JT&E Program

Joint Test and Evaluation

The DoD's JT&E Program originated in response to the 1970 Blue Ribbon Defense Panel Report, which concluded that:

"There has been, and is currently, no effective means for conducting productive joint operations tests and evaluations. The fact that some such efforts heretofore have encountered difficulties and achieved few useful results does not obviate the requirements for much needed joint operational test and evaluation (OT&E)."

The responsibility for joint testing is vested in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) staff element dedicated to test and evaluation (T&E) within Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). The overarching policies and details in the JT&E Program are set forth in DoD Directive 5010.41, which is to be updated. Key to the management structure is the independent status of the OSD JT&E Program to minimize the influence of Service biases. The JT&E Program operates by bringing two or more of the Services together to accomplish the following objectives:

• Assess Service system interoperability in joint operations.
• Evaluate joint technical and operational concepts and recommend improvements.
• Validate testing methodologies that have joint applications.
• Improve modeling and simulation (M&S) validity with field exercise data.
• Increase joint mission capability, using quantitative data for analysis.
• Provide feedback to the acquisition and joint operations communities.
• Improve joint tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP).

The July 2002 Senior Advisory Council (SAC) decided that the JT&E Program needed to be reengineered. Specifically, the SAC decided that:

"JT&E needs to be more agile to be more responsive to warfighter needs. The objective is to reengineer the JT&E process to shorten the decision cycle and to open the door to shorter term efforts (less than two years) with early delivery of products. Accomplishing this acceleration must be balanced with the need to retain the test methodology rigor that enhances the credibility of JT&E products."

Before significant reengineering progress was made, responsibility for the JT&E Program was transferred from Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) to DOT&E in December 2002. The DOT&E goal is to streamline the JT&E chartering decision process, involve the warfighter in JT&E Program management and oversight, conduct joint operational testing to benefit both the warfighter and the acquisition community, and provide usable results that can be incorporated rapidly into existing doctrine and procedures.