Control hub used to direct exercise

[unhappycamper]

U.S. and Japanese forces work side-by-side in the Bilateral Joint Operations Coordination Center at Yokota Air Base, Japan. U.S. Forces Japan headquarters at Yokota features an underground complex with full command center capabilities in the event of a war or major regional emergency. For the past two weeks, it’s was used as a control hub for the Keen Sword exercise held at installations throughout Japan and Okinawa.


Control hub used to direct exercise
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, November 17, 2007

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — It’s almost like a scene from the 1983 film “WarGames.”

There are computers all around tracking aircraft, ships and ground forces. In a separate room, ballistic-missile defense planners are on the lookout for enemy launches. High-ranking commanders sit down for battle updates piped in to the Crisis Action Team floor on large video screens. Classified and unclassified networks pump information along secure and unsecured lines.

Welcome to the secluded basement complex at U.S. Forces Japan headquarters on Yokota, which features full command center capabilities that can be fired up in the event a war or major regional emergency surfaces.

For the last two weeks, it’s been used as a control hub for Keen Sword, the massive field-training exercise held at installations throughout Japan and Okinawa. The Japan Self-Defense Force and all four branches of the U.S. military were slated to wrap up the 12-day drill Friday.

The Bilateral Joint Operations Coordination Center, or BJOCC, is equipped to run around the clock and can hold as many as 150 people working 12-hour rotating shifts.

Essentially, it offers a situational awareness platform for Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, the USFJ commander, allowing him easier communications with Pacific Command and Japanese military authorities.

“It’s a giant nerve center,” said Army Lt. Col. Brent Hashimoto, USFJ’s chief of transformation and future capabilities. “When things are happening in here, most of the desks are manned, and you’ll see people on phones. There’s communication … up and down the chain of command. Lots of collaboration going on.”


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50313