CAMP HUMPREYS, South Korea -- The Joint Technical Analysis and Integration Cell (JTAIC) from the U.S. military’s premier all hazards command empowers combined joint task force operations to locate, identify and eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The integration cell from the U.S. Army’s 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command provides the information necessary to accomplish Combined Joint Task Force-Elimination (CJTFE) missions.
Part of the 20th CBRNE Command Intelligence Directorate (G2), the JTAIC recently honed its skills during Exercise Freedom Shield in South Korea, March 13 – 23.
Conducted to strengthen Republic of Korea-U.S. Alliance, Exercise Freedom Shield was a routine and defensive-oriented exercise designed to strengthen security on the Korean Peninsula and stability in Northeast Asia.
The exercise integrated live training and constructive simulations that brought together South Korean, U.S. and multinational sending states.
Forged in the fire of the Korean War, the Republic of Korea-United States Alliance will mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty later this year.
The 20th CBRNE Command routinely trains with units from the ROK CBRN Defense Command and other South Korean units on the Korean Peninsula and at combat training centers in the United States.
Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the 20th CBRNE Command is home to 75 percent of the active-duty U.S. Army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) specialists, as well as the 1st Area Medical Laboratory, CBRNE Analytical and Remediation Activity, five Weapons of Mass Destruction Teams and three Nuclear Disablement Teams.
Soldiers and Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and allied operations.
The 20th CBRNE Command deploys Combined Joint Task Force-Elimination to support combatant commanders around the world.
The task force was established from the lessons learned during the hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review identified the 20th CBRNE Command as the command responsible for the task force.
James B. Area, an Army civilian in JTAIC, said the integration cell supports the Combined Joint Task Force-Elimination whenever it deploys in support of WMD elimination operations.
“Our purpose is to provide technical CBRN review of all the exploitation reporting and support the Intelligence Section (G2) with Technical Intelligence and CBRN related analysis of all other significant actions and reporting,” said Area, a native of Corona, California.
Area is a retired U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps lieutenant commander who started his Navy career as a Hospital Corpsman. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health from Old Dominion University, as well as a Master of Science degree in Public Health from Tulane University and Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He has been at 20th CBRNE Command since 2014. He started as a contracted Program Manager for JTAIC and then became an Army civilian in 2021.
“The role of the JTAIC is the provide full-spectrum CBRNE technical reach back to the CJTFE and our supported units,” said Area.
Col. John P. Kunstbeck, the chief of staff for the 20th CBRNE Command, said JTAIC enables Combined Joint Task Force-Elimination to succeed at its high stakes mission.
“Information is power and JTAIC keeps us ready to fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Kunstbeck, a Nuclear and Countering WMD officer from Altoona, Pennsylvania.