Photo By Timothy Koster | Students of the Connecticut National Guard's Joint Task Force Staff Training Course...... read more read more
The Connecticut National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters’ joint staff participated in a five-day Joint Task Force Staff Training Course (JSTC) at Camp Nett, Niantic Conn., Jan. 7 – 11, 2026.
The training allowed the staff to establish baseline skills necessary to execute the staff’s unique mission of deploying troops in response to natural disasters and civil unrest.
“The joint staff has a high-level of turnover,” said Maj. Lee Lukas, domestic operations officer in the Connecticut National Guard’s joint operations center. “It’s like a revolving door with new staff rotating in every couple of years. The JSTC is an introductory course that helps lay the groundwork for a good team.”
This baseline training is critical for the Joint Staff to be successful in their mission, because what they do is a very niche job that isn’t something the Army normally teaches, according to Lukas.
When the state faces an emergency, whether it’s a natural disaster, such as the Hawthorne Brush Fire that burned more than 127 acres of woodlands a couple years ago, a pandemic, such as COVID-19, or any other declared emergency in which the governor calls upon the National Guard to assist, it’s the Joint Staff’s job to provide the logistical support and manpower for that mission.
It's an important mission with real-world consequences, which makes this training so important.
Over the three days of the course, the students, who were taught by instructors from Western Hemisphere Command, learned all the nuances associated with operating a successful joint staff during a period of emergency. This included how to coordinate with other civil authorities such as the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) and Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
The course culminated with a practical exercise in which the team needed to respond to a winter storm emergency.
“In the practical exercise we used the Military Decision-Making Process to create a Common Operational Picture for [the adjutant general] for a winter storm response,” said Lukas. “With that, he can better advise the governor on how the National Guard can help during the emergency.”
New England is no stranger to winter storms, but with a major winter storm threatening most of the country this weekend with multiple feet of snow, the training came at a perfect time.
And while this training will undoubtedly be beneficial in the near term, Lukas is working to make this training a bi-annual requirement to ensure that future joint staffs will remain proficient and ready to aid the state when called upon.
But this training is about more than just meeting the minimum requirements for the job. It’s also a prerequisite for additional training that can better prepare the organization for emergencies and operations that don’t fall within the scope of normal calls for assistance.
For example, there’s a Joint Planner’s Course (JPC) which trains its students in strategic planning for large-scale events, such as Hurricane Katrina, should a disaster like that ever happen in Connecticut.
There’s also the Joint Reception Staging Onward and Integration course which teaches its students how to ensure forces are effectively received, prepared, and deployed in the event of an emergency, particularly during large-scale events when the state sends out an Emergency Management Assistance Compact. An EMAC is when the state sends a formal request for additional equipment or personnel to other states because they don’t have the appropriate equipment or manpower to deal with the emergency.
With the potential for unknown disaster lingering ever on the horizon, the Connecticut National Guard is taking a proactive approach to readiness, because when the state needs help, the National Guard will always be there.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2026 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 556557 |
| Location: | NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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