Joint Combined Training Centre (JCTC)
Government sources
Australia
2004 Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation, Key Outcomes From Ausmin 2004:
“Australia-US Joint Combined Training Centre:
The agreement to develop a Joint Combined Training Centre will significantly enhance the quality of our bilateral training program and Australian Defence Force capabilities.
Australia and the US have a long history of mutually beneficial bilateral defence cooperation, which has for many years included joint training exercises in Australia and the United States.
The Centre is a long-term commitment that will provide Australia with the world’s best joint training facilities and high technology equipment.
The Centre will also help in the development of a range of capabilities which could possibly include combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, therefore allowing both Australia and the US to respond more effectively to contemporary security challenges.
Training facilities at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland and the Bradshaw Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory will be further developed and linked with US facilities. The specific details of these upgrades are yet to be determined.
The centre will not be a US base, and the United States has not proposed establishing a permanent base in Australia.”
Australia-US Joint Combined Training Centre, Senator Robert Hill, Minister for Defence Media Release, MIN13104/04, 8 July 2004.
United States
Training Transformation Overhaul Moving Ahead, U.S. Forces Joint Command, USJFCOM, 13 October 2006.
Parliamentary sources
Australia’s Defence Relations with the United States, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, 22 May 2006.
4.20 Defence continued by describing the nature of the JCTC when they stated:
A mature JCTC should not be seen as a test range or even a series of ranges. The JCTC should function as a training system that links training management systems, training areas, simulations, headquarters and units. It is proposed that the JCTC should be linked to the US Pacific Command’s Pacific Warfighting Center and the US Joint Force Command’s Joint National Training Capability as part of the US Global Joint Training Infrastructure. The JCTC concept envisages the enhancement of a number of Australia’s ranges, including SWBTA, Bradshaw Field Training Area and the Delamere Range Facility. Ultimately these ranges could be networked through a series of interoperable systems and interfaces, enabled by advances in information technology.
Analysis and commentary
U.S. Australia Link Training Electronically, Gregor Ferguson, Training & Simulation Journal, 12 June 2006.
Australia-US Joint Combined Training Centre, SIAA News, Simulation Industry Association of Australia, 9 July 2004.
Project coordinator: Richard Tanter
11 June 2008