Joint staff officers often unprepared for new jobs.

• Author: Peck, Michael
• Position: TRAINING & SIMULATION

Military officers assigned to newly-created "joint staff" jobs arrive with little or no training on how to function in a multi-service environment, asserts a study commissioned by the Defense Department.

Regional commands around the world, called "combatant commands," or COCOMs, report that joint staff officers at combined task forces and standing joint force headquarters "are either under-trained or completely untrained to conduct their jobs as members of joint staffs," said the report, which was produced by Thoughtlink, Inc., of Vienna, Va.

Officers interviewed for the report noted that, for the most part, they lack opportunities for joint staff training prior to receiving an assignment to a COCOM, the study said.

"Most arrive with little or no experience about the role of a staff officer, how to work with specific command and control systems, or what to expect if asked to perform as part of a joint task force," the report said. "They are likely to receive limited formal training upon their arrival--and even those military personnel who have previously served on a joint staff may be faced with new job requirements for which they are not fully trained."

Several Defense Department officials contacted by National Defense declined to comment on the study, claiming that they had not seen it or had time to analyze the findings.

A Pentagon spokesman argued that it is not realistic to expect joint staff officers to learn everything they need to know before taking over these jobs. "It would be difficult to artificially replicate the myriad of discrete skills needed to perform specific jobs in joint billets. These skills are learned on the job, under fire, in a swiftly evolving environment," the spokesman said in an e-mail response.

Joint staff officers do receive joint professional military education, which is intended to be general preparation for joint work and the international military environment, the spokesman explained. "As in other lines of work, specific tasks and procedures are specific to a particular office or assignment and learned in on-the-job training."

Col. Jeff Satterfield, joint training readiness and exercise division chief for headquarters, European Command, estimates that it takes two to three months--"but no more than six"--for a joint staff officer to learn his field. "That's pretty good, considering we don't grow up joint," he added.

Satterfield is a Marine Harrier pilot by trade. He never attended the Joint Forces Staff...