The goal is realistic joint training "against thinking and adaptive oppositional forces," Mayberry said. Like the service training areas, the Joint National Training Capability will have instruments in place to help officials reconstruct battles and a process that allows feedback leading to an after-action review.
Training transformation will allow the United States military to function in a multinational coalition setting, Mayberry said. It will also allow the DOD to operate with other federal government agencies, as well as state and local governments.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command is in charge of the effort to set up the training center. Specialists are working to see if the military training ranges can be linked together. Mayberry said this first phase will culminate in January with the first capability exercise in the western United States. The center's initial operating capability is scheduled for October 2004, he said.
Mayberry said the DOD will spend $1.3 billion on this capability through fiscal 2009, and he expects the capabilities to change over time.
"Just as the service training areas developed over time, I expect the JNTC will grow as the idea matures," he said.
