Carter Recognizes Agency Devoted to Improvised Threats

By Melissa Tune

Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2015 – Defense Secretary Ash Carter presented the Joint Meritorious Unit Award to the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization -- now called the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency -- in a Pentagon ceremony yesterday.

“You are founders and pioneers in the things that you’ve done for the department,” Carter said. “You made rapid acquisition what it is today. We recognize your contributions and applaud the great things you’ve done to make a difference against IEDs.”

Flanked by members of the unit, Carter presented the award to JIDA’s director, Army Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, also was on hand.

The award recognizes the agency for its efforts in mitigating the IED threat from 2006 to 2012 in support of operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. The citation said the efforts of the agency have directly assisted U.S. and coalition forces.

Team Effort

Johnson credited a greater team for the work that earned the award, noting that the agency’s personnel for its efforts in mitigating the IED threat from 2006 to 2012 in support of operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. worked with the services, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the commanders and troops in the field.

“This was a true team effort,” he said. “JIDA will dedicate itself to meeting warfighters’ urgent needs through even greater collaboration in the future.”

At the end of the ceremony, Johnson presented Carter with the last official JIEDDO challenge coin to signify the legacy of the old organization and JIDA’s establishment earlier this week.

JIEDDO was established in 2006 to counter the emerging threats presented by IEDs. In March, Defense Department officials announced JIEDDO’s transition from a wartime activity to a defense agency under the authority, direction and control of Kendall’s office.

Any military member assigned to JIEDDO from 2006 through 2012 is authorized to wear this Joint Meritorious Unit Award.

New DoD Agency Focuses on Improvised Threats

By Terri Moon Cronk

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2015 – Because it takes a network to defeat a network, the Defense Department today debuts its newest agency to stay at the forefront of improvised threats.

DoD’s Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency, or JIDA, is built from what had been the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. It is a combat support agency in the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Army Maj. Gen. Julie A. Bentz, the agency’s vice director, told DoD News. JIDA has a new, expanded mission to reflect the new name, she said.

JIDA Has Broader Mission

“DoD broadened JIEDDO’s mission set to include the improvised threat,” Bentz explained. “Our job was always to counter the improvised explosive device, and this new mission set asks us to look at the next IED.” The nation’s adversary is an adaptive one, Bentz said, adding that the next generation of IED will be an improvised threat. “The department has given us an increased latitude to go after those innovative networks, because it takes a network to defeat a network,” she said.

JIDA Works in a Network

As a network, JIDA is a community of action, and will work with such organizations as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and across all communities that are affected by an improvised threat, the general said. JIDA’s network also includes coalition forces, partner nations and other U.S. agencies, she added.

The team approach brings the necessary authorities and capabilities to use each one’s strengths “to go after an adversary who knows how to exploit the seams between our capabilities,” Bentz explained. “The closer we stitch our abilities and leverage our authorities, the tighter a network we become to go after their network,” she added.

Patterns Lead to New Devices

JIEDDO learned early that as it defeated a device, “the next device was in front of us,” Bentz said. “But if we went upstream, [we] started noticing there were similar patterns and similar signatures that helped us understand there was a network of materials, people, tactics, techniques and procedures all coming together to build that IED.”

JIDA will continue that effort, she added. “Those same networks that build the IEDs are the same networks that will continue building improvised threats,” she said. The IED will continue to be a threat to U.S. and coalition forces worldwide, Bentz acknowledged.

“It is a threat that’s not going away anytime soon, unfortunately,” she said.