JTF East - UNPROFOR History

EASTERN ALLURE
The US looks east as defence
transformation in Europe gathers
momentum. Jim Dorschner
reports
A
new task force for Eastern
Europe, which is directly linked
with the transformation of the
US Army into a lighter, more
expeditionary service, has been
established in the Balkans.
General James Jones, the NATO Supreme
Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and
the US European Command (USEUCOM)
Commander, has said that Joint Task Force
East (JTF-E) will “significantly increase” the
ability of US and allied forces to co-ordinate
and conduct training and operations in Eurasia and the Caucasus and permit a quicker
response “to areas of contention before they
become areas of crises”.
The complex process of US defence trans-
BRF_JDW_22.11.indd 2
● US military strategists expect the JTF-E to
play a key role in crisis prevention
● Base agreements with Bulgaria and Romania
will offer US forces far greater training
opportunities compared to restrictions
currently faced in Germany and Italy
● New US bases along the Black Sea
will provide much improved access for
deployments into Central Asia, the Middle
East and Southwest Asia
formation in Europe tangibly advanced in
December 2005 and April 2006 when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat down
with counterparts in Bucharest and Sofia
to sign formal bilateral basing and access
agreements with Romania and Bulgaria.
Active planning to implement the agreements had been underway for some time at
the headquarters of USEUCOM in Stuttgart,
with much of the responsibility now falling
to the gaining command, US Army Europe
(USAREUR) in Heidelberg.
The original force structure concept envisioned an Eastern European Task Force
(EETF), mimicking the Southern European
Task Force (SETAF) in Italy, also part of
USAREUR, but US forces operating in the
two new NATO countries will now be designated as Joint Task Force – East (JTF-E).
Unlike SETAF, with a permanently based
airborne brigade, an aviation task force and
other units, complete with families and an
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jdw.janes.com • JDW • 22 November 2006 • 3
BRIEFING
JOINT TASK FORCE – EAST:
VISIBLE US DEFENCE TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE
A team comprised of Romanian, Bulgarian and 1st Battalion, 94th Field
Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division Soldiers pull security while their
teammates raid a nearby building in a combined training exercise at Novo
Selo training area, Bulgaria
Tanya Polk; ???????
extensive support infrastructure, JTF-E will
have only about 100 military people stationed permanently in each country, serving
one-year unaccompanied tours while supporting rotational deployed forces averaging
around 3,000 in total at any one time.
Occasionally these will peak at up to
5,000, all serving tours of up to six months
duration.
Military personnel will be augmented by
a number of contractors from companies yet
to be selected.
USAREUR is moving forward cautiously with JTF-E implementation, working
through a series of incremental stages over
the next two years that will slowly bring the
new force into being.
BRF_JDW_22.11.indd 3
An initial proof-of-concept troop deployment to Romania and the establishment of a
provisional headquarters there is scheduled
for 2007.
Reliable allies
Bulgaria and Romania have emerged as
strong US allies since 2001. Both joined
NATO in 2004 and will enter the EU together
in January 2007. Both countries provide
substantial forces to multiple international
operations, including the former Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Romania has some 700 troops each in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including a recently
reinforced infantry battalion task force
conducting combat operations under Canadian command in southern Afghanistan.
Under parliamentary pressure in late 2005,
Bulgaria withdrew 380 troops from Iraq
that had served in Multinational Division
South-Centre under Polish command since
2003.
US forces already conduct regular combined exercises in the region.
During Exercise Immediate Response
2006 in July, Bulgarian and Romanian
troops and aircraft trained together at the
Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria with
800 US Army soldiers from the 1st Armored
Division, supported by Blackhawk helicopters and US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles
from the 492nd Fighter Squadron.
10/11/06 1:45:11 pm
4 • 22 November 2006 • JDW • jdw.janes.com
BRIEFING
Shifting east
The US move eastwards is a long-stated
defence policy objective, directly linked with
the continuing drawdown of US military forces
in Central Europe and the dynamic transformation of the US Army into a lighter, more
expeditionary force.
By 2008 there will onlyy be one US Army
Brigade Combat Team (BCT) left in Germany,
the Stryker-equipped 2nd Cavalry Regiment at
Grafenwöhr, with the enhanced 173rd Airborne
Brigade in Vicenza, Italy as the only other
army combat formation permanently based in
Europe.
As a result, a brigade-sized task force in
Eastern Europe, drawn from forces based in the
US, will account for roughly a third of the army
combat power available to EUCOM. Similarly,
the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) have
reduced main bases from 25 to five since 1990
and aircraft numbers from 700 to 200.
The constellation of bases and training areas
at the heart of JTF-E will provide nearly unlimited training opportunities compared to the
restrictions now faced in Germany or Italy, particularly regarding live fire and tactical flying
BRF_JDW_22.11.indd 4
at night and on weekends, with vast manoeuvre
areas and numerous ranges able to handle all
categories of weapons, including field artillery
and rocket systems, attack helicopters, tactical
jets and AC-130 gunships.
Perhaps just as significantly, the new land,
sea and air bases along the Black Sea will provide much improved contingency access for
deployments into Central Asia, parts of the
Middle East and Southwest Asia.
They will also serve as storage sites for
pre-positioned equipment (PPE), including
armoured vehicles, rations, fuel and munitions,
although the exact quantities and types of PPE
beyond immediate training needs are yet to be
determined.
Likewise, a JTF-E commander has not yet
been identified, but a provisional headquarters
is set to stand up in 2007 that will control US
military operations in both countries from the
10/11/06 1:45:14 pm
jdw.janes.com • JDW • 22 November 2006 • 5
Far left: A soldier from 1st Battalion, 94th
Field Artillery explains the workings of an
M249 to his Bulgarian counterpart during
‘Immediate Response ’06’; a trilateral
training exercise involving more than 600
US, Bulgarian and Romanian soldiers
Tanya Polk; ???????
Left: Combined forces from the Bulgarian
Army, Romanian 26th Infantry Regiment
and the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery
Regiment touch down at the Novo Selo
training area after successfully completing
an air assault mission in Romania
Tanya Polk; ???????
Mihael Kogalniceanu Air Base
near Constanta, Romania.
The Mihael Kogalniceanu complex will also serve as the primary
garrison location and airlift hub in
Romania, and as a forward operating location (FOL) for fighter
aircraft, airlift and tactical helicopters.
Other Romanian locations in
the Dobrogea region, close to the
Black Sea some 250 miles (402
km) east of Bucharest, include the
Babadag firing range, manoeuvre
training area and rail head, the
Cincu training range, port facilities in Constanta, and the smaller
Fetesti Air Base.
The US previously spent several million dollars upgrading the
A Romanian soldier takes the lead
and opens an imaginary door as
troops from the US and Bulgarian
armies practice ‘stacking’ during
the first day of training for military
operations in urban terrain
Tanya Polk; ???????
BRF_JDW_22.11.indd 5
security, operations and logistics
infrastructure at Mihael Kogaliceanu when it served as an airlift
transit point for deployments to
Afghanistan and Iraq in 20022003 and as the Special Operations
support base for the initial-entry
operation into northern Iraq in the
first quarter of 2003.
The first US forces to rotate into
Romania for training in late 2007
will be a battalion task force of
about 900 soldiers built around a
squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker), which is relocating
this year from Fort Lewis, Washington to Grafenwöhr, Germany.
A second squadron from the
regiment would follow, with each
initial rotation expected to last
about four months.
These events will allow the unit
topracticeadefinedsetoftasksona
reduced scale so that both
USAREUR and the host nations
can validate the concept of
operations and determine what
adjustments may be required for
future deployments.
The first regular rotations of
US-based BCTs are expected to
begin in 2008. USAREUR will
rely on the army s Global Force
Management Process (GFMP) to
source units from outside Europe
to satisfy EUCOM JTF-E requirements.
Most construction and infrastructure improvements taking
place in late 2006 and into the
first quarter of 2007 will occur
on the Romanian army base next
to Mihael Kogalniceanu that will
host the 2nd Cavalry Regiment
and is the garrison for a Romanian
mechanised brigade.
In Bulgaria, US forces will
eventually take advantage of four
locations.
Graf Ignatievo airbase, near
Plovdiv in central Bulgaria, will
be the main air hub, garrison and
logistics base, supplemented by
a storage facility near the port of
Burgas. The Novo Selo Training
Area and Bezmer airbase, both in
south-eastern Bulgaria (central
Bulgaria??) will be primary training locations. Both airbases were
substantially upgraded recently
with the support from the USAF
Air Mobility Command as part of
“Bulgarian initiatives for establishing NATO interoperability”,
according to the US Embassy
in Sofia, which added: “The US
expectstopayforanyinfrastructure
improvements
and services
necessary for
US activities. Major
improvements
and investments in the
joint military facilities will contribute to the modernisation of the
Bulgarian military.”
The bases will be operated
jointly by US and Bulgarian forces
but will remain Bulgarian military
facilities.
Once JTF-E is fully operational,
Bulgaria will host approximately
1,500 troops forming a combinedarms battalion task force, along
with tactical air, airlift and army
aviation assets as required or
available.
Multiple benefits
According to the Romanian foreign ministry, the US access
agreement is “an important step in
the consolidation of the strategic
partnership between Romania and
the US” and demonstrates “reciprocal confidence and solidarity”.
For the Bulgarian and Romanian armed forces, the presence of
US troops equipped with modern
weapons and C4ISR systems, and
employing the latest US doctrine,
is an excellent opportunity to hone
advanced coalition warfare skills
alongside US and other NATO
troops.
France and the UK already have
bilateral training agreements with
Romania, including shared use of
training areas and participation in
training exercises.
Under the terms of separate
agreements signed with Bulgaria
in 2000, French and Italian troops
use the extensive Novo Selo training centre and the Koren training
ranges for live-fire exercises.
In addition to the majority US
Army composition of JTF-E, US
Air Force assets and US Special
Operations Forces will regularly
deploy and gain operational training value, and US Marine forces
afloat in-theatre will probably
choose to take advantage of the
facilities and training opportunities in Bulgaria and Romania.
In addition, the posture and
the active pace of JTF-E in the
region will promote and enhance
combined training and exercise
initiatives already underway
between Bulgaria and Romania,
and with neighbouring countries
such as Turkey.
Jim Dorschner is a JDW
Correspondent reporting from
Bucharest
10/11/06 1:45:22 pm