607th AOC "Sabres" make history with first-ever integration of 8th Army's JICC team

  • Published
  • By Sgt. Ryan Manuel
  • 8th Army Joint Interface Control Cell
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The commander of 7th Air Force and the 607th Air and Space Operations Center, Col. James McGovern, welcomed the 8th Army Joint Interface Control Cell team to the Combat Operations Division at Osan Air Base, a historic move that will help resolve issues from working in a joint environment.

"Joint war fighting is all about the synergistic effect of combining the experience, knowledge and capability of the services," McGovern said. "When that happens, one plus one isn't two, it's four. I'm very excited about the unlimited potential and possibilities that our new JICC team will bring."

The 8th Army JICC team had been performing their mission separately for the past seven years but only a small distance from the 607th AOC, explained CW4 Sam Ngaropo, 8th Army JICO. But streamlining the operations not only enhances the Army-Air Force team but provides an example on how to streamline an organization to maximize the joint effort.

"This first ever merge of an Army-level Joint Interface Control Cell team solves many of the complexities associated with joint and coalition data-link integration and the challenges we all face with command and control systems across the Korean theater," said Maj "Roscoe" Rauch, 7th Air Force Joint Interface Control Officer.

The 8th Army JICC soldiers bring technical expertise with Air and Missile Defense Shared Early Warning systems, and the new Sabre JICC team is responsible for providing robust data and voice networks for timely and accurate dissemination of real-time air breather and ballistic missile warning information for battlefield decision making. The Army and Air Force JICC live the motto "ready to fight tonight" by manning their JICC consoles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in support of U.S. and Republic of Korea leaders and their respective command centers.

"This is the biggest synergy of effort I've seen between 8th Army and the AOC since I've been here, and is arguably one of the best examples of warfighter integration in Korea for many years," McGovern said.