Centcom Seeks Open Dialogue with the Private Sector.

AuthorKilgo, Mitchell L.
PositionViewpoint

* Synchronized efforts of capable partners is a mainstay of effective coalition, command, control, communications and computers mission support. The first "C" in our use of the acronym C5, coalition, reflects this warfighting norm.

For the U.S. Central Command's communications and computers directorate, the J6, providing, operating and defending C5 environments in the most complex and volatile region of the world requires persistent coordination and collaboration across stakeholder communities--within the Defense Department, the interagency, private sector and international counterparts in the central region and beyond.

The breadth and depth of U.S. commitment to ongoing military and warfighting missions across Centcom's area of responsibility reinforces the need to establish and maintain strong partnerships across stakeholder communities, and to enable those partners to play a greater role in mission support and execution.

Centcom Commander Gen. Joseph L. Votel refers to this increased reliance on partners in the conduct of warfighting missions as the "by, with and through" approach, stating, "We win the current fight and plan to win the next one by, with and through our partners."

Secretary of Defense James Mattis defined a key line of effort for the DoD of strengthening alliances and partner building. "Few of us--in my case, never, did I fight in an all American formation. ... I've always fought alongside coalition partners," he said at an Air Force Association conference last September. He further stated that "we have to recognize that our organizations, our processes and procedures have got to be allied friendly."

The command's recently published regional engagement strategy and newly formed regional engagement teams are bringing renewed discipline and rigor to U.S. multi-stakeholder efforts to enable and empower regional partners in current and future coalitions.

Through a wide range of regional engagement or security cooperation activities--from bilateral military-to-military working groups to multilateral whole-of-government and private sector conferences--the J6 team provides regional partners with valuable knowledge and resources to build and enhance coalition-friendly communications and information technology capabilities and capacity.

The primary objective of J6 regional engagement efforts over the last five years has been to enhance the interconnectedness and assured information sharing central to effective coalitions, key...

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