The Green Knights pioneered the standup of an operational F-35 squadron.

They have been operating from Japan for the past four years.

Capt. Anneliese Satz, a pilot assigned to the “Green Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, is seen working with Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) service members to perform maintenance on an F-35B Lightning II at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Misawa.

NAF Misawa provides aviation and ground logistics support and services to all permanent and transient U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps forces in Northern Japan. VMFA-121 is the first operational F-35 squadron in the U.S. military.

MISAWA, AOMORI, JAPAN

03.15.2021

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jan David Mercado 

This was the story released by the Marines on January 23, 2017 with regard to the transfer of the Green Knights from Yuma to Japan.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 “Green Knights,” an F-35B squadron with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, departed Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, marking a momentous occasion with its relocation to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, Jan. 9.

“It’s been about two years of preparations to move the squadron over to Japan,” said Maj. Michael O’Brien, the operations officer for VMFA-121. “During this phase of the move, we have about 70 Marines from the squadron working to make things run smoothly.”

The F-35B Lightning II fighter jets began their journey from MCAS Yuma to transit the Pacific Northwest with a stop at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. It was in Alaska that VMFA-121 officially transferred to 1st MAW, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

“It’s the first time that any fifth generation fighter unit has moved and been permanently based overseas, specifically in Japan,” said O’Brien. “As Marines, we’re all about being forward based and having a forward presence, and there’s really nothing better than being out there on the leading edges in Asia, in Japan, with our allies.”

Since its commissioning as a fighter squadron 62 years ago, on June 24, 1941, the Green Knights have compiled a distinguished history unsurpassed in the annals of Marine Corps aviation.

The squadron has also undergone several re-designations, with the most notable on Nov. 20, 2012 to VMFA-121, and relocations throughout the years. During each era, the squadron has flown a variety of aircraft including F4U Corsairs, F8F Bearcats, AD Skyraiders, Grumman A-6E Intruder, and finally, the F/A-18D Hornet.

Since that time, VMFA-121 has continued to fly various missions and conduct training in order to prepare for real-world operations.

Now, more than 50 years later, VMFA-121 is the first operational F-35B squadron in the Marine Corps, replacing the F/A-18 Hornet, AV-8B Harrier and EA- 6B Prowler. In 2015, the commandant of the Marine Corps declared VMFA-121’s initial operating capability.

“The type of training we will be conducting will be very similar to that of the F-18 you already see in Iwakuni,” said Lt. Col. James Bardo, the commanding officer of Green Knights. “The opportunity to be in Japan, and as one of the first units to be able to train jointly with our partner services there, is a great honor.”

There is little doubt that the Marines performance with the F-35 in Japan has led Japan to purchase more F-35s than any other ally to be on the way to become the second largest operator of the aircraft.

We visited the Green Knights shortly before they deployed to Japan and highlighted the challenges being met:

2017-01-02 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird

We last visited VMF-121 prior it being declared IOC with the F-35B.

That visit was in the Summer of 2014 and we spent time the then XO of the Squadron, Major Summa, now Lt. Col. Summa and the CO of the Beaufort Squadron of F-35s, namely the Warlords of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, which we have also visited.

https://sldinfo.com/visiting-the-f-35-squadron-at-yuma-air-station-the-executive-officer-of-vmf121-provides-an-update/

https://sldinfo.com/visiting-mcas-beaufort-air-station-f-35b-and-renorming-airpower/

During our most recent visit to MCAS Yuma we had a chance to visit both of the IOC F-35B squadrons in Marine Aircraft Group-13.

We also visited with MAWTS-1 and VMX-1, who have just returned from DT-III testing onboard the USS America.

The first F-35B IOC squadron in the world, VMF-121, the Green Knights, are in the processing of transitioning to their deployment in Japan.

Equipment and personnel are already on the way to Japan and the squadron will fly out this winter across the Northern Pacific to operate from Japan.

The deployment comes at a crucial time, given ongoing developments in the Pacific, and the opportunity to be combat operational with F-22s in Pacific Defense.

The F-35B will continue with this new generation of a V/STOL aircraft to work its flexibility with regard to ships and landing bases, which do not necessarily have to be regular airfields.

The flexibility which the B provides is an inherent advantage in the Pacific, with its rich tapestry of islands from which to operate to have the unique “F/A/E -35B” integrate into the emerging Kill Webs as expressed by Rear Admiral Manzer.

http://breakingdefense.com/2016/10/rear-adm-manazir-speaks-on-allied-force-transformation-a2ad/

We had a chance to talk with Lt. Col. Bardo, the CO of the squadron, who is taking the squadron to Japan but will soon thereafter transition from the squadron.

But Bardo has been with the squadron during its IOC and work up with the Marine Corps for its deployment to Japan.

He and his squadron are performing key historical tasks as the cutting edge operational F-35 squadron in the world.

This is an unusual situation for the Marines to find themselves in terms of combat air, but the flexibility of a combat information dominance aircraft fits right in with the evolving concepts of operations of the Marines.

Lt. Col. Bardo underscored the importance of Close Air Support for Marines and the role which the F-35 can play in significantly expanding the scope and nature of close air support.

“CAS is considered doctrinally a function which operates only in a permissive air environment.

We can expand CAS to deal with a much wider range of situations than when we would simply operate in a permissive air environment.

And we can provide greater assurance to Marines as they deploy on the ground that we can deal with a much wider array of pop-up threats than we could do with legacy aircraft.”

92940 random 1.0 5.0

Lt. Col. Bardo described the path to get to where the squadron was right now as it prepared for its Japanese deployment.

The period since declaring IOC has been a busy and challenging one as the squadron pushed out the boundaries of the operational capabilities of the aircraft and worked with MAGTF to integrate the airplane into the CAS role as well as working with the USAF on the air to air missions as well.

It has been a busy period for Bardo and his squadron but certainly historic as well.

Throughout the squadron has found the core capabilities of the aircraft to be a solid foundation for shaping the way ahead.

As Lt. Col Bardo described the F-35:

“For the pilot, the ability to shift among missions without having to think sequentially about doing so is really a key strength of the aircraft.

The airplane can think CAS and air-to-air at the same time and the pilot can then mix and match as the mission demands rather than having to think through the sequence of going from one mission set to the next.”

In broad terms, Lt. Col. Bardo described the progress of the squadron going from its time at 29 Palms working CAS, to working closely with MAWTS-1 on shaping the tactics for the use of the aircraft in support of the MAGTF, to its participation in Red Flag this summer as the F-35 component of the air operations being exercised at Red Flag.

In total, these experiences have been crucial in preparing the squadron for its deployment to Japan.

With regard to 29 Palms, the support to the ground combat element was the focus of attention in Steel Knight 2016, which included operating from Red Beach, an austere combat training facility where the presence of FOD or ground debris is a challenge.

92821 fade 1.0 5.0

https://sldinfo.com/vmfa-121-at-red-beach/

https://sldinfo.com/steel-knight-16-a-step-for-vmfa-121-on-the-way-to-japan-in-2017/

“At the exercise we could show Marines that the F-35 is a core asset for expanding the operational environment in which the MAGTF could operate and how we can support the GCE.

We built trust in the infantry in what this revolutionary STOVL asset can bring to the force and to enhance their lethality and survivability as well.”

With MAWTS-1, the squadron has worked closely on shaping the tactics and training for the new aircraft.

The MAWTS-1 F-35 instructors have come from VMF-121, and the synergy has been crucial to shaping the way ahead for VMF-121 as it faces its deployment to Japan.

Then this summer, the squadron sent planes to Red Flag and flew in a US-only exercise with the full panoply of USN and USAF aircraft, excluding the F-15s.

There the USMC flew its jets and were part of reshaping of air to air operations associated with the F-35.

Lt. Col. Bardo noted that there were many F-16 National Guard pilots who were there, some of which had flown with the F-22 but had not flown with the F-35.

They soon learned that you did not want to be an adversary but to leverage what the F-35 brought the fight.

https://sldinfo.com/vmfa-121-brings-f-35b-to-red-flag-16-3-for-first-time/

As they prepared to the deployment to Japan the CO reflected back on his time with the squadron.

“It has been hard work and we have been at the cutting edge of many things with this new aircraft.

The squadron has met the challenges with hard work, innovation and courage and that is how we are preparing for our first overseas deployment, namely to Japan.”

We concluded by reflecting back over the history of the Green Knights who from the beginning brought innovation to the fight in the Pacific.

Historically it is interesting to note that VMF-121 was activated in June 1941 and began flying air ground combat missions in August 1942, with the “Cactus Air Force” on Guadalcanal.

The Green Knights made Marine aviation history with fourteen aces, including the legendary Joe Foss CMH so the F-35 enabled squadron is making its own aviation history.

Recently, the Vietnam generation “Green Knights: visited Yuma. Together with the F-35 generation Green Knights, the Vietnam generation Green Knights celebrated the USMC’s 241^st birthday on November 19, 2016

Lt. Col. Bardo commented:

“It was amazing for us to meet with and discuss with the Vietnam-era Green Knights.

Although much has changed; much has not.

What I told the squadron with our visitors present: look at our predecessors and that will be you in a few years.

You want to be as proud as they are; to look back at your achievements as being the first F-35 squadron and making aviation history.

You will not focus so much on the hard work we have done over the past two years, but will focus on the achievements.

And learn from them about how to meet the challenges and serve the nation.”

Biography of Lt. Col. Bardo

Lieutenant Colonel Bardo is a graduate of Whittier College and holds a B.A. in Biology.  He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in May of 1998 and attended The Basic School that fall.  Upon completion, he began Aviation Preflight training at NAS Pensacola, FL.  He conducted his primary flight training in the T-34C while assigned to VT-28 at NAS Corpus Christi, TX.  Following primary flight training, he was reassigned to VT-22 at NAS Kingsville, TX. He earned his Naval Aviator’s Wings in September of 2001.

He completed fleet replacement training in the AV-8B Harrier at Marine Attack Training Squadron 203 at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

https://sldinfo.com/mayor-fukuda-visits-mcas-yuma-prior-to-arrival-of-vmfa-121-to-japan/

In September of 2002, First Lieutenant Bardo reported to MCAS Yuma and was assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 214.

While assigned to the “Black Sheep” he served as the Powerline Division Officer and a daily schedule writer.  Promoted to Captain in October of 2002, he deployed in support of Operations Southern Watch (OSW) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) I.  In spring of 2004, Captain Bardo deployed aboard the USS Belleau Wood as part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).  Upon reaching the Persian Gulf, the 11th MEU transitioned ashore in support of OIF II.  Upon returning home from deployment, Captain Bardo transferred to 3D MAW headquarters in Miramar where he augmented the G-3 Staff while maintaining currency in the AV-8B.

In June of 2006, Captain Bardo returned to the “Black Sheep” and completed the flight leadership and instructor prerequisites to attend the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course.  Upon completion of WTI class 1-07 in October, Captain Bardo served as the Pilot Training Officer.  In January 2007, he deployed to Japan for one year supporting two back-to-back 31st MEUs.

In October of 2008, he was promoted to Major and began serving as the Aircraft Maintenance Officer.  He deployed in May 2009 to Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan in support of Marine Aircraft Group 40, 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade flying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

In December of 2009, Major Bardo reported to Eglin Air Force Base, FL as one of the initial cadre of instructors tasked with standing up the “Warlords” of Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, the USMC’s first F-35B squadron.  In January of 2011, Major Bardo was selected to attend Intermediate Level School at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island where he earned a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies.  He returned to VMFAT-501 where he completed transition training to the F-35B.  While at VMFAT-501, he served as the Director of Safety and Standardization as well as the Operations Officer.

In January of 2015, Lieutenant Colonel Bardo reported to MAG-13, located at MCAS Yuma, Arizona and assumed command of VMFA-121 in July of 2015.

Lieutenant Colonel Bardo has over 1800 flight hours, primarily in the AV-8B and F-35B and over 480 combat hours in support of OSW, OIF, and OEF.  His qualifications include: Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Mission Commander, Training Landing Signal Officer, Air Combat Tactics Instructor, Low Altitude Tactics Instructor, Functional Check Flight pilot and Demonstration pilot.

His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with Strike Numeral “12”, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, third award, and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, fourth award.

http://www.3rdmaw.marines.mil/Leaders/LeadersView/Article/614148/lieutenant-colonel-bardo/

The first slideshow shows the squadron on the day we visited and are credited to Second Line of Defense.

The second slideshow shows the squadron participating in Steel Knight and operating at Red Beach.

The third slideshow shows them at Red Flag in an all-US air combat exercise.

The fourth slideshow shows a Japanese visit to the squadron in Yuma earlier this year with Lt. Col. Bardo working with the Japanese visitors.

The photos for the final three slideshows are all credited to the USMC.

Editor’s Note: When you visit the squadron, in the main building there is a Joseph Foss room.

Looking at the history of the squadron and Joe Foss’s role in that history, one can understand the heritage being built into the new combat capability represented by the F-35 B for the 21^st Century USMC.

Tradition clearly matters.

Joseph Foss, C.O. VMF-121, Medal of Honor Recipient

By Stephen Sherman, July, 1999. Updated June 30, 2011.

Joe Foss was born on April 17, 1915 to a Norwegian-Scots family in South Dakota. He learned hunting and marksmanship at a young age. Like millions of others, 11-year old Joe Foss was inspired by Charles Lindbergh, especially after he saw Lindy at an airport near Sioux Falls.

Five years later he watched a Marine squadron put on a dazzling exhibition, led by Capt. Clayton Jerome, future wartime Director of Marine Corps Aviation.

In 1934, Joe began his college education in Sioux Falls, but he had to drop out to help his mother run the family farm. However he scraped up $65 for private flying lessons. Five years later he entered the University of South Dakota again and supported himself by waiting on tables. In his senior year he also completed a civilian pilot training program before he graduated with a Business degree in 1940.

Upon graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves as an aviation cadet. Seven months later, he earned his Marine wings at Pensacola and was commissioned a second lieutenant. For the next nine months he was a ‘plowback’ flight instructor. He was at Pensacola when the news of Pearl Harbor broke, and since he was Officer of the Day, he was placed in charge of base security. Thus he prepared to defend Pensacola from Jap invaders, riding around the perimeter on a bicycle.

To his distress, he was then ordered to the aerial photographers school and assigned to a VMO-1, a photo reconnaissance squadron.

But he insisted he wanted fighter pilot duty, even after being told “You’re too ancient, Joe. You’re 27 years old!” After lengthy lobbying with Aircraft Carrier Training Group, he learned all about the new F4F Wildcat, logging over 150 flight hours in June and July.

When he finished training, he became executive officer of VMF-121.

Three weeks later, he was on his way to the South Pacific, where the United States was desperately trying to turn the tide of war. Arriving in the South Pacific, VMF-121 was loaded aboard the escort carrier Copahee.

Guadalcanal

On the morning of October 9, they were catapulted off the decks, in Joe’s only combat carrier mission. Landing at Henderson Field, he was told that his fighters were now based at the ‘cow pasture.’

He was impressed with the ‘make-do’ character of the ‘Cactus Air Force. The airfield was riddled with bomb craters and wrecked aircraft, but also featured three batteries of 90mm anti-aircraft guns and two radar stations. As ‘exec’ of -121, he would normally lead a flight of two four-plane divisions, whenever there were enough Wildcats to go around.

He was the oldest pilot in the flight, four years older than the average age of 23. The flight would become known as ‘Foss’s Flying Circus’ and rack up over 60 victories. Five of them would become aces; two would die in the in the fight for Guadalcanal.

On October 13, 1942, VMF-121 scored its first victories when Lts. Freeman and Narr each got a Japanese plane. Later that same day, Joe led a dozen Wildcats to intercept 32 enemy bombers and fighters. In his first combat, a Zero bounced Joe, but overshot, and Joe was able to fire a good burst and claim one destroyed aircraft.

Instantly, three more Zeros set upon him, and he barely made it back to ‘Fighter One’, his Wildcat dripping oil. Chastened by the experience, he declared “You can call me ‘Swivel-Neck Joe’ from now on.” From the first day, Joe followed the tactics of Joe Bauer: getting in close, so close that another pilot joked that the ‘exec’ left powder burns on his targets. The next day while intercepting a flight of enemy bombers, Joe’s engine acted up and he took cover in the clouds. But suddenly a Wildcat whizzed past him, tailed by a Zero. Joe cut loose and shot the Zero’s wing off. It was his second victory in two days.

While the Wildcats’ primary responsibility was air defense, they also strafed Japanese infantry and ships when they had enough ammunition. Joe led on such mission on the 16th. Mid-October was the low point for the Americans in the struggle for Guadalcanal.

Japanese warships shelled the U.S. positions nightly, with special attention to the airstrips. To avoid the shelling, some fliers slept in the front lines. Foss grew to appreciate the Navy’s fighter doctrine and found that the “Thach Weave” effectively countered the Zero’s superior performance, because “it allowed us to point eyes and guns in every direction.”

Joe was leading an interception on morning of the 18th when the Zero top cover pounced on them and downed an F4F. But Foss was able to get above them and flamed the nearest, hit another, and briefly engaged a third. Gaining an angle, he finally shot up the third plane’s engine.

Next he found a group of Bettys already under attack by VF-71. He executed a firing pass from above, flashed through the enemy bombers, and pulled up sharply, blasting one from below. Nine days at Guadalcanal and he was an ace! Two days later Lt. Col. Harold Bauer and Foss led a flight of Wildcats on the morning intercept. In the dogfighting, Joe downed two Zeros, but took a hit in his engine. He landed safely at Henderson Field with a bad cut on his head, but otherwise unharmed.

‘Cactus Fighter Command’ struggled to keep enough Wildcats airworthy to meet the daily Japanese air strikes. On the 23rd, it put up two flights, led by Foss and Maj. Davis. There were plenty of targets and Joe soon exploded a Zero. He went after another which tried to twist away in a looping maneuver. Joe followed and opened up while inverted at the top of his loop. He caught the Zero and flamed it. He later described it as a lucky shot.

Next he spotted a Japanese pilot doing a slow roll; he fired as the Zero’s wings rolled through the vertical and saw the enemy pilot blown out of the cockpit, minus a parachute. Suddenly he was all alone and two Zeros hit him, but his rugged Grumman absorbed the damage, permitting Foss to flame one of his assailants.

Once again, he nursed a damaged fighter back to Guadalalcanal. So far he had destroyed eleven enemy planes, but had brought back four Wildcats that were too damaged to fly again.

October 25 was the day that the Japanese planned to occupy Henderson Field; they sent their fighters over, with orders to circle until the airstrip was theirs. It didn’t work out that way, as the U.S. ground forces held their lines and ‘Cactus’ did its part. Joe Foss led six Wildcats up before 10 AM, and claimed two of the Marine’s three kills on that sortie.

Afterwards, he berated himself for wasting ammunition on long-range shooting. He kept learning how important it was to get close. (The great German ace, Erich Hartmann, said “Get close enough until the airplane fills the whole windscreen; then you can’t miss.”) In an afternoon mission on the 25th, he downed three more, to become the Marine Corps’ first ‘ace in a day’. He had achieved 14 victories in only 13 days.

Despite rugged living conditions and the stress of daily combat flying, Foss retained his enthusiasm. He and some other fliers of VMF-121 occasionally went prowling with their rifles in the jungle, looking for Japanese soldiers, but Col. Bauer stopped this activity; trained fighter pilots were too valuable to risk this way.

They slept in six-man tents and ate the wretched powdered eggs that are mentioned in almost every pilot’s memoirs. On guy had a gramophone that they played scratchy records on. They bathed in the Lunga River; many grew beards rather than try to shave in cold water. They kept the beards neatly trimmed, not for appearances, but to ensure their beards didn’t interfere with the close-fitting oxygen masks. ‘Washing Machine Charlie’ and ‘Millimeter Mike’ harassed the field nightly, so some pilots tried to sleep in the daytime.

Down!

On November 7th Foss led seven F4Fs up the Slot to attack some IJN destroyers and a cruiser, covered by six Rufe floatplane fighters. They dispatched five of the Rufes promptly and prepared to strafe the destroyers. Joe climbed up to protect the others and got involved in a dogfight with a Pete, a two-man float biplane. He shot down the slow-flying plane, but not before its rear gunner perforated the Wildcat’s engine with 7.7mm machine gun fire.

Once again, Foss’ aircraft started sputtering on the way home. But his time, it didn’t make it. As the engine died, he put it into the longest possible shallow dive, to get as close to home as he could.

As his plane went into the water off Malaita Island, Foss struggled with his parachute harness and his seat. He went under with his plane, gulped salt water, and almost drowned before he freed himself and inflated his Mae West. Exhausted and with the tide against him, he knew that he couldn’t swim to shore. While trying to rest and re-gain his strength in his life raft, he spotted shark fins nearby. He sprinkled the chlorine powder supplied for that purpose in his emergency pack and that seemed to help.

As darkness approached, he heard some searchers looking for him. They hauled him in and brought him to Malaita’s Catholic mission. There were a number of Europeans and Australians, including two nuns who had been there for forty years and had never seen an automobile. They fed him steak and eggs and invited him stay for two weeks.

The next day a PBY Catalina, piloted by Maj. Jack Cram rescued him. On his return to Guadalcanal, he learned that ‘Cactus’ had downed 15 Japanese planes in the previous day’s air battle. His own tally stood at 19. On the ninth, Admiral Bull Halsey pinned the Distinguished Flying Cross on him and two other pilots.

The Americans were bringing four transports full of infantry to Guadalcanal on November 12. The Japanese sent 16 Betty bombers and 30 covering Zeroes after them, while the American Wildcats and Airacobras defended.

Foss and his Wildcats were flying top cover CAP and dived headlong into the attackers, right down onto the deck. As Barrett Tillman described it in Wildcat Aces of WWII: Ignoring the peril, Foss hauled into within 100 yards of the nearest bomber and aimed at the starboard engine, which spouted flame. The G4M tried a water landing, caught a wingtip and tumbled into oblivion. Foss set his sight on another Betty when a Zero intervened. The F4F nosed up briefly and fired a beautifully aimed snapshot which sent the A6M spearing into the water. He then resumed the chase.

Foss caught up with the next Betty in line and made a deflection shot into its wingroot; the bomber flamed up and then set down in the water. The massive dogfight continued, until Joe ran out of fuel and ammunition.

Between the fighters and the AA, the Americans destroyed almost all the bombers and many of the Zeros. No U.S. ships were seriously damaged. But that night another naval surface battle raged in Ironbottom Sound. Warships on both sides were sunk or damaged, including the IJN battleship Hiei which Marine bombers and torpedo planes finished off on the 13th. The major Japanese effort continued on the 14th, as they brought in a seven ship troop convoy. The American air forces cut this up as well.

Late that afternoon, Col. Bauer, tired of being stuck on the ground at Fighter Command, went up with Joe to take a look. It was his last flight, described by Joe Foss in a letter to Bauer’s family. No trace of ‘Indian Joe’ was ever found. Back at Guadalcanal, Foss was diagnosed with malaria. Two great leaders of Cactus Fighter Command were gone, although Foss would return in six weeks.

He recuperated in New Caledonia and Australia. He met some of the high-scoring Australian aces, who viewed the Japanese as inferior opponents and were a little dismissive of Joe’s 23 victories. After a brief relapse of malaria, Joe returned to Guadalcanal on New Year’s Day. Improvements had been made in his absence, notably pierced steel planking (PSP) for the Fighter Strip. Foss returned to combat flying on the 15th when he shot down three more planes to bring his total to 26.

He flew his last mission ten days later when his flight and four P-38s intercepted a force of over 60 Zeros and Vals. Quickly analyzing the situation, he ordered his flight to stay high, circling in a Lufbery. This made his small flight look like a decoy to the Japanese. Soon Cactus scrambled more fighters and the Japanese planes fled. It was ironic that in one of Joe Foss’ most satisfying missions, he didn’t fire a shot.

http://acepilots.com/usmc_foss.html

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

The standup of C2F and Allied JFC Norfolk has occurred as allies are significantly reworking their approaches to deterrence and warfighting in the North Atlantic at the same time. It is the blend of the U.S. efforts with those of the allies which is shaping a 21^st century approach to integrated defense in support of Western interests.

While the United States has significant elements of the Western defense forces to bring to bear, allies are key players in reshaping North Atlantic defense as well. This is in terms of force modernization, local knowledge and, certainly, in the case of the Nordics a profound understanding of how both to work with the Russians as well as the need to take them very seriously as an authoritarian threat to their neighborhood.

For the Nordics, the Russians are a very close Naval and Air Force in being. In naval warfare, a “fleet in being” is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. A “fleet in being” can be part of a sea denial doctrine, but not one of sea control.

During our visit to Norfolk in March 2021, we had a chance to talk with RDML Staale Pedersen, head of Allied JFC Norfolk, Operations.[1] The RADML is an experienced maritime officer who has been in the Norwegian Navy since 1985. He has had one FFG command, with three different ships but with the same crew. He has done eight Stanavforlant/SNMG 1 tours with NATO. Four of these tours included operations, including counter piracy and counter terrorism. Of those four operations, he was CO on two of them. He has extensive experience at the Norwegian Joint HQ  as well was head of future operations, submarine operations and ASW. His sea fairing domain knowledge is formidable, and he brings that hard earned experience to play in the efforts of both C2F and JFC Norfolk.

As he put it: “When you look at the Western navies operating in the Atlantic, you see several blue dots on the ocean. Our task is to ensure that those blue dots are aware of what each of them is doing and to bring them into a more integrated operational force.”

He sees this as crucial for deterrence, and if necessary, warfighting to ensure U.S. and Allied integrated balance in the region. For the Norwegians, there is clear concern with the threat of Russian coercion, but also significant understanding that Russia is a neighbor important to work through a number of key shared challenges as well.

This question of balance was put very well in an interview done in 2017 in Norway with the head of security policy in the Norwegian Department of Defence.

As Keith Eikenes, Director, Department for Security Policy and Operations in the Ministry of Defence of Norway, put it:

“Our policy is to engage with Russia where it’s possible, and we do have examples of pragmatic good cooperation that we’ve had historically, and in some areas, that it’s still ongoing. For example, we cooperate on safety incidents at sea, and on fisheries with regard to common management, and cooperation. We also have border guard cooperation, so there are certainly areas where we can have a pragmatic cooperation as well.”

He made this point after underscoring the change which he saw over the past three years, that is from 2014 through 2017. “When I was in Washington, we were primarily focused on out of area operations, counter insurgency and counter terrorism.

Now with the Crimean crisis and the modernization of Russian forces, questions of national defense and protecting the North Atlantic have returned to the fore.

We are seeing a Russia that is becoming less predictable, more assertive about its interests, and also, undergoing a fundamental military in modernization, which makes it far more militarily capable than it was. And indeed, Russia is modernizing more rapidly than many anticipated.

And those new capabilities are being joined to a growing debate about sea control and sea denial strategy.”

The sense of balance suggested by Eikenes profoundly came through in our discussion with the Norwegian Admiral. He saw the standup of the two commands in Norfolk as a crucial step forward in working integration, and in his time there, welcomed the kind of subject expertise resident in C2F being made available to JFC Norfolk. He was focused on JFC Norfolk build up  to deliver the kind of integrated force capabilities required for operational deterrence.

In particular, he noted that the Norwegians, the British and the Danes were enhancing national maritime domain awareness operations and saw an very important role for JFC Norfolk in working a more integrated joint surveillance operational approach.

The Admiral was very much  focused on concrete effects which current forces can create and developing ways to enhance what extant forces can do together. He saw the standing up of an operational NATO command on U.S. territory as an important contributor to shaping better understanding on the U.S. side of what allies bring specifically to the operational capabilities in Atlantic operations.

“We are focused on joint effectiveness; we are pioneers in this process and the two commands working this is a key driver for the right kind of change.”

We have significant respect for our Nordic colleagues, and in the joint book by Laird and Delaporte, a significant part of the book focuses on their renewed defense efforts since 2014. And we both attended a unique symposium in Copenhagen in 2015 which certainly highlighted one Nordic country’s way ahead with regard to modernization, but clearly in the alliance context.

On April 17, 2015, a joint symposium on the evolution of airpower was co-sponsored by The Sir Richard Williams Foundation (Australia) and the Centre for Military Studies of the Department of Political Science of the University of Copenhagen. Both organizations are partners with Second Line of Defense.

This was an unusual conference given that it launched an Australian effort to broaden the working relationship with non-Asian partners in shaping new approaches to airpower and was, in turn, the beginning of a broader intellectual outreach by the Danish Centre as well.

While 21st Century Technology Training and Tactics were being discussed in Copenhagen, it was important to have a moment of historic humility as well.

Earlier Viking heroic nautical efforts are still being honored with original long boats displayed in a famous Danish museum. Fortunately, because of the nature of cold-water preserving wood the Danes have a brilliant museum paying homage to the undaunted nautical courage of all Nordic countries. The epic Viking heritage begin a thousand years ago. Open Viking “long boats” challenged the North Atlantic and ultimately around to the Mediterranean. To see the exact size of their vessels is amazing in contemplating the courage it took to challenge sea states of the North Atlantic.

Taking a Viking fleet across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland and ultimately North America was a legendary and courageous naval endeavor. And today the geography of the ocean that Vikings crossed is still of huge strategic importance. Fast forward to the 21st Century  and make no mistake  2nd Fleet commanders know the importance of the geography of their area of operations in protecting strategic sea commerce both east west and with the opening of Artic passages, north and south.

In short, the Nordics have much to contribute to better U.S. understanding of the evolving challenges from the High North and the expanded Atlantic defense geography.

Featured photo: NORFOLK (Feb. 20, 2020) Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, Commander, U.S. Second Fleet, met with Rear Adm. Nils Andreas Stensønes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, during a visit to Norfolk, Feb. 20. U.S. 2nd Fleet’s mission is to develop and employ maritime forces across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied and partner interests.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua M. Tolber

This story was published by C2F on February 21, 2020 with regard to the visit of a senior Norwegian delegation to the fleet:

A Norwegian delegation of military officers, led by Rear Adm. Nils Andreas Stensønes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, held a key-leader engagement with U.S. 2nd Fleet and Joint Force Command Norfolk leaders aboard Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Feb. 20, 2020.

The Norwegian delegation participated in bilateral multilevel discussions with Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, Commander Joint Force Command Norfolk and U.S. 2nd Fleet, as well Rear Adm. Andrew Betton, Deputy Commander, Joint Force Command Norfolk and Rear Adm. Steve Waddell, Vice Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, to discuss areas for cooperation as the two navies continue to enhance integration and cooperation.

“Our relationship with Norway is critical to naval operations,” said Lewis. “Norway is a key maritime partner and by working together, we will surely improve maritime security and prosperity while strengthening the relationship between our navies. Our meeting today provided an important opportunity for us to solidify our foundation and align our focus on shared interests in support of a stable maritime environment.”

International partnerships run deep within the makeup of 2nd Fleet. As the U.S. Navy’s newest Fleet, 2nd Fleet leverages the diversity of thought that comes with the integration of allies and partners.

These partners not only serve in an advisory role, they integrate into senior-staff level positions. Currently, 2nd Fleet has officers from Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Norway, holding positions as fleet planners, logisticians, and operators.

“Having perspectives from other nations is invaluable and provides immeasurable insight and expertise,” said Lewis. “With them, they bring knowledge from their own naval experiences, and they help bridge the gaps in our own understanding while strengthening the relationships that are central to mission accomplishment.”

C2F exercises operational and administrative authorities over assigned ships, aircraft, and landing forces on the East Coast and the Atlantic. When directed, C2F conducts exercises and operations within the U.S. European Command AOR as an expeditionary fleet, providing NAVEUR an additional maneuver arm to operate forces dynamically in theater.

[1] In U.S terms, he is a one-star Admiral but in Norway as in the UK, he is identified as Commodore (CDRE).

Editor’s Note: Below is the briefing which Ed Timperlake gave to the Copenhagen conference in 2015.

And clearly what Vice Admiral Lewis has understood is that the Nordics have domain competencies which the United States simply does not have and by working C2F properly with the Allied Command, the right kind of operational capabilities can be forged to deal with the High North challenges.

By Robbin Laird

Recently, the latest large deck carrier was at sea with the ITS Cavour.  One could describe this as a large deck carrier at sea with a smaller carrier but that would really miss the point.

From the standpoint of what we are seeing with the launch of 2^nd Fleet and JFC Norfolk, the U.S. Navy and the relevant NATO nations are reworking how to shape a distributed integrated force.

And having a significantly redesigned large deck carrier on the U.S. side configured to operate with the fleet differently, and with a small deck carrier operating F-35s off of its deck, these two platforms together deliver new capabilities to the 360 degree combat force.

As I wrote on October 15, 2020:

Although the USS Ford draws on the generations of experience operating large deck carriers, the USS Ford is no more a Nimitz class replacement than the F-35 is a replacement for legacy aircraft.

The ship has a number of capabilities which allow it to have substantial increases in sortie generation rates which allows the ship to deliver mix and match force packages into the expanded battlespace.

And these capabilities will work differently with the fleet, understood more broadly, as inclusive not only of the Navy but with the US Air Force and Marine Corps as well.

The airwing of the future understood as the integratable air wing, new approaches to working fleet wide combat integrability, enhanced capabilities to work with the various elements of the joint and coalition forces more effectively, reworking blue water expeditionary operations, and shaping kill web dynamic targeting options, all provide the strategic context within which the USS Ford will operate.

In other words, it is not just a new ship; it is a new blue water capability empowering maritime and air power to operate in ways symmetrical with the challenges of full spectrum crisis management.

As such, the ship will benefit from the various force structure changes which the United States and its allies are generating but it will also drive further changes in concepts of operations and capabilities as well.

In many ways, it is an untold story.

With the ITS Cavour switching from Harriers to F-35s, its contribution to the coalition force ramps up exponentially. The F-35s operating off of the Cavour can integrate with U.S. and allied forces also flying the F-35.

And with the F-35 global enterprise, the global reach of information surveillance and reconnaissance is significant along with the ability to shape a common operating picture for the kind of time urgent decision making needed for full spectrum crisis management.

As we wrote in 2013 about the coming of the F-35 to the ITS Cavour:

A ship like the Cavour, operating F-35Bs, can form a centerpiece of a maritime operational force or provide overwatch and strike support for an allied coalition force, seen as a distributed force.

Given Italy’s key location in the Mediterranean, its land and sea-based assets can be blended into a more coherent capability to protect Italian interests by more effectively combining its air assets around the F-35.

For example, if one looks at the Mediterranean and considers simply the deployment of three F-35B carriers, the Cavour, the new Queen Elizabeth class or the USS America class, the Mediterranean can be considered under the reach of the air fleet, but one clearly considered not as an end in itself but as integral part of joint and coalition operations.

In the graphic below, a notional intersection of F-35Bs operating off of an Italian carrier with that of the UK with that of the USN-USMC Amphibious Ready Group in the Mediterranean is represented:

The fleet operates by the machines within the plane trading data with one another so that the circles represent a common operating picture over the reach of the multiple flying assets.  The COP provides a setting within which the pilots can operate to shape situational decision making appropriate to the mission.

And the circles are actually 360 degree situational awareness enabled operating areas. The reach throughout the Mediterranean simply from three ships operating their F-35Bs and delivering situational awareness, strike and situational decision-making is significant even without considering the other assets with which the fleet will interconnect with.

In short, the picture is not just about the platforms operating at sea; it is about how they will be able to operate in new and innovative ways moving forward in operating as a distributed itnegrated force.

This indeed is at the heart of the argument in the forthcoming book with Ed Timperlake to be published by USNI press next year.

Note: I have clearly followed the UK large deck carrier program and the UK F-35 engagement for many years.

And these new capabilities are clearly part of what enters a 2^nd Fleet/JFC Norfolk world of distributed integratability.

In a recent USNI News piece, U.K. Armed Forces minister James Heappey was quoted as underscoring the synergy piece.

There is going to be a community of F-35 nations that we would be mad to ignore,” Heappey said in response to a question from USNI News. “We think that our carrier capability is something that we can develop alongside — not just the U.S. — but the Italians, the Japanese and the Australians and many others who are looking at that highly capable aircraft.”

The U.K. has already committed to exercising with the JMSDF during its summer deployment.

This week, the U.K. released its new white paper that outlines the future of its defense force and its push toward modernization of the armed forces, which emphasizes the development of new systems and the divestiture of legacy equipment.

 For the Royal Navy that means decommissioning two Type 23 anti-submarine warfare frigates, and acquiring more new Type 26 and Type 31 frigates and a new support vessel, in addition to forward deploying offshore patrol vessels to take pressure off of higher-end warships.

Additionally, the MoD is expanding its maritime combat forces. “The Royal Navy will invest 40 million pounds more over the next four years to develop our Future Commando Force as part of the transformation of our amphibious forces, as well as more than 50 million pounds in converting a Bay class support ship to deliver a more agile and lethal littoral strike capability,” reads the white paper.

Heappey said the U.K. was taking a page from how the U.S. Marine Corps is reorganizing itself.

“What we’re doing with our Royal Marines is very similar to, uh, some of the innovation that the U.S. Marine Corps is developing and the strength of the relationship, not just forged for Iraq and Afghanistan. But actually over the last hundred years, [the relationship] between the USMC and the Royal Marines is so strong that I would expect to see us developing capability in all sorts of areas. Not just capability, but ideas to how an amphibious force operates in the future,” he said.

 And in our interview with Rear Admiral Betton, the Deputy Commander of Allied Joint Force Command, Norfolk, he clearly underscored why this image of F-35s coming off of the ITS Cavour was significant as well.

As the former commander of the Queen Elizabeth Strike Group, Rear Admiral Betton is very familiar with the coming of the F-35 as an allied capability to Atlantic defense. The USMC has been a key partner of the UK as the Brits have stood up their F-35B capability afloat, have integrated with the British carrier in the North Atlantic and have generated with the new aircraft, new ways to integrate USMC-Naval forces.

Betton also noted that first the Italians and now the Norwegians have brought their F-35s to conduct air patrols from Iceland. Indeed, one could note that the F-35 capability operational today in the North Atlantic is indeed largely allied or put another way, the most advanced combat airpower in the region is provided by the allies.

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

When you visit 2nd Fleet and JFC Norfolk, you are acutely aware of the key role they play in working together to build out 21st century North Atlantic defense.

Vice Admiral Lewis is the head of both commands, and the two commands work closely together in shaping the kind of integrated distributed force crucial to 21st century warfighting and deterrence.

JFC Norfolk was created at the 2018 Brussels Summit as a new joint operational level command for the Atlantic. It reached an important milestone in September 2020 when it declared Initial Operational Capability.

JFC Norfolk is the only operational NATO command in North America and is closely integrated with the newly reactivated U.S. Second Fleet.

JFC reached its initial operating capability in September 2020.

As a NATO press release dated September 18, 2020 put it:

NATO’s new Atlantic Command was declared operational in a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia on Thursday (17 September 2020). Joint Force Command Norfolk, established to protect sea lanes between Europe and North America, is the first NATO headquarters dedicated to the Atlantic since 2003.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the milestone, saying: “NATO is a transatlantic Alliance, and the North Atlantic is vital for the security of Europe. Our new Atlantic Command will ensure crucial routes for reinforcements and supplies from North America to Europe remain secure.”

Co-located with the U.S. Second Fleet, the Atlantic Command is led by U.S. Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis. It will provide coherent command arrangements for Allied forces, maintain situational awareness, conduct exercises, and draw up operational plans covering vast geographic areas, from the U.S. East Coast, past the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap and into the Arctic.  Day-to-day NATO maritime operations will continue to be run out of Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) in the United Kingdom.

NATO Defence Ministers decided in June 2018 to adapt the Alliance’s command structure with a new Atlantic command in Norfolk, and a command for support and logistics in Ulm, Germany. Joint Force Command Norfolk joins NATO’s two existing Joint Forces Commands, located in Brunssum, Netherlands, and Naples, Italy.

And after JFC became operational, an additional NATO capability was added to the command.

According to an October 1, 2020 C2F story:

Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS COE), a NATO-accredited, multi-national military think tank, transferred directorship from the deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces (USFF) Command to commander, U.S.  2ndFleet (C2F), Oct. 1.

The transition from Vice Adm. Dave Kriete, deputy commander, USFF, to Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, who is commander, C2F, and dual-hatted as commander, Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk, will strengthen the relationship between CJOS COE and C2F, and build upon previously established networks at USFF.

Established in May 2006, CJOS COE represents 13 nations and is the only COE in the U.S. As one of 26 NATO-accredited centers worldwide, they represent a collective wealth of international experience, expertise, and best practices, critical to operations in the North Atlantic.

“By linking C2F, JFC Norfolk, and now CJOS COE, national and NATO commands will further align, catalyzing the development of modern warfighting capabilities in the North Atlantic, and increasing readiness across the joint force,” said Lewis. “We must be postured to respond to existing multi-domain threats tonight, yet make urgent efforts to adapt now to the new challenges of the security environment of tomorrow.”

The realignment comes shortly after Joint Force Command Norfolk’s initial operational capability ceremony on Sep. 17.

“The important partnership between the Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS COE) and the United States Fleet Forces Command has been superb,” said Kriete. “This key relationship will continue between CJOS COE and C2F and help ensure maritime security in the Atlantic.”

U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

“This more direct relationship between CJOS and C2F will enhance allied interoperability and further expand on CJOS COE’s connections with U.S. commands assigned to train, operate, and deploy with NATO maritime forces, said Commodore Tom Guy, Royal Navy, deputy director of CJOS COE. “It is a logical and really welcome step as we collectively work to maintain our warfighting edge in the North Atlantic.”

Vice Admiral Lewis noted at the time of JFC Norfolk reaching its IOC of how important the working relationship between C2F and JFC Norfolk was for shaping a comprehensive and integrated way ahead for Atlantic defense.

“This is the first command of its type within NATO,” Lewis said. “It’s the first command on the continent of North America that NATO has established in a long time.”

 While Lewis leads JFC Norfolk, he noted that his deputy commander is U.K. Royal Navy Rear Admiral Andrew Betton. The command also includes three one-star leadership positions held by one officer from Denmark, one from France, and one from Norway, Lewis said. JFC Norfolk’s chief of staff will toggle between an officer from Spain and Germany. Meanwhile, Lewis’ deputy for his 2nd Fleet command is Canadian Rear Admiral Steve Waddell.

 “JFC Norfolk will make our lives stronger and help defend North America as well as Europe, by providing continued situational awareness across the North Atlantic, deterring aggression, and if necessary, rising to defend our shared values,” Lewis said.

“We will aid [Supreme Allied Commander Europe] in developing — in achieving this 360-degree approach to the collective defense of the allies,” he added. “We will both lead and contribute to NATO contingency planning, actively participate in multi-national exercises, and develop a high readiness capability to respond in the event of an emergency crisis.”

In the next year, as it gears up for full operational capability by the conclusion of 2021, the command will focus on an array of assignments from Supreme Allied Commander Europe, which Lewis said will include planning for different types of exercises.

Specifically, JFC Norfolk will strategize for and participate in a NATO exercise called Steadfast Defender that is slated to take place this summer.

“There’s parts of that in the lead-up to the actual live exercise that will flex the tasking that we need to have to be able to declare full operational [capability],” Lewis said of the exercise.

Betton described Steadfast Defender as an exercise focused on moving forces across the Atlantic Ocean to continental Europe, as the United States and its allies might have to do in the event of a real-world emergency.

“For JFC Norfolk, it is also a key training opportunity for the team here in the headquarters so we can identify our shortfalls, address those, and ensure that we are ready to declare full operational capability later in the year,” Betton said. “So it’s a multi-faceted thing.”

NATO established JFC Norfolk in July 2019, a little over one year after the United States reestablished 2nd Fleet as the Pentagon recalculated its strategy due to Russia’s increased activity in the North Atlantic.

Lewis said NATO has authorized both a new strategy and an execution of that strategy, known as “Deterrence and Defense of the Euro-Atlantic Region.” But the specifics of the strategy are under classification, according to Lewis.

“We’re in . . . lockstep right now in planning toward implementation of that strategy and what that operational concept looks like,” Lewis said. “In fact, there’s a commander’s conference in about a week and a half’s time and that’s the main topic of the commander’s conference. And we have submitted our approach to that from this command already.”

A very good piece by Dave Ress published by The Daily Press on November 12, 2020 provides an overview of how Vice Admiral Lewis and his JFC Norfolk deputy look at the way ahead.

“Joint Force Command Norfolk brings the North Atlantic back to NATO,” Lewis said. “Our space goes from Florida to Finnmark, from the sea bed to satellites in space. … In essence, it is what draws the continents together”

That North Atlantic focus marks a shift from NATO’s traditional land-centered defense of the European continent. “The trans-Atlantic bridge is vital … it connects all the members of the alliance in North America and Europe.” said Joint Force deputy commander, British Rear Adm. Andrew Betton. “What links us all is lying on the bottom of the ocean” he said, referring to the cables that telecommunications and Internet services depend on.

In a sense, the two admirals say, Joint Force Command is responsible for operations in what more and more strategists are calling the Fourth Battle of the Atlantic. The first, in World War I, pitted two relatively new types of ships — submarines and destroyers — the first of which was trying to sink ships bring material and troops to Europe, the second, aiming to protect those troops and goods. The second Battle of the Atlantic, in World War II, introduced widespread use of naval aircraft. The third, during the Cold War, mainly brought NATO and Soviet submarines into confrontation. The fourth, the admirals say, will introduce new domains to defend, including satellites and cyber threats, as well as threats to shipping and commerce that were the main focus of the first two battles and the submarine threats that dominated the third.

The challenges of the North Atlantic are unlike those of other seas, Lewis said. “Right now, we’ve got a hurricane off Key West, ice floes moving fast in the north,” Lewis said. “Up in the High Arctic, with ship communications, we’ve got some physics to think about with satellites, we need to think about line of sight communications … these are dangerous waters.”

The experiences of his colleagues from other nations matter. “The Norwegians are operating all the time up in the Arctic; so is Iceland and Canada,” Lewis said. The British and French have experience with carriers and submarines and with operating them in tandem with the U.S. Navy’s own.

Other navies bring experience in local waters and with smaller ships, deputy commander Betton said, and while “most of our domain is wet, so most of our people are naval” the command includes air force. marine and army personnel from several nations.

As an operational command, Joint Force has to go beyond looking at the the logistics of moving troops and gear to thinking of what needs to to defended, what threats are there, and how to be sure war-fighting resources of the 30 different nations in NATO can be called on to get there and how they will coordinate. “Our job is to say what needs to happen; tactical commands figure out which ships and which soldiers need to be where and do what for that,” Betton said.

The fast-moving command doubled in size over the summer, with a staff that now numbers 88 and will reach 144 when it reaches full capability next year. Its assignment is to create coherent command arrangements for Allied forces, maintain situational awareness, conduct exercises, and draw up operational plans, NATO says.

The command is already working on planning for NATO’s big Steadfast Defender 2021 exercise, which will involve tens of thousands of thousands of troops deploying to several different training spanning Europe.

Joint Force is NATO’s third, geography-defined joint force operation command — and the third NATO unit in Hampton Roads, along with the strategists of Allied Command Transformation and the Combined Joint Operations of the Sea Centre of Excellence. “It’s really important that Norfolk is NATO’s home in North America; that’s something I hope people in Hampton Roads will see,” Lewis said.

Royal Navy Rear Adm. A. Betton, Deputy Commander, JFCNF, (left) and U.S. Vice Adm. A. Lewis, Commander, JFCNF at JFCNF’s Initial Operational Capability ceremony at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Hampton Roads, Virginia – Photo Petty Off. 1st Cl. Th. Green

We had a chance to visit with Rear Admiral Betton during our March 2021 visit to Norfolk.

Laird had already met with and interviewed Betton when he was the Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, centered around large deck aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. I

t is notable that Betton comes to this command as part of the Royal Navy’s significant reworking due to the impact of the new carrier and its onboard F-35s. The Queen Elizabeth class is the only carrier built around the F-35 and for the Brits, it also drives integration between the RAF and the Royal Navy.

Notably, the head of carrier air integration in the MOD is now head of the new UK space command which is clearly suggestive of how the Brits are looking at the way ahead to multi-domain force integration.

The sense we had from the C2F staff of the excitement of working a startup command and innovating from the ground up was underscored as well by Rear Admiral Betton with regard to his command.

“Coming here 18 months ago has been a really exciting professional opportunity, and genuinely a pleasure to have another run at setting up a team pretty much from scratch. The Second Fleet team was well on the way by the time I got here, but the NATO team was just about at conception, but not much beyond that.”

The geography and three-dimensional operational space of the NATO zone of responsibility is  very wide indeed.

As Betton put it: “SACEUR’s area of responsibility, goes all the way from the Yucatan peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pole. I’ve always loved the phrase from Finnmark to Florida, or Florida to Finnmark. But it is also important to realize all domain challenges and threats that we face. It’s everything from seabed infrastructure, through the sub sea water column, the surface, the airspace above it, and up into the satellite constellation above that.”

As the former commander of the Queen Elizabeth Strike Group, Rear Admiral Betton is very familiar with the coming of the F-35 as an allied capability to Atlantic defense. The USMC has been a key partner of the UK as the Brits have stood up their F-35B capability afloat, have integrated with the British carrier in the North Atlantic and have generated with the new aircraft, new ways to integrate USMC-Naval forces.

Betton also noted that first the Italians and now the Norwegians have brought their F-35s to conduct air patrols from Iceland. Indeed, one could note that the F-35 capability operational today in the North Atlantic is indeed largely allied or put another way, the most advanced combat airpower in the region is provided by the allies.

Royal Navy Cdre. Andrew Betton, commander of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group, meets with leaders of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Jan. 25, 2017. The VMFA-121 leaders informed Betton about the air station’s F-35B Lightning II’s and taught him about its unique, operational capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Nathan Wicks)

We also discussed the importance of innovation in the maritime domain awareness NATO community as well. The Brits preserved their ASW skill sets after having cancelled Nimrod and in anticipation of adding the P-8, which is being deployed from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where there are P-8 facilities for allies as well. The Norwegians are operating P-8s as well. With P-8s and the U.S .Navy operating Triton which operates in an orbital cycle complementary to the sortie generation approach of the P-8s, there is a continuous belt of ASW and anti-surface fleet information being provided for the US and allied forces in the North Atlantic.

These new capabilities have their most important impact in supporting rapid decision-making cycles. The C2F focus on reworking C2 to provide for effective mission command and distributed operations is a key effort for JFC Norfolk as well. And the two staffs work interactively on shaping a way ahead in the crucial C2 domain.

In the recent book by Laird and Delaporte on the return of direct defense in Europe, we highlighted the key importance of “clusters” of key states working specifically on tailored defense tasks, rather than simply considering the Alliance as whole. For Rear Admiral Betton, our notion of the operational clusters of the coalition of the willing is better understood as the operational cluster of the relevant nations.

And there is certainly no greater example of this than the Europeans focused on North Atlantic defense, with the new carrier operational groups for the UK, and enhanced Nordic collaboration in the region.

As Betton put it: “The U.S. is by far the dominant figure of NATO, but it’s not the only piece. And it’s not always just the heavy metal that is relevant. It’s the connectivity, it’s the infrastructure and the architecture that enables the 30 nations of NATO to get so much more than the sum of the parts out of their combined effort. But it’s particularly the relevant nations in the operational area and their ability to work together which is an important consideration.”

The Rear Admiral underscored the importance of the only operational NATO command on U.S. soil. “The idea of integrating it with the second fleet headquarters under a dual hatted command was a fantastic move because it emphasizes bluntly to Europe that the U.S. is fully committed to NATO. It’s not NATO and the U.S., the U.S. is part of NATO. And having an operational headquarters here in CONUS really emphasizes that point in both directions.”

He noted that there are 16 nations at the command currently with three more arriving in the next few months, namely, Portugal, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. It is crucial to shape a better understanding of how central the air-maritime is to NATO defense with the more historical memory of the European landmass as the former epicenter of NATO defense in the Soviet period and with the geographical encirclement which the Warsaw Pact provided against the West European fragment of Europe.

And reworking how to do the most effective defense is also a work in progress.

As Rear Admiral Betton put it: “One of the key efforts we are pursuing in this integrated command is not just stitching together NATO and U.S. assets, but it’s also stitching together teams within teams. It could be the U.S. cooperating with Norway, Sweden, and Finland, with Admiral Lewis commanding a multinational command..

“And a crisis might grow and evolve into something that the North Atlantic Council agree to respond to and therefore activate the JFC to command in a NATO sense.

“But because the Commander has that flexibility to go from a unilateral U.S. only under second fleet, through a growing coalition, there’s the opportunity to coordinate activity with a whole diverse range of entities before it becomes a formal NATO response.”

It is clear that agility and scalability are a key part of the way ahead for 21^st century full spectrum crisis management. And the JFC working in an integrated manner with C2F certainly is working such capabilities. This is a case of startup fleets working core capabilities which are clearly needed across the combat force.

This is why what is happening in Norfolk is certainly of strategic impact and significance.

Featured Photo: U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis and British Royal Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Betton host a ceremony at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, in Norfolk, Va., Sept. 17, 2020, to mark the start of operations of NATO’s Atlantic Command. NATO