Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacquelin Frost | 240123-N-AN659-1005 NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy (Jan. 23, 2024) -- Capt. Bryan...... read more read more
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy (Jan. 22-26, 2024) – U.S. Navy and Allied Partners gathered at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, to discuss initiatives, share lessons learned and foster interoperability surrounding the P-8A Poseidon at the inaugural Joint Exploration and Discussion of Initiatives (JEDI) Symposium, Jan. 22-26, 2024.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti kicked off the start of the symposium by encouraging nations to build foundational relationships.
"This is an incredible forum that allows us to work together, with our Allies and partners, to assess our progress and refine our shared vision toward increasingly lethal, agile, and interchangeable joint forces," said Franchetti.
The Symposium was attended by U.S. Naval entities as well as service members from U.K, Norway, Germany and Canada.
Bringing current and future P-8A users from several countries, face-to-face, fosters the invaluable component of integrated operability and enhanced communication: “The JEDI Conference really gets at the core of our strategic warfighting advantage in this theater: Allies. Together we are knocking down barriers and thinking through the tough challenges. This will create a paradigm shift from deploying a squadron with a handful of aircraft to plugging into a large team of interchangeable P-8A's across the alliance. That's a game changer,” said Cmdr. Kevin ‘KFED’ Harrington, Commanding Officer of Patrol Squadron (VP) 46.
The symposium consisted of a series of briefs with topics surrounding flight, mission planning and future capabilities. Attendees were then challenged to problem-solve various scenarios in a round-table style discussion.
The event was organized by Capt. Bryan Hager, Commodore of Commander, Task Force 67, after recognizing the transition to the P-8A Poseidon was missing the emulsion and understanding between countries that users had with the P-3 Orion for over 50 years.
"JEDI's crucial contribution to our strategic goals cannot be overstated, emphasizing not only the vital importance of interoperability amongst our partners but also the unmatched value of face-to-face interactions,” said Hager. “These in-person engagements create a unique synergy, creating deeper ties and cooperation that surpasses what is achievable through webcams, phones, and email.”
Out of the five attending countries, U.S. was the first to receive P-8A's in 2012 and began conducting operational flights in 2014. U.K. followed and received their first P-8s in 2019 and began conducting operational flights in 2020.
U.K. Wing Commander Benjamin Livesey, Commanding Officer of No. 120 Squadron (CXX Sqn) said, when speaking about the transition from the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod to the P-8A Poseidon, “re-building a force from scratch is challenging, and was achieved at such a rapid rate only through the efforts and contribution of our allies."
U.K. developed Project SEEDCORN to ease the transition to the P-8A as well as galvanize relationships with Allied Partners in Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) operations: “UK had personnel embedded within the MPRA community ever since the demise of Nimrod,” said Livesey. “This developed to U.K. aircrew undertaking P-8 conversion at [U.S.] VP-30 from January to June 2019.”
Norway received their first P-8A in 2022, and inspired by the U.K.’s SEEDCORN project, also sent aircrew to learn from U.S. VP-30 and U.K CXX in 2019.
Norway’s Col. Hans Martin Steiro, Commander 133 Airwing, said he expected JEDI to bring forth increased cooperation between the various P-8A flying nations and build networks within the P-8A Community. Steiro added that he was inspired at the symposium by the the shared focus on a closer cooperation in a shared operational area.
“The common will to start working more closely together reached above my expectations,” said Steiro.
Canada and Germany are scheduled to receive P-8A's in the near future.
Canadian Armed Forces Col. Jeff Davis, attached to 14 Wing Command, said Canada announced in November 2023 that they will be acquiring the P-8 in the summer of 2026.
Davis and Steiro both described the challenge of learning and utilizing a new aircraft platform and the value that JEDI will bring to the community moving forward.
Davis said networking and making vital connections to allies who can provide recommendations will resolve potential transitional challenges and enable operational capability quickly.
“We will need to find creative solutions, mostly with our allies, to help force generate our initial cadre of P-8 crews,” said Davis.
“Norway appreciates Commodore Hager´s JEDI initiative a lot, and we have already briefed Chief of the Air Force on this great success we believe JEDI was,” said Steiro.
The JEDI symposium was an important first step towards a future of P-8A users working cohesively.
Steiro said the allies now need to take good will from words to actions: “I believe we have to start with short visits. We need to start operating at each other's bases on a more frequent basis."
Discussions and planning at the symposium laid the foundation for steps moving forward for allies and widened the door for greater interoperability between current and future P-8A users.
Davis said, “The symposium was extremely valuable. It was great to see the tactical level searching for innovative ideas to better our capabilities and how we work together.”
“All objectives were achieved, through a combination of briefings, working groups and discussions,” said Livesey. “Social interaction allowed each nation to build relationships, with bonds formed and renewed across all ranks. We are already stronger as a result of this gathering, and importantly have an impetus and understanding to now develop that further.”
JEDI fostered relationships amongst P-8A Poseidon users by gathering service members from five countries together, in person, to discuss challenges and lessons learned. Hager said the intent moving forward is for countries to implement these ideas, and then rotate hosting following JEDI symposiums so that operations, tactics and missions can continue to integrate seamlessly in the future.
“By listening firsthand to the experiences, perspectives, and strategies of our allies, we gain a broader understanding of how their tireless efforts support and enhance the Navy’s strategic objectives within the 6th Fleet area of operation,” said Hager. “The JEDI symposium is a powerful demonstration of our commitment to interoperability and ultimately interchangeability with our NATO allies to ultimately address tomorrow’s challenges by forging the tactics for tomorrow, together.”
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| Date Taken: | 02.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2024 05:02 |
| Story ID: | 464624 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Web Views: | 326 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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