Joint Forces Command chief pitches new name - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Joint Forces Command chief pitches new name

Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, U.S. Joint Forces Command chief, late last month pitched to Defense Secretary Robert Gates a proposal to rename the Norfolk, Va.-based organization, aiming to reflect how much it works with non-American entities and officials.

The JFCOM commander wants “coalition” added to the organization’s name, according to a Dec. 22 memo Mattis sent Gates.

“In alignment with our mission and consistent with the continued importance of partnership with multinational partners, request your approval to immediately pursue the renaming of U.S. Joint Forces Command to U.S. Joint and Coalition Forces Command,” the memo said. “This [proposed] name will better reflect the day-to-day reality of this non-geographically-oriented command and signify a command focused on more than internal U.S. priorities.”

War games conducted as part of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, Mattis told Gates, show Joint Forces Command “will rarely engage in future conflicts alone,” the memo said.

Mattis notes in his memo that 34 senior officers, from both NATO and “Partnership for Peace member nations, as well as Asia Pacific, African and Middle Eastern nations,” are hosted by the command. Nearly 90 officials from 48 nations “routinely collaborate” with the joint organization, Mattis wrote.

What’s more, he stated, an additional 10 nations are in talks with Joint Forces Command about forging similar relationships, which Mattis told his boss is “a clear indicator that nations recognize USJFCOM as a key forum where military collaboration with the United States can successfully occur.”

The chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were copied on the memo.