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Colonel Jason M. Awadi

Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) 

Military analyst (FWD), USARCENT, Shaw AFB

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

August 2018
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News from the Front:

Eager Lion 18

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When Jordanian Armed Forces Brigadier Staff General (BG) Mohommad Al -Thalji and 

U.S. Air Force Major General (MG) Jon Mott, co-directors of Exercise Eager Lion 2018 

announced the beginning of the exercise on 15 April, more than 7,200 military 

personnel from the United States military and their Jordanian counterparts had already 

begun responding to exercise scenarios. These scenarios involved border security and 

individually displaced people, command and control, cyber defense and battlespace 

management. 

Figure 1

BG Mohommad Al-Thalji and MG Jon Mott

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Central Command

Public Affairs | April 16, 2018

Eager Lion 2018 is a U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) level Bi-Lateral Exercise 

conducted between the United States and Jordan to foster alliance and regional 

relations and preserve intra-theater lines of communication (LOCs). Eager Lion is a 

culminating annual “readiness” exercise for U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) and

consists of a large scale command post exercise (CPX) that ranges from the combined 

Joint Task Force (CJTF) to the Brigade Combat Team level linked to a Field training 

exercise (FTX) and culminates with a mechanized company combined arms live fire 

exercise (CALFEX.)

Eager Lion is critical to regional mission success as it validates the deployment, 

employment, and redeployment of the United States Army Central (USARCENT)

“Exercise Eager Lion provides an opportunity to reassure the people of Jordan, its 

uniformed services, its allies, and international partners as well that we are ready to 

protect Jordan from harm,” said Al Thalji. 
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contingency command post (CCP) which executes the scenario based on the "most 

likely" and "most dangerous" crisis/contingencies in the area of operation (AOR). This 

year, the USARCENT CCP participated as the CJTF in charge of a joint/coalition task 

force tasked to expel an asymmetric threat, conduct a defense, and attack with a near 

peer competitor in a contested air environment. The hub of steady-state operations for 

the 10-day exercise was the CCP. It managed subordinate component commands from

the Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT) assigned as the Combined 

Land and Maritime Component Command or CFLMCC. The 28th Infantry Division (Task 

Force Spartan) was the subordinate division defeating the notional enemy – M9, taking 

control of the besieged city of Al Ashkaf; and destroying Redland offensive military 

capabilities while conducting humanitarian operations in and around Al Ashkaf. 

Essentially, the CJTF was fighting a “Three Block War.”

Exercising Joint and Coalition Mission Command Systems

As an Army Service component command (ASCC), USARCENT’s CCP personnel are 

trained as a CJTF and have full command of their Army Mission Command System 

(AMCS). Along with the CENTCOM partner network - Jordan (CPN-J), that allows 

Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) to participate alongside their U.S. partners, Eager Lion 

provides a realistic and relevant training opportunity. The use of existing command, 

control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systems allowed live, virtual,

and simulated means to effectively communicate with subordinate forces. As a CJTF, 

USARCENT effectively combined the use of the command post of the future (CPOF) 

and Agile Client platforms as the primary command and control (C2) system. 

Partner Interoperability 

Each year, the planning for Eager Lion alternates between the JAF and U.S. forces. 

This year the U.S. took the lead in planning the exercise with JAF providing additional 

intent to help prepare their military formations. Eager Lion presents a unique opportunity 

The “Three Block War” concept was briefly used as a military metaphor by the US 

Marine Corps leadership at the end of the 20th Century. It was resurrected by the 

Canadian Forces (CF) in 2004-2005 and touted as the new model for Canadian field 

operations. The core idea is that military forces conduct humanitarian, 

peacekeeping/stabilization, and combat operations simultaneously on three separate 

city blocks. (Source: The Rise and Demise of the “Three Block War” by Doctor A. 

Walter Dorn and Michael Varey)

"USARCENT is committed to integrating our host nation partners in everything we do; I 

want our Soldiers to interact with their host nation counterparts in order to make our 

friendships stronger." LTG Michael Garrett, USARCENT Commanding General
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for the U.S. and Jordan. The annual exercise strengthens our longstanding relationship 

with Jordan and enhances our ability to refine our procedures, ensuring we are ready 

for future regional conflicts. For the Jordanian Forces, Eager Lion strengthens

partnerships and helps secure the region. 

Figure 2

An indirect fire infantryman with 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, observes a Jordan Armed Forces 

11th Border Security soldier during a 60 mm mortar live fire outside of Amman, Jordan.

(Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Hughes).

Partner interoperability was not solely focused on the kinetic fight. This year’s bilateral 

exercise incorporated a great deal of civil-military operations, and non-lethal targeting, 

focused on the de-legitimization of the terror group M9 among the displaced population. 

Among these non-lethal initiatives was the collaboration and participation in combined 

joint religious discussions and exchanges. Jordan Armed Forces Imams and U.S. 

military chaplains met frequently to develop unified messages in support of the exercise 

objectives.
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Figure 3

“The main benefit of civil and military Imams working together is that there is one message being 

(broadcast) from the top Imams within Jordan. The civilian Grand Mufti and the Jordan Armed Forces 

Grand Mufti are in one accord in providing leadership to the (subordinate) Imams,” said the U.S. Army 

Central Contingency Command Post chaplain. (Source: Courtesy Story | U.S. Army Central | May 03, 

2018)

Opportunities to Improve In Complex Large Scale Exercises

Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. With everything the U.S. military 

does, lessons learned from exercises of this magnitude adequately helps prepare our 

forces, and Eager Lion is no exception. Some of the lessons USARCENT will take with 

them include the ability to conduct current operations (CUOPS) and future operations 

planning (FUOPS) concurrently, develop measures of performance (MOPs) and 

measures of effectiveness (MOEs) for external cooperation and develop a standard 

operating procedure (SOP) for the common operational picture or COP. 

“The more a general is accustomed to place heavy demands on his soldiers, the more

he can depend on their response.” Carl von Clausewitz
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Figure 4

An officer with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, briefs the concept of the 

operation prior to the combined arms live fire exercise at the Joint Training Center, Jordan.

(Photo by David N. Beckstrom)

With respect to planning, each phase of the operation should have its own operational 

approach. This is done during the mission analysis phase of the Military Decision 

Making Process or MDMP. Our JAF partners utilize the operational level planning 

process (OLPP), a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standard. Opportunities 

to nest both MDMP and OLPP exist in such a large-scale training exercise. Second, the 

challenges to set the conditions for subordinate commands to conduct successful 

external cooperation at their level along with balancing the capabilities of local aid 

organizations with those capabilities of international organizations are complex realworld problems. Such problems challenge military organization at all echelons. 

Personnel shortages and existing real-world operational commitments stretch existing 

capabilities. USARCENT’s deployment of a CCP as the U.S. core of a CJTF

headquarters was an economy of force measure in response to the security and 

humanitarian crisis in the region. The CCP accomplished its task of deploying and, 

along with personnel from the JAF partners, established a functioning CJTF 

headquarters. However, the CJTF headquarters was effectively limited to managing 

CUOPS and only near term FUOPS. 
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Summary

Jordan and the United States successfully deployed elements of their armed forces to 

form a combined joint task force and deal with emerging crisis. The joint command 

group set the tone for partnership, starting with staff integration, and the CJTF took a 

combined approach in dealing with external partners. CJTF did an exceptional job with 

a small headquarters to manage component commands, positively impacting the 

mission. USARCENT conducted a joint AAR with their Jordanian partners in an effort to 

improve upon the exercise for 2019.