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Foreword

Regional Response Forces ::

VALIANT SHIELD:
Building Trust and Security

GREEN LIGHTNING: Providing Security in the Asia-Pacific Region

Transnational Operations ::

KHAAN QUEST 2006:
Enhancing Multinational Peacekeeping

Humanitarian
Support ::

USNS Mercy Bringing Hope to Asia-Pacific Nations

C-17 Aircraft Marking A New Airlift Era in the Pacific

New Zealand Defence Force Providing Security and Reconstruction in Afghanistan

From BALIKATAN to Mudslide Relief

Happenings ::

Happenings

VALIANT SHIELD:
Building Trust and Security
Compiled by Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM Staff

Compiled by Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM staff from news releases by VALIANT SHIELD Media Logistics Center Public Affairs; Capt. Yvonne Levardi, USAF; SMSgt. Charles Ramey, USAF; and TSgt. Mikal Canfield, USAF, assigned to Kenney Headquarters Public Affairs; Ens. Andrew Blanchard, USN, assigned to USS John S. McCain Public Affairs; TSgt. Shane A. Cuomo,USAF, assigned to Air Force Print News; JO3 Cara Maib, USN, and JO1 Shane Tuck, USN, assigned to USS Ronald Reagan Public Affairs; JO2 Randy Lane, USN, assigned to USS Kitty Hawk; and SPC Justin Blake, USN, assigned to USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs.

Proficiency in sustaining U.S. joint forces in a range of mission areas was a focus of Exercise VALIANT SHIELD 2006 held near the U.S. territory of Guam in the Western Pacific. Such exercises help U.S. forces transform to meet emerging security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

While VALIANT SHIELD is solely a U.S. military exercise, 33 civilian officials, journalists, and military officers from Australia, China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, and Singapore came to observe the exercise. Observers toured U.S. bases on Guam, embarked on U.S. Navy carriers, and watched flight operations and other exercise events.

The participation of Chinese military observers in the exercise was significant as their presence should lead to reciprocity in which U.S. personnel will observe a Chinese military exercise in the future. Such reciprocity should help improve communications with China’s military and create a more transparent relationship while building mutual confidence.

During his May 2006 visit to China, the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral William J. Fallon, invited China’s leaders to send a delegation to observe VALIANT SHIELD 2006. “It’s high time we re-engage with the Chinese military,” said Admiral Fallon following his May 2006 trip to China. “I want to get [the Chinese] to engage [with our military] because the more they engage, the more likely they are to see that there are a lot of things we ought to be doing together.”

Exercise Focus and Events
VALIANT SHIELD 2006 tested the U.S. military’s ability to conduct robust, joint command and control operations and to rapidly bring together joint forces to defend against terrorism and respond to any regional contingency. Those forces included more than 20,000 U.S. sailors, airmen, soldiers, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen; 28 ships from three carrier strike groups – the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), and the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72); and nearly 300 aircraft in a maritime environment.

Exercise events included detecting, locating, tracking, and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace. Participating units worked through such skills as maritime interdiction; defense counter-air and anti-submarine warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and command and control.

“Joint interoperability is the key to successfully responding to future contingencies in the Pacific,” said Rear Adm. Michael H. Miller, Commander, USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group. “VALIANT SHIELD 2006 is a perfect example of forces rapidly coming together from many different geographic regions to operate together on short notice.”

Adding to Rear Adm. Miller’s comments, U.S. Navy Capt. Terry B. Kraft, commanding officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln, said “VALIANT SHIELD allows naval forces in the Pacific to exercise complete command-and-control scenarios across a wide range of geographic areas and operational situations.”

Commanders
Admiral Gary Roughead, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, was the Joint Task Force (JTF) Commander for VALIANT SHIELD. The JTF Maritime Component Command aboard the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet flagship, the USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), directed maritime operations during the exercise. Air operations were directed from the General George C. Kenney Headquarters (KHQ) at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Lt. Gen. David Deptula, then KHQ Commander, was the JTF air component commander for the exercise.

With the vast distances of the Pacific Ocean, integrated air and sea power is essential for an immediate response to any event within the region. “Exercises such as VALIANT SHIELD give us an opportunity to ensure that joint command, control, and communications procedures are seamless, giving our air, sea, land, space, and cyberspace warfighters the ability to quickly accomplish the mission with a wide range of interconnected systems and platforms,” said Lt. Gen. Deptula.

“We’re very excited about VALIANT SHIELD because it’s an opportunity to interface large numbers of our air and sea forces together in a very unique environment and to work out some of what we call frictions,” said Lt. Gen. Deptula, KHQ Commander. “When you get into any kind of operational event; you find out things that might not go as you would have anticipated or planned. These types of exercises allow us to work out those challenges in advance.”

KHQ, activated 1 June 2005, provides the Commander, Pacific Command, a headquarters that can step in as Joint Force Air Component Command should the need arise. “In KHQ, we basically plan and then orchestrate the application of all of the air activities [for an operation or exercise] regardless of service,” said Lt. Gen. Deptula. “So for VALIANT SHIELD, I work for Admiral Roughead in that regard. My deputy is a Navy 2-star Admiral. Quite frankly, we’re not interested in what Navy or Air Force airplanes are doing separately. We take the approach that airpower is airpower and we’re interested in ensuring we take a unified stance in working those assets together with our sea-based assets in achieving the commander’s overall objectives.”

E-mail: apdforum@apan-info.net