JOPP 2.0

Today we finished up our O199A exercise.  The focus was to take the C and D section of 22 and fuse them together to complete a JOPP.  I got to be a maneuver planner for the exercise and worked on COA 2.  Overall the exercise was beneficial to my officer development.  I have never been very good at wargaming and this has expanded my potential with the practical applications.  Today we sat through a briefing on electives.  They are preparing us for classes in February of next year.  Five more days until Christmas vacation.  Can't wait to get this week done and head out to Nashville.

JOPP Continued

We turned in our first history paper yesterday. Be relief for most of the class. We are continung JOPP for the rest of the week.  We are continuing COA development today.  On a side not, took the wife to the Cheesecake Factory in Overland Park yesterday.  Trying to find balance!

12 o'clock High

We watched 12 oclock high in our leadership class today.   Once you get through the black and white it is a pretty good movie.  There are lots of lessons that can be taken from it.   It's amazing to see the stuff that was dealt with in WWII and what is going on in today's war.  Some things never change.  The same challenges that leaders faced then, we still face today.

JOPP

Today, we started the JOPP (Joint Operations Planning Process).  We are focused on a scenario in Azerbaijan and the security challenges they face.  I have been tasked as the Deputy J5 and responsible for leading the group through the exercise for the next two weeks.  Today we focused on initial planning and did some operational art and design.  I used the JP 5.0 as the reference.  It is definitely different doing joint level exercises.  Glad they made it part of the curriculum.

Torch Exam

Over the last week I have been contemplating over the Torch Exam.  The idea here is to understand the center of gravities at the strategic and operational environments and determine if they are clear.  "Torch" was the name of operation in North Africa during WWII.  I like to think of it as a warm up for the main event.  We (US) learned a significant amount about ourselves during this operation.  I had read An Army at Dawn before reading this exam, so I was hoping that I would not be skewed by what I read.  I was surprised to find that it had primary sources attached.  I have another three days to complete it!  On a side not we discussed Learning Organizations in our Leadership class today.  I really enjoy the small tidbits that I can add to my kitbag in my future unit. 

So today we covered the JOPP Joint Operation Planning Process. It is interesting to look at things from the joint perspective. It's also nice that the Army's system rubbed off on the other services. Yesterday we covered Jomini. smoking jackets and european accents ruled the day!

We get to do a mobile upload. Let's give it a try!

ILE Experience Part I

I am a U.S. Army officer (Major type- 1 each) currently stationed at the Commanding General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and attending the Intermediate Level Education Course.  A little about me- I came into the army as a private in 1995 at an Infantry guy.   After four years of college I commissioned as an Aviation Officer in 1999, and chose scouts (OH-58D).  I have done multiple deployments downrange and loved every minute of it.  Personal- I am married with a boy and a girl!   This blog is about my experience at ILE (also known as the school for majors).

So after six weeks of ILE (Intermediate level Education) I decided to start blogging.  So far the experience has been fruitful.   We have covered mostly strategic level stuff for the last few weeks.  I really enjoy talking about strategy (even though I am not a Strategist).  My graduate experience at Texas Tech really prepared me for this experience in the academic environment.  My takeaways from the first few weeks are that the Army is more complex than it seems, we need to play well with others, Jeffers is special, mulitnodal is a good thing, and that I do not buy the idea of "soft power"!

-So this week my main project is putting some slides together of the the JOPP- Joint Operations Planning Process and also learning about design.  The concepts for the most part seem simplistic.  It is definitely a different way to look at the way that we do business.   I am also working on an exam about the role of  NATO after 2014.  I have never done will with prediction, but will give it my best shot.  Well enough for today... more to follow!