Soldiers from the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command Headquarters, Charlie Battery, 1-1 Air Defense Artillery and Task Force Talon, come together for exercise Valiant Shield 2014; which began on Sept. 15 and concludes on Sept. 22.

U.S. Forces from around the Pacific Rim take part in this annual exercise. Valiant Shield enables joint forces to work together and gain real world proficiency in detecting, locating, tracking and engaging threats at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace.

The Soldiers of the 94th AAMDC, C/1-1 ADA and Task Force Talon will make their mark in history as the first U.S. Soldiers to participate in Valiant Shield. This marks the sixth exercise in the Valiant Shield series since it begun in 2006.

The 94th AAMDC, which serves as the higher headquarters to C/1-1 ADA and Task Force Talon, will test out its Air/Missile Defense Planning and Control System during this war-gaming exercise.

"The AMDPCS system supports air defense operations, it allows the army air and missile defense command to consolidate and coordinate with all the army air defense assets in the region" said Cpt. Lee C. Humphrey, battle captain, 94th AAMDC.

"This impressive technology enables the joint services to work together, to sharpen our collective ability to provide organized command and control, and data links, needed by our joint partners, and to respond to any contingency where it matters, when it matters" said Humphrey.

Valiant Shield is the largest biennial exercise that focuses on integration of joint training between U.S. Forces, bringing together an estimated 18,000 service members from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

Charlie Battery, 1-1 ADA, a patriot battery out of Okinawa, Japan will be able to test their interoperability with other services during Valiant Shield.

"We are here as an expeditionary force, to improve our ability to rapidly deploy, and to integrate into the joint capabilities in the Pacific" Said 1LT Samuel Bjorkman, fire control platoon leader, C/1-1 ADA.

Valiant Shield allows the U.S. military to develop regional and global power projection capabilities that provide a full range of options to defend our national interests and those of our allies and partners around the world.

This training allows the services to work together as a Joint force and collectively test tactics, techniques and procedures by demonstrating the ability to project power.

"Our joint counterparts have been extremely helpful to us during this training, the Soldiers have been faced with multiple challenges throughout the exercise, however they used their initiative outside their area of expertise to ensure mission success" said Sergeant First Class Gustavo A. Arguello, Battle NCOIC, 94th AAMDC.

The 94th AAMDC and C/1-1 ADA will exercise a wide range of capabilities that enables the joint services to work together and help sustain overall readiness of the command.

"These systems ensure that our combat forces can "fight tonight" while assuring our allies, partners, and friends that we stand ready and capable of delivering on our commitment to security" said Humphrey.

The Valiant Shield series is aimed at developing a pre-integrated joint force built from habitual relationships. This force builds interoperable and complementary cross-domain capabilities and benefits from shared realistic training, techniques, and procedures as operational conditions dictate.