Photo By Sgt. L'Erin Wynn | Col. John Nipp, commander, 114th Digital Liaison Detachment, Mississippi National...... read more read more
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In the past, Corps level units created an impromptu liaison team from their staff. When deployed, this liaison team would communicate the commanding general's intent for the war fighting task to host nation defense forces.
Presently, a DLD allows the Corps staff to maintain their personnel strength through the detachment's unique capabilities.
The 114th DLD, demonstrated their role during War Fighter Exercise 16-4, held for three weeks (from March 21 to April 15) at the Mission Training Complex.
"The last 15 years of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have identified a need," said Col. John Nipp, commander, 114th DLD. "There was a national effort of trying to coordinate and communicate with the host nation's defense forces," continued Nipp.
The 114th DLD's mission was to ensure that the XVIII Airborne Corps commander's intent was understood by host nation forces on five specific war fighting functions: maneuver, intelligence, fires (field artillery), logistics, and air defense assets.
WFX 16-4 is the third exercise of this kind to welcome the capabilities of a digital liaison detachment as a sort of trial run for potential missions and the 114th DLD is working to prove their position as a vital aspect in the war fighting mission.
War fighters are multi-echelon exercises simulating realistic, complex scenarios in which Army units must be prepared to operate. This training provides an opportunity to practice distributed mission command as a combined joint task force headquarters overseeing Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations Forces elements supporting the Corps commander's key priority of readiness.
"When you have American soldiers who understand how the U.S. operates and you can put them in [the host nation's area of operation], this allows the U.S. forces to build a rapport and to be trusted and better understood," said Nipp. "Our goal is to gain information from the ally forces, an essential asset to our mission, to feed back to our higher command," continued Nipp.
The DLDs also ensure that U.S. and host nation operational objectives sync and communication between the two defense forces is mutual. This communication consists of interpreting orders, clarifying task intent and understanding the culture and values of the host nation.
"As a liaison detachment, we look at the big picture and paint that picture to our commander so that he can, in turn, brief the Corps commanding general," said Master Sgt. Lorenzo Buckley, 114th DLD, operations noncommissioned officer in charge. "We seek to give that communicative support to our allies as well as any logistical, maneuver or combat support they may need," continued Buckley.
The overall objective of the multi-component joint force is to defeat enemy forces in an austere environment and restore the security and territorial integrity of a sovereign nation. This allows the participating units to plan to restore a sense of security and normalcy to the nation.
"This is invaluable because when the commander knows how the ally defense force fights, thinks and believes, you can guarantee the most respectful form of joint war fighting and this is a viable asset," said Nipp. "We're fighting for their country to give it back to them and we provide the combined joint task force with the capability to communicate more effectively," continued Nipp.
"The key thing is integration of host nation forces. What the DLD does is provide that linkage to the digital part of the mission command so that they can work more effectively," said Lonnie Nesrsta, contactor, Mission Command Training Program, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. "[The MCTP] works to convince the training audience (XVIII Airborne Corps) that it would be a valuable investment of their resources to stand up an organization to replicate the service a DLD provides," continued Nesrsta.
Digital Liaison Detachments may have a permanent position in warfighter exercises to come and their diverse skills will be required for future operational deployments.
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.19.2016 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 195832 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LEAVENWORTH, KS, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LIBERTY, NC, US |
| Hometown: | ROLLING FORK, MS, US |
| Web Views: | 201 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Mississippi Guardsmen Provide Unique Capabilities to Warfighter Exercise, by SGT L'Erin Wynn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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