Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC)

During the past six years, utilizing the concept of Joint Operations has become standard for successful U.S. military combat. The need for Joint interdependency and Joint systems interoperability during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq is irrefutable. Consequently, Joint lessons learned are rapidly being incorporated in combat operations and Service/Joint training programs. However, Joint lessons have proven to be elusive and slow to take hold in the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition and testing communities. Despite the popularity of the common catch phrase ‘‘Born Joint,’’ many systems are fielded without a rigorous and credible test of their capabilities in a Joint operating environment. Performance of Joint systems must be evaluated in a Joint environment, and the only way to do that effectively, efficiently, and early in acquisition is to link distributed high-fidelity test facilities creating a realistic Joint environment. However, the proliferation of unique, noninteroperable, and expensive testing infrastructures remains widespread within the DoD. To effectively and efficiently test systems in a Joint environment, the DoD needed an enterprise-level LVC distributed test capability using a common infrastructure. The Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) program was initiated in FY 07 to meet that need. This article provides a brief description of the JMETC program and the capabilities it is providing, as well as its recent accomplishments.