The first Emerald Express was conducted in 1995 under the direction of then Lieutenant General Anthony Zinni, Commanding General of I Marine Expeditionary Force. Emerald Express 1995 was the first of several large-scale interagency exercises that addressed operations from a comprehensive military and interagency perspective.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory - Wargaming Division (WGD) picked up the Emerald Express program (1999 -- 2007), conducting a continuing series of conferences and workshops designed to quickly garner critical insights and issues from recent operations and directly distribute the results to as wide a range of appropriate organizations and individuals as possible. Participants were typically commanders and senior staff of units from all U.S. services and multi-national partners as well personnel representing relevant interagency and non-governmental organizations.
Some of the more recent WGD Emerald Express events have addressed urban operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom I and II, the interagency dimensions of OIF, humanitarian assistance and stability and support operations in OIF, USMC and Royal Marine operations in Operation Enduring Freedom, and counterinsurgency.
Marine Corps University (MCU) now owns the program, conducting Emerald Express 2008 on 25 -- 26 March at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia. From the opening remarks by Lieutenant General James Amos, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command:
This two day symposium offers a forum to examine the critical issues involved in integration of all elements of national power in the pursuit of national security objectives. Throughout this event, presenters and panelists from both the operational and academic worlds will provide perspectives of interagency efforts in our national capital region, Afghanistan, Iraq, and in the Pacific Theater. Our presenters and panelists were selected based on their expertise, knowledge, reputation, and recent experience.
MCU has posted papers, briefings and maps from the symposium on their Emerald Express 2008 web site.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of running six Emerald Express seminars for WGD and found the experience one of the most rewarding of my 30-year stint as a Marine, Marine civilian and consultant. The insights and observations provided by U.S. and Coalition military and civilian participants, as well as their dedication and professionalism was exceptional in furthering our understanding of complex operations.