Naval Postgraduate School hosts interagency program

The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) recently conducted Joint Interagency Field Experiment (JIFX) 12-2 at Camp Roberts, California from February 11 to 14. The experiment included students, faculty and staff from NPS, as well as representatives from Department of Defense combatant commands (COCOMs) and federal, local and state agencies. The event was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Joint Operations Support directorate and the Department of Homeland Security.

JIFX is a collaborative field experimentation program that allows NPS students, researchers, defense industry leaders, and military members to test, evaluate and collaboratively develop new technologies, as well as define emerging requirements. NPS interim President Rear Adm. Jan E. Tighe describes JIFX as “a terrific opportunity for [NPS] students, faculty, COCOM partners, and other government agencies to come together in an experimental way,” and said that JIFX is “a chance to test out new ideas and innovations, and for [NPS] students to actually see it all come together.”

According to NPS Department of Information Sciences Associate Professor, Dr. Ray Buettner, director of field experimentation at NPS, the focus of the experiment is research, which allows for better collaboration among military and non-military participants. Buettner also stated that JIFX benefits both the NPS students and the industry and lab partners. The exercise provides militarily-relevant graduate education opportunities for NPS students, and enables industry and lab participants to better understand challenges faced by the military users.

Buettner went on to emphasize the importance of collaborative exercises like JIFX, stating that the military and other government agencies often do not have an opportunity to work together unless they are responding to a disaster, and that by then it is too late for collaborative training.

For more information about JIFX, please follow the link below.
Naval Postgraduate School Hosts Collaborative Interagency Field Experimentation Program, America’s Navy