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Sometimes combatant commanders get exactly what theyrequest, other times the forces they want are not available, andJFCOM can craft a solution that will provide the same effect.“If a requirement comes in for an Army or Marine battalion, weask the services what is available including National Guard units.If there isn’t one available, we can work with the COCOM to tryto further refine the requirement, maybe a security force wouldanswer the requirement, and we can provide that,” Yates said.Unit requirements are filled in one of four ways. The primarysourcing method is through a “standard” sourcing solution,meaning it most closely answers the request of the combatantcommander. For example, if the request is for engineering capabilitiesto support an Army Brigade Combat Team, the standardsolution would be an Army Engineering Battalion.Should a standard solution be unavailable, JFCOM next looksto a “joint” solution whereby a unit from another service thatpossesses the same core capabilities is used to satisfy the request.In the example above, an Air Force RED HORSE engineeringunit or a Navy Seabee battalion could be used as a jointsolution.If no standard or joint solution is available, but the request canbe filled by retraining a unit to another core capability, an “inlieu-of”(ILO) sourcing solution can be used. For example, if therequest is for a transportation unit that moves cargo in trucks, afield artillery unit can be trained for the mission and temporarilyassigned to it. ILO solutions normally keep units intact whileperforming a mission outside their core capability.Some requests cannot be satisfied through standard, jointor ILO solutions. This typically happens when a capability isrequested by a combatant commander, but not held in the inventory.In this case, JFCOM may assemble an ad hoc unit bygathering personnel with the requisite skills and forming a new,temporary unit. These personnel can, and do, come from all theservices based on skill set and are assembled into a temporaryunit complete with an appropriate command structure. Anynecessary training is accomplished to ensure the new unit isfully capable of accomplishing the mission without undue risk.The efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan might appear to heavilydepend on Army and Marine Corps ground forces, and they are,but there are significant contributions from the Navy and AirForce as well, Yates said.There is substantial air capability from bases inside Iraq and Afghanistan,as well as from aircraft carriers afloat in neighboringseas. All four services contribute in skill sets such as intelligence,EOD, military police and engineering. Air Force and Navy medicalpersonnel and units provide medical evacuation capability,as well as trauma care on the ground. Air Force RED HORSE unitsand Navy Seabee battalions perform a myriad of constructiontasks from building roads, to digging wells, to raising buildings.Logistics teams from every service maintain the flow of food,water, consumables and fuel to units widely dispersed throughoutthe theater. Intelligence specialists are in high demand, andevery service provides these valuable personnel to units andstaffs on the ground. Operations Iraqi Freedom and EnduringFreedom are very much team efforts requiring significant contributionsfrom every branch of the U.S. military.While Marine Corps and Army units typically deploy with aU.S. Joint forces Command Joint Deployment Center, which opened inoctober 2009, is ergonomically engineered to facilitate collaboration.instead of cubicles and halls with closed doors, the center is an openspace with advanced communications. in an emergency, teams can bequickly formed to tackle a specific requirement. the facility covers49,000 square feet and has a state-of-the-art data, communications andaudio-visual collaborative network supported by more than 110 miles ofcable. a centralized server and secured hard drives eliminate the needfor desktop personal computers, optimizing work space and network security.the JDC contains a conference center, operational areas and acrisis response center.CHIPS January - March 2010 23