State-of-the-Art Training Boosts Australia-US Joint Defence Capabilities

Australian Department of Defense, Today, I officially commissioned the technologically advanced Joint Combined Training Capability facility during its first use in Exercise Talisman Saber 07 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Central Queensland. 
 
This new capability gives Australian and United States defence personnel an advanced training system to better prepare for joint (Navy, Army, Air Force) combined (Australia and US) operations in increasingly complex environments. This will strengthen the interoperability between Australian and US forces. It will help to make the Australian Defence Force better able to meet the full spectrum of future security challenges from war-fighting to peace monitoring and humanitarian relief. 
 
The Joint Combined Training Capability (JCTC) links Australian and US exercise headquarters, units and training areas to combine live training action with computer-generated simulations and platform simulators throughout the world. It creates unified high-quality training scenarios in a blend of the virtual and real world. 
 
The linking of simulation and command systems enables real and virtual ships, aircraft and troops to be integrated into complex scenarios with a very high degree of realism for training participants. Comprehensive analysis can be undertaken taken during ‘after action review’. This provides a state-of-the-art learning experience in military training. It will significantly improve the capability of the Australian Defence Force. 
 
Training is critical to the operational effectiveness of our troops. Training with a high degree of fidelity is substantially more effective and enables troops to ‘hit the ground running’. 
 
While delivering better training, the JCTC also will produce efficiencies by reducing operating costs, wear and tear on people and equipment and our footprint on the environment. 
 
The JCTC has been developed jointly with the United States. As agreed at the 2004 Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), the US has invested over $11 million in technology research, development, test and evaluation and has enabled significant technology transfer. Australia thanks the United States for its contribution to enhancing our training capability. 
 
Australia has invested just over $29 million, mainly in information technology communications and the enhancement of facilities at Shoalwater Bay Training Area – the Exercise Control Building and the Urban Operations Training Facility. 
 
The JCTC will be closely evaluated during Exercise Talisman Saber 07. Further development will be considered. 
 
The official commissioning of the JCTC facility today is another step in the Government’s delivery of capability to enhance national security. The improvement of our combined military training capabilities, and the enhancement of interoperability, is a significant benefit of the ongoing security partnership between Australia and the United States.