Military Training Opportunities
Joint Task Force North (JTF North) relies primarily on volunteer active duty and reserve components, as well as individual service members from all four branches of the Department of Defense for the execution of its homeland security support missions.
JTF North is an operational planning headquarters with no assigned forces. The JTF North Commander is not authorized to task military units for support, but does have direct liaison authority with all the services and major commands. JTF North is constantly looking for units and individuals interested in participating in homeland security support missions.
Homeland security support operations are based on support requests submitted by federal law enforcement agencies and include proactive initiatives focusing on the detection and monitoring of transnational threats within and along the approaches to the continental United States.
These missions provide volunteer units with significant real world training opportunities that are directly related to combat effectiveness. Volunteer units typically train in 90% of their wartime mission tasks. Volunteers have repeatedly remarked in after-action reports that JTF North missions provided them with the best training they have ever received in a unique training environment with a command and control structure involving civilian law enforcement agencies that will closely mirror their duties in future deployments.
JTF North will generally fund all mission costs, to include travel, per diem, and other associated mission costs; flying hour costs for active duty and reserve component units are paid for by the services. Reserve pay and allowances are paid for by each individual service or by reserve funding available to JTF North.
While executing a JTF North mission, military units and individuals are under the tactical control (TACON) of the JTF North Commander and work in direct support of the supported federal law enforcement agency. JTF North assigns field grade officers as planners to assist in mission preparation and to facilitate coordination with the federal law enforcement agencies. Mission planners ensure that each operation is properly, legally, efficiently and safely executed. JTF North operates a 24-hour joint operations coordination center to resolve issues that the volunteer military units or individuals may encounter.
JTF North has a continuous need for virtually every type of military unit. Of particular interest are aviation, engineer, and medical units. Aviation units can expect to perform night reconnaissance missions to identify transnational threats; to include drug smuggling along the international boundary, or day reconnaissance to identify outdoor marijuana growing areas or other illicit drug production in the national forests. These missions are typically two to four weeks in duration.
Military engineer units from all services execute a variety of construction projects along the border areas. JTF North engineer missions offer military engineer units unique training opportunities to exercise multiple skill level tasks in military construction.
JTF North engineer missions are challenging and provide the unit leadership with some of the best "real world" construction training within the continental United States. Unlike the aviation missions, engineer missions are generally more long term and may last several weeks or months.
Other units provide Mobile Training Teams (MTTs), which teach basic military skills to federal law enforcement agents. These MTTs are generally tailored for one to two weeks in duration and train law enforcement agents throughout the country.
Benefits to Participating Units:
- Unique Training Opportunities
- New Locations: Unique ranges/locations
- Environment: Desert or Mountainous
- Scenarios (simultaneous border security/combat operations)
- Thinking, moving, reacting enemy
- Junior Leader training
- Pre-deployment workup
- Post-deployment teambuilding
- Variety: Work with Law Enforcement Agencies
- Joint training: Work with other services
- Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI)
- Planning assistance – JTF North Planners (O-4/O-5s) assist in mission planning to maximize training value to unit
- Funding—JTF North pays most mission costs
- Travel
- Lodging
- TAD/TDY
- Other Miscellaneous Costs
- JTF North missions support the Global War On Terrorism efforts in the continental United States
