Page 48 - Cormorant 2023

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USA
While the Hacking for MOD team headed to the West Coast USA, a select few visited the Eastern USA. Like the first RSE, the second one focused on the security challenges, and the UK interest in the region. However, as
the host nation was USA, the security challenges were global; with a focus
on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pivot to face a rising China, challenges with Iran and North-Korea, and the continued problem of violent extremist organisations throughout the world.
In normal JSCSC fashion the delegation appeared overdressed in most situations, as we waded our way in suits through school children dressed in shorts and camouflage MAGA hats during our visits to the Capitol and
the Pentagon. More than one course member was approached by tourists or school children asking for directions to various monuments or buildings on the National Mall as we looked like US Secret Service Agents. The Pentagon
visit included a briefing on the current Joint Chiefs of Staff strategy and
the pivot to China, but most course members will remember the guided tour of the massive 5-sided building. The tour was carried out by dedicated NCOs from ceremonial units within the services. They did an impressive job of walking the whole tour backwards and keeping eye contact with us through the corridors and different floors of the Pentagon, with the occasional glance over their shoulder to ensure safe passage.
After a few days in Washington DC the course members got quite the change of scenery to Norfolk, Virginia. Initially staying in a beautiful hotel situated
in the hills above the Rock Creek trail and Potomac river, where the Beatles had played and President Clinton had stayed, a crowning jewel of Washington, the move to a hotel under renovation located next to the interstate and Mount Trashmore was a shock. However, Norfolk had other attractions to offer
like the Lockheed Martin Centre for Innovation called ‘The Lighthouse.’
The centre had an actual lighthouse inside the middle of the building; the centre is maybe best known in the UK for supporting the integration of US Marines, RAF, and RN prior to CSG21. The day was rounded off with an obligatory visit to the Navy Exchange where much spending of promotion pay rises was had.
Following a day of simulations at ‘The Lighthouse,’ we moved back to the real world with a visit to Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and Joint
Force Command (JFC) Norfolk. Both commands provided excellent briefs and gave us a good understanding of developments within NATO doctrine, planning, and command structures. ACT updated the course members on the strategic level with the new NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept and changes to the NATO Defence Planning Process, while JFC Norfolk covered
the operational level with the NATO
Multi-domain Operations Doctrine and plans in support of the European theatre.
All in all, the RSE to the USA East Coast provided the course members a better understanding of the US pivot to the Indo-Pacific. At the same time it exposed us to the complexities of balancing China’s pacing threat with the Russian annexation of Crimea
and the invasion of Ukraine forcing a US refocus to the European theatre with reestablishment of the NATO JFC Command in Norfolk.