§485. Joint warfighting experimentation

(a) Annual Report.-The commander of the combatant command assigned by the Secretary of Defense to have the mission for joint warfighting experimentation shall submit to the Secretary an annual report on the conduct of joint experimentation activities for the fiscal year ending in the year of the report. Not later than December 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit that report, together with any comments that the Secretary considers appropriate and any comments that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff considers appropriate, to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

(b) Matters To Be Included.-Each report under this section shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the following:

(1) Any changes in the assessments of the matters described in section 923(a)(2) of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 since the preparation of the assessments of those matters set forth in the latest report submitted under this section.

(2) A description of the conduct of joint experimentation activities, including the number of activities, the forces involved, the national security challenges addressed, the operational concepts assessed, and the scenarios and measures of effectiveness used.

(3) An assessment of the results of joint warfighting experimentation within the Department of Defense.

(4) With respect to joint warfighting experimentation, any recommendations that the commander considers appropriate regarding-

(A) the development or acquisition of advanced technologies;

(B) changes in organizational structure, operational concepts, or joint doctrine;

(C) the conduct of experiments;

(D) the adequacy of resources; or

(E) changes in authority of the commander to develop or acquire materiel, supplies, services, or equipment directly for the conduct of joint warfighting experimentation.

(5) With respect to improving the effectiveness of joint warfighting, any recommendations that the commander considers appropriate, based on the results of joint warfighting experimentation, regarding-

(A) the development, procurement, or fielding of advanced technologies, systems, or weapons or systems platforms or other changes in doctrine, operational concepts, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, or the allocation of resources;

(B) the reduction or elimination of redundant equipment and forces, including guidance regarding the synchronization of the fielding of advanced technologies among the armed forces to enable the development and execution of joint operational concepts;

(C) recommendations for mission needs statements, operational requirements, and relative priorities for acquisition programs to meet joint requirements; and

(D) a description of any actions taken by the Secretary of Defense to implement the recommendations of the commander.

(Added Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title IX, §923(b)(1), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2105 ; amended Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title IX, §931, title X, §1067(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 726 , 774.)

References in Text

Section 923(a)(2) of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), is section 923(a)(2) of Pub. L. 105–261, which is set out in a note below.

Amendments

1999-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–65, §1067(1), substituted "and the Committee on Armed Services" for "and the Committee on National Security".

Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 106–65, §931, added par. (5).

Joint Warfighting Experimentation

Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title IX, subtitle C, Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2102 , provided that:

"SEC. 921. FINDINGS CONCERNING JOINT WARFIGHTING EXPERIMENTATION.

"Congress makes the following findings:

"(1) The assessments of the Quadrennial Defense Review and the National Defense Panel provide a compelling argument-

"(A) that the security environment in the early 21st century will include fundamentally different military challenges than the security environment in the late 20th century; and

"(B) reinforce the premise of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 [Pub. L. 99–433, see Tables for classification] that future warfare will require more effective joint operational concepts.

"(2) Joint experimentation is necessary for-

"(A) integrating advances in technology with changes in organizational structure and joint operational concepts; and

"(B) determining the interdependent aspects of joint warfare that are key for transforming the conduct of military operations to meet future challenges successfully.

"(3) It is essential that an energetic and innovative organization be established in the Department of Defense with the authority (subject to the authority and guidance of the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) to design and implement a process of joint experimentation to investigate and test technologies and alternative forces and concepts in field environments under realistic conditions against the full range of future challenges to assist in developing and validating new joint warfighting concepts and transforming the Armed Forces to meet the threats to national security anticipated for the early 21st century.

"SEC. 922. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING JOINT WARFIGHTING EXPERIMENTATION.

"(a) Designation of Commander To Have Joint Warfighting Experimentation Mission.-It is the sense of Congress that the initiative of the Secretary of Defense to designate the commander of a combatant command to have the mission of joint warfighting experimentation is a key step in exploiting the potential of advanced technologies, new organizational structures, and new joint operational concepts to transform the conduct of military operations by the Armed Forces.

"(b) Resources and Authority of Commander.-It is, further, the sense of Congress that the commander of the combatant command referred to in subsection (a) should be provided with appropriate and sufficient resources for joint warfighting experimentation and with the appropriate authority to execute the commander's assigned responsibilities and that such authority should include the following:

"(1) Planning, preparing, and conducting the program of joint warfighting experimentation, which program should include analyses, simulations, wargames, experiments, advanced concept technology demonstrations, joint exercises conducted in virtual and field environments, and, as a particularly critical aspect, assessments of 'red team' vulnerability.

"(2) Developing scenarios and measures of effectiveness to meet the operational challenges expected to be encountered in the early 21st century and assessing the effectiveness of current and new organizational structures, operational concepts, and technologies in addressing those challenges.

"(3) Integrating and testing in joint experimentation the systems and concepts that result from warfighting experimentation conducted by the Armed Forces and the Defense Agencies.

"(4) Coordinating with each of the Armed Forces and Defense Agencies regarding the development and acquisition of equipment (including surrogate or real technologies, platforms, and systems), supplies, and services necessary for joint experimentation.

"(5) Providing the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with recommendations, based on the conduct of joint warfighting experimentation, for-

"(A) improving interoperability;

"(B) reducing unnecessary redundancy;

"(C) synchronizing technology fielding;

"(D) developing joint operational concepts;

"(E) prioritizing the most promising joint capabilities for future experimentation; and

"(F) prioritizing joint requirements and acquisition programs.

"(6) Making recommendations to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on mission needs statements and operational requirements documents.

"(c) Congressional Review.-It is, further, the sense of Congress that Congress-

"(1) should review the adequacy of the process of transformation to meet future challenges to the national security; and

"(2) if progress is determined inadequate, should consider legislation to-

"(A) establish an appropriate organization to conduct the mission described in subsection (a); and

"(B) provide to the commander given the responsibility for that mission appropriate and sufficient resources for joint warfighting experimentation and the appropriate authority to execute that commander's assigned responsibilities for that mission, including the authorities specified in subsection (b).

"SEC. 923. REPORTS ON JOINT WARFIGHTING EXPERIMENTATION.

"(a) Initial Report.-(1) The commander of the combatant command assigned by the Secretary of Defense to have the mission for joint warfighting experimentation shall submit to the Secretary an initial report on the implementation of joint experimentation. Not later than April 1, 1999, the Secretary shall submit that report, together with any comments that the Secretary considers appropriate and any comments that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff considers appropriate, to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives [now Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives].

"(2) The report of the commander under paragraph (1) shall include the commander's assessment of the following:

"(A) The authority and responsibilities of the commander as described in section 922(b).

"(B) The organization of the commander's combatant command, and of its staff, for carrying out the joint warfighting experimentation mission.

"(C) The process established for tasking forces to participate in experimentation and the commander's specific authority over those forces, including forces designated as joint experimentation forces.

"(D) The resources provided for initial implementation of joint warfighting experimentation, the process for providing those resources to the commander, the categories of the funding, and the authority of the commander for budget execution.

"(E) The process established for the development and acquisition of the materiel, supplies, services, and equipment necessary for the conduct of joint warfighting experimentation.

"(F) The process established for designing, preparing, and conducting joint experiments.

"(G) The role assigned the commander for-

"(i) integrating and testing in joint warfighting experimentation the systems that emerge from warfighting experimentation by the Armed Forces or the Defense Agencies;

"(ii) assessing the effectiveness of organizational structures, operational concepts, and technologies; and

"(iii) assisting the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prioritize requirements or acquisition programs.

"(b) Annual Report.-(1) [Enacted this section.]

"(2) [Amended analysis of this chapter.]

"(c) First Annual Report.-The first report under section 485 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (b), shall be made with respect to fiscal year 1999. In the case of the report under that section for fiscal year 1999, the reference in subsection (b)(1) of that section to the most recent report under that section shall be treated as referring to the report under subsection (a) of this section."