GT 16

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Brian Brown (seated left), Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC Space) deputy commander, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Brig. Gen. Michel Lalumiere (seated right), RCAF Director General Space, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Daniel Rubalcaba, Rear Adm. Brown's executive officer, prepare for a battle update and assessment briefing, Nov. 3, 2015, at the Joint Space Operations Center, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in support of Exercise GLOBAL THUNDER 16. Allied participation in the exercise strengthens relationships with our international partners and provides additional levels of resiliency in our combined forces. GLOBAL THUNDER is an annual U.S. Strategic Command training event that assesses command and control functionality in all USSTRATCOM mission areas and affords component commands a venue to evaluate their joint operational readiness. Planning for GLOBAL THUNDER 16 has been under way for more than a year and is based on a notional scenario with fictitious adversaries. One of nine DoD unified combatant commands, USSTRATCOM has global strategic missions, assigned through the Unified Command Plan, which include strategic deterrence; space operations; cyberspace operations; joint electronic warfare; global strike; missile defense; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; combating weapons of mass destruction; and analysis and targeting. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Nicholas Mercurio/Released)