CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – After a 90-minute senior-level discussion that surveyed the current dynamic geopolitical and military landscape in the Middle East and the need to build more partnerships between several nations and the Army’s reserve components, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger asked one simple question: How can the Indiana National Guard get more involved?
“Put us in, coach,” said Umbarger, the venerable adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard since 2004, turning a familiar sports phrase to etch his point. The state’s combined Army and Air Guard has nearly 15,000 Soldiers and Airmen.
Hosted by Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, the deputy commanding general of operations at U.S. Army Central Command, or USARCENT, Umbarger was one of several senior Army National Guard and Army Reserve leaders who participated in the Joint Monthly Access for Reserve Components, or JMARC, in February. The program enables leaders to observe first-hand the contributions of their respective deployed personnel.
But before they spent time meeting with Soldiers from home, the generals and accompanying senior enlisted leaders met with Pittard and his staff Feb. 19 in the Coalition War Room, nestled inside the secure compound that is home to USARCENT. The conference room overlooks the scores of military planners from different services and allied nations who are executing a myriad of operations during unprecedented times.
One opportunity that resonated was expansion of theater security cooperation activities that has been a source of growth in recent years to include more reserve-component Soldiers. These events give reservists a chance to participate in overseas deployment training and exercises with partner nations in the Middle East.
Still, in the realm of military-to-military engagements, the National Guard’s State Partnership Program remains the most coveted. Nearly 70 unique security partnerships involve 74 nations that link a state’s National Guard with the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a mutually beneficial relationship.
In the USARCENT area of responsibility, however, there is room for development. Only five nations have relationships with a state’s National Guard. Umbarger noted that his state’s formal bond with the Central European nation, Slovakia, has blossomed over the last 20 years.
“I have been to Slovakia 13 times. I know Slovakia as well as I know Indiana,” said Umbarger, asking which nations in the Middle East might be looking for partnerships.
Three headquarters, one team
As USARCENT gazes beyond 2015, its requirements are not expected to fall. If anything, they may rise. In a rarity, since last year, USARCENT has staffed and manned three headquarters: Army Service Component Command (ASCC) to United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the Theater Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC), and Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).
The staffing and deployments have led to nearly 20 percent of the Army’s Soldiers in theater coming from the reserve components, a fact that was not lost on the audience as the lines between active Soldiers and their reserve counterparts continue to blur. By some estimates, nearly one-third of the USARCENT staff is comprised of the reserve component, and that is a good retention tool, and evidence of the total force policy at work, some leaders say.
Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Hatchell, of the Fort Knox, Kentucky-based 11th Theater Aviation Command, said it is important that reservists are integrated into theater security cooperation, calling it a “big asset” to get Soldiers out working in the theater.
“Many of the Soldiers I talk to think of exiting the Army Reserve because they joined up to deploy and serve their country, and now that’s not necessarily happening,” Hatchell said. “And when they leave, all of that knowledge and experience leaves with them.”
That is a predicament the reserve component cannot afford, according to Brig. Gen. Arthur Hinaman of the District of Columbia National Guard, who came to see the 276th Military Police Company, the first Army National Guard unit to conduct confinement operations at the only detention center in the USARCENT area.
“We can’t stand back and congratulate ourselves,” Hinaman said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Col. Anthony Couture, the senior National Guard advisor at USARCENT whose staff is a direct liaison to the various National Guard commands, said based on the comments made during the visit, his office will intensify efforts to swell the partnership program in the Middle East.
“I think it is clear from this visit that there is a demand, and a mandate for the reserve component to get and stay involved in theater security cooperation events, particularly, the SPP,” he said. “We have our marching orders.”
Other leaders at this visit included Maj. Gen. Daniel York and Command Sgt. Maj. Jamespeter Matthews of the Utah-based 76th Operational Response Command; Brig. Gen. Troy Kok of the 11th Theater Aviation Command; Command Sgt. Maj. James Gordon of the Indiana National Guard; Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Brooks of the District of Columbia National Guard; and Command Sgt. Maj. Shane Lake of the Oregon National Guard.