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FOREWORD

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A joint communications system aids two or more armed forces in their execution of a tactical or strategic mission. The system enables the exchange of instructions and information between the armed forces. This CALL newsletter provides military units that participate in joint tactical operations with interoperability lessons collected from Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM.

Joint command, control and communications (C3) systems are set apart from service-unique systems in various ways. These systems require agreements and standards among the services. There must be agreement to develop and produce the same equipment or to adhere to common technical interface specifications; to fund and field equipment simultaneously; and to implement common procedures, languages, or protocols. Agreement means compromise which causes the relinquishing of some individual desires for the common goal. In the present environment, interoperability enhances the overall ability to accomplish the mission and save lives. As recent military confrontations have shown, interoperability between services is required more at the tactical level than in the past where services tended to operate individually.

Many of the lessons in this newsletter were collected from CINCFOR FCJ3-TJ, Joint Interoperability Division, based on a request for support from USCENTAF. The tasking to CINCFOR was to support the Area Air Defense Commander (ADC) in theater and develop a Joint Tactical Air Operations (JTAO) interface for theater-wide operations. The theater of operations included the Saudi Arabian peninsula and adjacent waters. The objective for the CINCFOR contact team was to develop a theater-wide, single JTAO interface for the integration of US tactical data systems with Host Nation and Allied force systems. The contact team also monitored the conduct of the JTAO interface. These lessons are a result of the experience and the completion of the objectives.

CALL thanks the CINCFOR contact team for the contents of this newsletter and the agencies that provided comments during staffing.

MICHAEL S. DAVISON, JR.
Brigadier General, USA
Deputy Commanding General for Training

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Command and Control (C2)