Individual augmentee

By early 2007, there were an average of approximately 12,000 Navy personnel filling Army jobs in the United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and the Horn of Africa at any one time.

As a result, a formal program soon developed that ensured a minimum level of training for all members deploying to combat zones.

The current individual augmentee system approved by the United States Department of Defense works on a combination of ordered and volunteer assignments mirroring manning requirements.

[2] As of June 5, 2008, United States Fleet Forces Command has responsibility of the individual augmentee training program.

Instead, the program is designed to teach individuals assigned to Army units the basic skills required to stay alive should the worst scenario occur.

Perhaps most important is training in convoy and counter-IED operations since these subjects are crucial to survival in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While the Navy has sustained 73 casualties in the combined efforts of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, many of these individuals were Naval Combatants or Direct Support Enablers SEAL, EOD, Hospital Corpsmen, or Seabee whose roles were not typical of most Navy personnel.

Naval sailors during the Navy's individual augmentee combat training course at Fort Jackson
Admiral Gary Roughead , Chief of Naval Operations speaking about individual augmentee assignments and answering questions during an all-hands call aboard USS Milius
Sailors preparing to enter a simulated building while participating in the Navy's individual augmentee combat training course at Fort Jackson
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Rick West meeting with sailors returning from individual augmentee assignments