Photo By Julianne Sympson | U.S. Army Col. John G. Norris (pictured left) receives the Joint Planning Support...... read more read more
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. – On Thursday, June 12, U.S. Air Force Col. Rhude Cherry III relinquished command of the Joint Planning Support Element (JPSE) to U.S. Army Col. John G. Norris in a ceremony at the Pennsylvania House on Naval Station Norfolk. Cherry has served as the JPSE commander since June 2013.
The Joint Enabling Capabilities Command (JECC) provides mission-tailored joint capability packages to combatant commanders and can rapidly deploy within hours of notification to help the joint force command establish command and control. JPSE is one of the JECC’s three subordinate joint commands and provides rapidly deployable, tailored, joint planners with expertise to accelerate the formation and increase the effectiveness of a joint force headquarters.
“A command’s success is reflective of its leader and that has definitely been the case with JPSE,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Bret C. Batchelder, the commander of the JECC and the presiding officer during the JPSE change of command. “Col. Cherry’s steady leadership, intolerance of mediocrity and valuable insight has made a lasting impact on JPSE.”
Over the past year under Cherry’s leadership, JPSE has maintained an extremely high operational tempo with the deployment of more than 325 personnel for 85 real-world missions and 19 geographic combatant command exercises. Of particular interest were deployments in support of disaster relief efforts following Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines and multiple requests for joint operational planning and knowledge management (KM) expertise at the combatant command level.
In November 2013, four JPSE KM planners deployed to U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) headquarters at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, to assist in developing a battle rhythm and synchronizing efforts of the component and forward deployed commands that were supporting Operation Damayan, the Philippine humanitarian assistance and disaster response mission.
Additionally, JPSE planners and KM experts deployed on numerous occasions over the past year to various geographic combatant commands including U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command, USPACOM and U.S. Southern Command to fill capability gaps and deliver critical joint planning and operational expertise to headquarters’ staffs. JPSE’s broad knowledge base and ability to rapidly deploy worldwide offered the joint force commander a value-added capability not found elsewhere in the Department of Defense.
“This has been an incredibly humbling experience, every day I learned something new,” said Cherry, who will be departing JPSE to take a position as the commander of the 451st Air Expeditionary Group at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. “The great work JPSE personnel have done down range shows that we’re on the map. We’ve built relationships with each of our customers, and you just have to keep nurturing those relationships and continue the great work you’ve done.”
Norris assumes command of JPSE following an assignment as the commander of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
“This is a tremendous honor and a privilege that I don’t take lightly,” said Norris, upon assuming command. “I look forward to leading JPSE and sustaining what Col. Cherry has done for this command. His leadership is evident in what he has left for me, and those lasting effects show how powerful his guidance was.”
Norris graduated from the University of Louisville in 1987 as a Distinguished Military Graduate and a George C. Marshall award winner. He was commissioned in the infantry and attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course, Airborne and Ranger Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. Norris has served as a small group instructor and tactics team chief for the Infantry Officer Advance Course and has commanded B Company 1-23rd (M) Infantry at Fort Lewis, Washington, 4th Battalion 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) at Fort Richardson, Alaska and 4-2 SBCT at Fort Lewis, Washington. Norris has deployed in support of Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Desert Spring, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and has also served as the executive officer for the I Corps commanding general and as the commander’s military assistant for the ISAF Joint Command.
Norris holds a Master of Military Arts and Science degree from the Command and General Staff College and a master’s from the Advanced Operational Arts Studies Fellowship. His personal awards and decorations include the Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, among others.
| Date Taken: | 06.23.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2014 14:02 |
| Story ID: | 134520 |
| Location: | NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 236 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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