Joint Planning Exercise Gema Bhakti helps U.S. and Indonesian Military increase their capabilities

Photo By Master Sgt. Andrew Jackson | U.S. Navy Commander, Theodore Quidem discusses information operations with a working group of military staff planners first full day of planning at Gema Bhakti, Sept. 19, 2018, Jakarta Indonesia. Gema Bhakti is a joint force multi-national staff exercise where military staff from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Indonesia work through a process known as the military decision making process. This process is a crucial step that involves the commander’s staff working with with all the higher and lower commands to define the mission, its variables, and the situation involved and how to measure mission effectiveness before a plan or order is produced. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson)  

JAKARTA, INDONESIA

09.24.2018

Story by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Jackson 

State of Hawaii, Department of Defense, Public Affairs Office

Jarkarta, Indonesia - The Hawaii National Guard and the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian Armed Forces) recently hosted a joint staff planning exercise known as Gema Bhakti. Gema Bhakti is derived from an Indonesian phrase "Gerakan Bersama Bhakti" meaning move jointly together. An appreciate name for the joint multi-national staff exercise where military staff from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Indonesia work through a process known as the Military Decision Making Process(MDMP). MDMP is a crucial step that involves the commander’s staff working with higher and lower commands to define the mission, its variables, the situation involved and how to measure mission effectiveness before a plan or order is produced. 

This is the 6th iteration of Gema Bhakti which is also a culminating event for three State Partnership Program (SPP) Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs) held between the Hawaii National Guard and the TNI throughout 2018. The theme of this year’s exercise was interoperability, and every action taken had interoperability at its core. For example, each staff team was comprised of a mix of TNI and U.S. personnel.

During the nine-day staff exercise in Jakarta, Indonesia, U.S. Active Duty Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen from units throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Area of Command along with Airmen from the Missouri Air National Guard and Hawaii National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, worked with their counterparts in the TNI. This mix of service members formed a combined joint military staff which populated all the staff functions from C-1 (manpower) to C-9 (civil affairs).

MDMP is a frame work that is housed in the Multi National Forces - Standard Operating Procedure (MNF-SOP). The process ensures that the phases of planning from Mission Analysis (MA), Course Of Action (COA) development to drafting and executing an operational order are accomplished in an orderly manner that is logical and analytical. Priorities are set, limitations recognized and acknowledged, rules of engagement are established all through the efforts of each staff section working with their partnered military counterpart.

"MDMP is a process that supports all military decisions in taking assessments and actions from deliberate to abbreviated planning," said Lt. Col. Gita Muharam, TNI Naval Officer.

Gema Bhakti is a key feature of the the U.S. National Guard’s SPP. The Hawaii National Guard and Indonesia have a long-standing relationship in the partnership program. The goal of the SPP is to link a State’s National Guard with the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship. Through the SPP, the HING and the TNI have had three SMEEs and three planning conferences in 2018, all culminating in Gema Bhakti.

This year’s Gema Bhakti took the form of a joint staff planning exercise and had four distinct phases: academic lecture, mission analysis, and COA development finishing with scenario role play. Each of the planned initiatives against a fictional enemy in a fictional country are played out to their conclusion. During the lecture portion, all the participants from each force and nation received information on the MDMP, MNF-SOP, and other topics like Information Operations and COA development. The lectures were directly followed by MA phase where the participants were paired with a military member from the partner nation to form a staff section. Once the all the staff sections and special operational staffs where formed, these partnerships remained throughout the exercise. Each staff section was responsible to then perform a detailed MA on the Gema Bhakti scenario and present it to the command staff. The COA phase followed a similar format to the MA. A large premium was placed on gathering information about the fictional scenario then presenting key points to higher leadership.

"Identifying the problem we are trying to solve is the first stage," said U.S. Navy Lt. Allan Thorson. "At one of the lectures yesterday, we discussed Albert Einstein and his quote about how if he had an hour to solve a problem he would spend 55 minutes gathering information and the last five solving the problem. A majority of the exercise we were dedicated to defining the problem then exploring the COA’s to solve it."

Gema Bhakti is a joint multinational exercise and with service members from each of the U.S. and Indonesian military branches participating, there was a predictable pattern of storming, forming and performing once the staff sections were established. As the environment went from a chaotic den of questions, to detailed and well thought-out analysis, relationships were formed and allies established.

"I am learning a little of the language due to a little language barrier," stated Lt. Col. Brandon Torres, Hawaii National Guard. "We are both meeting in somewhere in-between, it is teaching me a lot and it is going both ways. I believe that if we come in cold to a conflict we will not be as successful than if we practice more."

Due to the complex nature of the scenario and exposure to different ways of operating, each Gema Bhakti participant was pushed out of their comfort zone and provided with an opportunity to grow professionally.

"From the lower enlisted perspective, Gema Bhakti has been great," said Sgt. Randolph Burns, Hawaii National Guard. "I get to experience such a high level of thinking and witness cooperation between officers from U.S. and Indonesia. I have some joint experience but not the the point where there are Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force from two different nations. It has been an eye opening experience."

The Gema Bhakti scenario this year was a complex military action with combat, humanitarian, and logistical facets. This complexity provided opportunity for the multinational joint staff to dig deep for solutions to each variable that presented itself. The final phase resembled a large and complex roleplaying game and was taken just as seriously. While this was a fictional scenario it provided real word benefits for each of the countries involved.

"As far as real world staff level planing, it is so important that we make decisions quickly," said Maj. Sarah Stevenson, Missouri Air National Guard. "It is for the safety of our own forces. It is for a more successful plan overall. The quicker and better we can make decisions the more successful we will be in the long run."

• Date Taken: 09.24.2018
• Date Posted: 09.23.2018 20:26
• Story ID: 294091
• Location: JAKARTA, ID