Countries collaborate during UFG

Photo By Staff Sgt. Daniel Schroeder | British Maj. Will Taylor, a British exchange officer attached to 1st Canadian Division, monitors his screen for possible enemy movement on the battlefield during Exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2014 at Camp Yongin, South Korea, Aug. 26. With the various U.S. units participating in UFG, approximately 30,000 U.S. service members played a part in the exercise with about 3,000 coming from outside the ROK.  

CAMP YONGIN, SOUTH KOREA

08.28.2014

Story by Sgt. Daniel Schroeder 

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment   

CAMP YONGIN, South Korea - A ringing phone draws Canadian Capt. Michael McNeill’s attention away from a computer screen depicting actions on a battlefield.

The call is from a U.S. fires support coordinator in the I Corps Joint Operations Center. The caller reports possible enemy movement and asks what actions have been taken. Back in the Canadian JOC, a British officer reports a change in the enemy’s location.

At another table in the Canadian JOC, U.S. liaison Lt. Col. Richard Rouleau calls yet another JOC to coordinate movements with a South Korean fires support coordinator.

The scene is common during the course of Exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian 2014. Military personnel from 10 countries work together here to not only enhance their combat readiness but improve the interoperability between the different staffs.

“Interoperability is key for mission success,” says McNeill, the fires support coordination center officer for 1st Canadian Division. “Language is a challenge, but not a barrier. Our biggest challenge has been trying to get all the network systems to stay active, which is inherent on something this grand in scale.”

With the various units participating in UFG, the U.S. alone has approximately 30,000 service members participating in the exercise, including about 3,000 from outside the ROK. The multiple players mean multiple ways of doing business. .

Learning how each country operates is one of the objectives of UFG. The participants get the chance to see and learn from each other and this in turn improves collaboration.

“The biggest thing to strengthen the partnership is continuity,” McNeill said. “Being involved in exercises for a longer period of time increases the continuity between forces. The longer we work together, the more we come to understand each others’ needs, strengths and weaknesses, to create a collective strength.”

Maj. Will Taylor, a British exchange officer with the 1st Canadian Division, agrees.

“Because of Iraq and Afghanistan, we are still very keen to build relationships and build upon the lessons identified from those operations,” Taylor said.

He said the military-to-military challenges faced here are realistic to real-world operations. For instance, unlike the U.K. and Canada, where divisional commands are the highest echelon, here the Canadians report to the American I Corps.

“Here, you have the frustration and complexity of working, not only with local, but a higher headquarters,” he said. “You liaison up as well as down which makes things it a lot harder; which is great realistic training you can’t do back in Canada or U.K.”

Taylor and McNeill said the best way to overcome the differences between the nations is to work together, communicate and possess a willingness to learn. “Every challenge we have here, we have overcome,” McNeill said. “Because borders are gray these days for global affairs, you need like-minded states to work even closer together; not just during exercises, but in real life theaters of operations to make it easier to achieve success.”

• Date Taken: 08.28.2014
• Date Posted: 08.28.2014 04:19
• Story ID: 140619
• Location: CAMP YONGIN, KR