United States Army Maj. Gen. William D. “Hank” Taylor, director of operations for the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, oversaw the Joint Cyber Center’s first Technical Effects Tabletop Exercise in early 2025.
“Technical effects can leverage capabilities with Allies and Partners to enable synchronized combined, joint all-domain operations,” Taylor said.
Such effects enable “the U.S. and allies to leverage classified capabilities across the Tri-Command,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Rene A. Mahomed, lead technical effects planner and a participant in the January exercise at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. “Collaboration is crucial because United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea each possess unique wartime capabilities at various classifications specific to individual nations.”
While relatively new to U.S. Forces Korea, technical effects formalize existing practices within combined commands. This formalization ensures interoperability and maximizes lethal and nonlethal effects through full Tri-Command participation. The tabletop exercise refined processes introduced during exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield 2024 (UFS24).
The process begins with military components identifying target effects unattainable through their organic capabilities. The desired effects are presented to potential capability providers across the Tri-Command during a working group. Capability providers assess and assign the nominations in a process called “the auction.”
Technical effects increase interoperability among South Korea, the U.S. and other U.N. member states. During UFS24, several member states contributed niche capabilities to support Tri-Command objectives.
Building on the success of technical effects at UFS24, the tabletop exercise addressed U.N. member state concerns such as approval latency from governmental organizations and network interoperability. The exercise also revealed challenges in coordinating powerful technical resources due to necessary tools and expertise being scattered across the Tri-Command.
“The most challenging endeavor is organizing and massing effects from the vast contribution among our partners,” said Col. Silas J. Calhoun, director of cyber electromagnetic activity for the U.S. 8th Army. “Combined and joint force warfighting operates with a distributed force posture, which complicates massing technical effects.”
Engagements such as the tabletop exercise are enabling a shift from using organic capabilities to address unique threats facing an individual unit, including cyber, to a holistic effort of sharing capabilities and massing technical effects across a dispersed force.
“Seamlessly leveraging technical effects increases the U.S. asymmetric advantage against regional adversaries,” said Col. James D. Beall, director of information operations for U.S. Forces Korea. “Continuous improvement, through the Korean and tabletop exercises, enhances the Tri-Command’s overall lethality.”
