The exercise, held in late October at Fort Drum, N.Y., was conducted by USJFCOM and supported by members of the Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command, Air Force Special Operations Command and the Army's Battle Command Training Program (BCTP). The intent was to prepare the division headquarters and staff for their upcoming rotation to Afghanistan to head Combined Joint Task Force 76.

The realistic and high-intensity simulation tasked members of the joint operations center with coordinating air, ground and space forces with an ongoing ground campaign. Senior leaders also worked with NATO, coalition, Afghan and non-governmental organizations during each phase of the operation.

UE 06-1 marked the first time planners incorporated the air and space component coordination element (ACCE) concept into an operational-level exercise. The ACCE provides a new way of coordinating air assets between the Air Force and Army.

During UE 06 ACC Director of Intelligence Air Force Brig. Gen. Rudy Wright acted as the director of the ACCE.

"Under the ACCE concept, a forward-deployed liaison team represents the joint forces air component commander while working face-to-face with the combined joint task force staff at the headquarters, ensuring the right mix of air and space capabilities are presented," explained Wright.

Wright said that while most tactical exercises focus on involving live aircraft, ammunition and troops, training higher headquarters staff is a vital task to ensure successful joint operations.

"Many of the lessons we're incorporating into UE 06-1 are based on recommendations from warfighters in the field," he said. "This scenario is designed so that the issues senior leaders negotiate here in the security of a classroom and on computers are the same issues they'll soon deal with on the battlefield - without the safety net of trainers and observers."

Creating realistic joint training meant creating a realistic air picture for all the players to negotiate.

During UE 06-1, Army staff reacted to effects generated by computers and a simulated air operations center (AOC) at the 505th Command and Control Wing here. The joint exercise control group, whose members kept the storyline and direction of the exercise events on track, was based at USJFCOM's Joint Warfighting Center in Suffolk, Va.

"In theatre, the Army will have to work with an AOC thousands of miles away," explained Air Force Lt. Col. John Morehead, the commander of the 505th Exercise Control Squadron. "We're able to replicate the AOC and the entire air tasking order from Hurlburt Field, so it appears in the joint operations center as if it's taking place over Afghanistan."

For Morehead, providing mission-rehearsal training to the CJTF staff is thrilling, even if real aircraft aren't involved.

"Even though it's a model or simulation, it's exciting�.often with training we don't get to see the end product. In this case I know that we're having a direct impact on this unit's mission readiness."

Air Force Maj. Joe DeCaro, air operations center rescue division chief at Air Force Special Operations Command Headquarters, and Air Force Maj. Steve Kelly, the combat search and rescue command and control element division chief, also played significant roles in UE 06-1 as the "white cell," or exercise controllers, for search and rescue operations during the exercise.

DeCaro stressed the importance of personal relationships and understanding each service's organizational roles.

"We replicate the search and rescue cell that the joint task force would have to work with in order to evacuate personnel or recover a downed aircrew," said DeCaro. "The challenge for participants is to learn how to accomplish these tasks by working with people and organizations they've never before touched."

"This training has taught the staff how to coordinate their efforts quickly and effectively," DeCaro continued. "I'm sure that these soldiers will have a leg up on their predecessors."

Tactical air control parties (TACP) also helped to control airpower inside the joint operations center. Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Serres, the 21st Air Support Operations Squadron commander, and Senior Airman Cody Quinn, a tactical command and control specialist, worked to interpret orders from the AOC to members of the 10th Mountain Division.

"Tactical air control party airmen are vital to the Army," Quinn said. "We're on the battlefield and in the headquarters to make sure bombs are on target to stop the enemy, but most importantly, TACPs keep the good guys safe."

Members of the 712th Air Support Operations Center at Fort Hood, Texas, set up their equipment in a field next door to the modern training facility and worked out of a large classroom during the exercise.

For airmen used to being embedded in Army units and operating under field conditions, UE 06-1 proved to be a paradox. "This is nothing like the environment we'd normally work in," explained Air Force Staff Sgt. Kevin Waite, a computer control systems craftsman with the 712th. "But the chaos, workload and tasks are the same types of things we'll have to contend with in a few months."

For many of the airmen, training at the operational level turned out to be more about people than processes.

"Establishing relationships with the Army staff we'll be working with in Afghanistan - not just any soldier but the actual person that you'll be working with - is the most important part of this training," said Waite. "They rely on our gear to get close air support, and we won't let them down."

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