond to those events.
“This training is crucial to forming a new adaptive battle staff and providing refresher training for staff members,” said Stephen Tucker, the Homeland Support and Defense coordinator for the Georgia National Guard.
The Joint Forces Headquarters/Joint Task Force Staff Training Course curriculum centers on the doctrinal model known as the Joint Planning Process as described in the Department of Defense’s recently updated Joint Publication 5-0.
Classroom exercises challenged the staff to react to notional scenarios and plan military response operations. The students analyzed the scenarios, provided important data, and developed courses of response action using the Joint Planning Process framework.
“It is satisfying to see a staff, especially one as experienced as Ga. DOD, come together to dust off the joint planning process,” said Major Jeremy Bouillion, the NORTHCOM/NORAD mobile training team chief who typically teaches more than 60 courses per year. “Sending your primary staff to a NORTHCOM course shows Ga. DOD’s commitment to improving internal process and procedures.”
With hurricane season in full swing and an upcoming “Vigilant Guard” exercise planned for later this year, the Joint Forces Headquarters/Joint Task Force Staff Training Course has strengthened the Georgia Department of Defense’s ability to prepare for domestic response exercises and real-world events.
“Our mission is to support Georgia citizens in their time of need, such as hurricanes, winter weather or a man-made disaster,” Tucker said. “Building ‘sets and reps’ through this training course provides familiarity working with adjacent service members within the Georgia National Guard.”