Photo By Eleanor Prohaska | Air Force Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, U.S. Pacific Command (US PACOM) J7 director of...... read more read more
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HONOLULU, Hawaii — In alignment with the Department of War’s directive to modernize military requirements, acquisition, and operational integration, U.S. Pacific Command’s (US PACOM) J7 Training and Exercises Directorate’s Pacific Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Capability (PMTEC) hosted its Quarterly Commercial Industry Update in August. Co-hosted by Defense Innovation On-Ramp Hub: Hawaii, the local interface for the Defense Innovation Unit, the event convened more than 170 military leaders, U.S. government civilians, contractors, and commercial technology developers to discuss how US PACOM and industry collaboration strengthen strategic readiness and project credible deterrence across the region.
US PACOM Director of Training and Exercises, Air Force Col. Matthew C. Gaetke, welcomed participants. "This is the 10th quarterly industry engagement since we began the PMTEC effort [in 2022]," said Col. Gaetke. "This is our primary, dedicated mechanism to reach out to all of you, our industry and commercial partners, to maintain those relationships and build new ones as well."
Gaetke noted the critical role of practical, field-based evaluation of new technologies in building a lethal joint force.
"We train like we fight,” said Gaetke. “We train in order to bring capabilities forward, test them out, see what works well, see what breaks. That’s a technology thing and a human thing... We've got to get stuff out into the hands of the warfighter, let them try it, let them break it, let them figure out what's going to work and what's not."
This rapid experimentation cycle ensures that US PACOM can field combat-ready capabilities faster than potential competitors, reinforcing theater-wide stability. Gaetke emphasized that effective modernization requires collaborative, early-stage communication rather than transactional relationships to achieve a robust deterrent posture.
"We view you as strategic partners in deterrence in the region," Gaetke said. "Your success in innovating is directly tied to our success in deterring and, if necessary, prevailing in combat."
The event was an opportunity to share the significant PMTEC milestone of achieving final operating capability in 2026. According to PMTEC Program Manager Dr. Andre Stridiron, as operational requirements west of the International Date Line become more complex, PMTEC is focused on expanding technological superiority and enhancing exercises and training with distributed, live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) environments that support credible deterrence and joint and coalition readiness.
The Secretary of War’s January 2026 memorandum, Transforming the Defense Innovation Ecosystem to Accelerate Warfighting Advantage, instructs the Department to transition away from linear, slow-maturing technology acquisition models toward rapid adoption. Stridiron said PMTEC's current operational framework directly operationalizes this directive across its three designated pillars: technology innovation, product innovation, and operational capability innovation. Together, these pillars accelerate the delivery of lethal systems to the joint force, forming a key pillar of the region's deterrent posture.
The event featured panelists from U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), Space Development Agency Pacific, PMTEC, and industry, who shared updates on PMTEC investments and activities. Jamie Giambrone, USARPAC deputy director of training, highlighted the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center modernization.
"They are actually leading the Army across the Combat Training Centers on data integration into training,” said Giambrone. “To really show…how lethal are our formations based on this high-end training instrumented exercise that they just went through?"
Proving and validating capabilities in highly instrumented training scenarios is a primary driver of credible deterrence, signaling to regional competitors that joint formations are trained, equipped, and fully prepared to win. Giambrone said PMTEC also supported development of a lightweight, expeditionary mesh network system, replacing heavy legacy instrumentation with a modernized, deployable system designed to remain in forward locations such as the Philippines.
Navy Cmdr. David Yancey, Space Development Agency Pacific deputy director, shared updates on the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which was integrated in the PMTEC-enabled LVC environment during Valiant Shield 26 in June. He said PMTEC is an efficient path for rapid operational testing: "This is the easy button,” said Yancey. “If you’re looking to operationalize capability quickly and efficiently, leverage PMTEC.”
PMTEC Space Integrator Andrew Emslie expanded on PMTEC investments in space integration during joint training and exercises.
"We’re seeing a transition from where space was historically considered primarily a support component and moving into more of a warfighting capacity, a warfighting mindset,” said Emslie. Tai Prohaska, PMTEC's information operations integrator, discussed the strategic importance of conveying clear deterrence signals through visible readiness.
"The information space is a bona fide warfighting domain,” said Prohaska. “Deterrence—credible deterrence—is one of our main objectives, and being able to demonstrate that we can train together at scale sends that deterrent message."
According to Prohaska, by integrating LVC elements, PMTEC creates complex, unpredictable training profiles that prevent adversaries from easily analyzing joint tactics, techniques, and procedures, complicating their strategic planning and reinforcing theater deterrence.
Industry partner Matt Martin shared how flight simulators connected directly with real-world command systems during Valiant Shield 26, allowing fighter pilots, live controllers, and virtual AI-driven wingmen to train together in one unified, realistic, joint environment. Martin said bringing these disparate groups together into a shared training environment drives a deeper shift in how the services collaborate. "Having Army air defense operators go through an Air Force weapons school-style debrief is kind of a cultural change,” said Martin. “It resulted in some really valuable lessons."
Those lessons, learned by putting capabilities in warfighter hands in joint exercise environments, can only be leveraged with robust industry partnerships, according to PMTEC Commercial Industry Engagement Lead Brent Parker.
"True readiness is built on feedback loops,” said Parker. “Every time PMTEC takes a commercial system into the field and pushes it to its limits, we generate critical lessons learned. By working hand-in-hand with industry to analyze that performance data, fix vulnerabilities, and optimize TTPs on the fly, we translate exercise observations into credible deterrence and decisive warfighter lethality."
Parker encouraged industry representatives to utilize US PACOM’s official Industry Engagement Request process at https://www.pacom.mil/Contact/Industry-Engagements/ to work with the command to align their technologies with active operational gaps. Similarly, The USARPAC Industry Portal at https://www.usarpac.army.mil/industry/ is the gateway to formally register solutions and engagement requests with USARPAC.
“By formalizing these engagements early, we can align industry breakthroughs directly with active training requirements, ensuring we put the best capabilities into the hands of our warfighters west of the International Date Line,” said Parker. For more information on PMTEC Industry Engagement events and activities, contact Brent Parker at https://www.google.com/url?q=mailto%3Abrent.m.parker2.ctr%40us.navy.mil.
| Date Taken: | 08.25.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2026 21:13 |
| Story ID: | 573224 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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