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NECC Kicks Off COMET

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070907-12
Release Date: 9/7/2007 2:31:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Jennifer Crenshaw, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- Approximately 1,000 Sailors from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) began a new exercise, Command and Control, Operational, Maritime, Expeditionary Training (COMET), Sept. 4 in various areas throughout Southeastern Virginia.

COMET exercises the Navy’s expeditionary forces under one command and control element, a new concept that resulted from the creation of NECC in January 2006. The exercise is intended to demonstrate the viability of adaptive force packaging and is designed to provide Sailors the opportunity to learn to work together more efficiently in order to successfully complete their mission.

“Adaptive force packages consist of the right mix of expeditionary Sailors who are adaptable, responsive and ready to accomplish the most difficult missions,” said Capt. David McDuffie, commodore of Naval Coastal Warfare Group 2 and COMET exercise commander. “Adaptive force packages can contribute to the joint force across the full range of operations including humanitarian and disaster relief, major combat operations, maritime security operations, and maritime homeland security and defense,” said McDuffie.

COMET began with individual units spending time in a classroom setting with lectures and then a follow-up with hands-on training. In those scenarios, their actions and decisions only affect their class. At the beginning of the second week, the classes will face situations where their actions will have definite consequences on every unit involved in the mission.

“Tactics and procedures exercised during COMET 2007 can be used if NECC forces are called upon to respond to numerous real-world operations, including a domestic humanitarian or disaster relief operation,” said McDuffie.

The exercise is being conducted in three locations – Fort Pickett, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Cheatham Annex and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, all in Virginia – and involves nearly 1,000 active-duty and reserve Sailors from various NECC commands including Maritime Expeditionary Security Force, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Seabees, Maritime Civil Affairs and Riverine.

This exercise marks a pivotal time in the history of NECC as it brings to life the NECC battlespace, bringing all the pieces of the NECC puzzle under one command and control element. This will give participants a chance to understand command relationships, what units are supported and which ones are the supporting units.

Under the NECC umbrella, contrasting expeditionary forces come together who don’t do the same mission and not in the same way. The expeditionary force is not a generic one. Through COMET, operators are building a foundation for an efficient and effective command and control element. Commonalities will be identified, unit and individual readiness enhanced and force-wide knowledge of expeditionary SOPs increased.

“COMET 2007 will increase interoperability among all components of NECC,” continued McDuffie, “which allows for increased force capability and capacity in the expeditionary environment.”

As the NECC commands, both new and old, continue their training, they will expand their ability to work with each other in order to carry out any mission assigned to them. The old adage, “Train like you fight; fight like you train,” is the motto of nearly every training evolution. It’s what the Sailors of NECC are doing in Fort Pickett, Cheatham Annex and Little Creek, and it’s what they’ll be expected to do once they are actually engaged in a mission.