Photo By Sgt. Scott Akanewich | Lt. Col. Jennifer Wesley, 79th Sustainment Support Command, operations officer, gives...... read more read more
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LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - The ground shook violently early on a Sunday morning just east of Los Angeles in the neighboring city of Rancho Cucamonga. An earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale had struck with the epicenter being the Sierra Madre fault line in San Bernardino County. An aftershock then hit Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, severely damaging the headquarters building of the 79th Sustainment Support Command. As a result, infrastructure of the command was compromised, forcing the battle staff to spring into action to formulate a contingency plan to restore mission control. Once this happened, the 79th could then reach out to those affected by the quake by providing local, state and federal authorities with humanitarian assistance.
But, first things first.
Before the 79th could help others, they had to help themselves – and fast.
This is where Military Decision Making Process training enters the picture. The above-described “disaster” was just a fictional scenario laid out by training cadre from the 5th Brigade, 75th Training Division.
It was now up to the staff of the 79th to design and execute a relocation plan to satisfy the commander’s intent.
“The objective of MDMP is to provide a staff with a particular scenario,” said Maj. Greg Glasow, 5th Bde., 75th TD. “Then, their job is to react and plan accordingly.”
According to Glasow, there are seven distinctive steps to achieving the objective.
“First, they receive the mission and conduct a mission analysis,” he said. “This is followed by course-of-action development, analysis, comparison and recommendations, which all lead up to an operations order published by the commanding general.”
The atmosphere at the outset was chaotic, to say the least, said Lt. Col. Jennifer Wesley, 79th SSC, training management officer.
“Phase one was a bit stormy because everyone was trying to figure out what to do, as opposed to working collectively to find a solution,” said Wesley. “The reason for the chaos was nobody took charge immediately and said ‘This is how we’re going to do things.’”
Sandra Altamirano, 79th SSC training division, echoed Wesley’s sentiments in summing up the situation.
“Initially, there were too many groups going off and doing their own thing,” said Altamirano. “Or, in some cases, two different groups were working on the same thing.”
This kind of conundrum can be avoided with a simple communication flow being established, said Col. Bruce Irwin, 5th Bde., 75th TD, lead instructor.
“Synchronizing the staff is critical to success,” said Irwin. “You have to assess your set-up and identify a battle rhythm.”
Once the initial choppy waters were navigated, the operation began to flow a bit more smoothly, said Wesley.
“It was a continuing process for all the sections to be comfortable in their respective lanes, as far as understanding everyone’s roles, where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said. “Once we all began to speak the same language, we were synchronized and made up for any shortcomings we had as far as being short-staffed.”
Once this was complete, the staff was ready to move on to the “war-gaming” phase.
“At this point, you should have a better understanding of the situation and operational environment,” said Maj. Tobin Hobbs, 5th Bde., 75th TD, observer-controller. “You have to be able to anticipate events, determine when and where to employ assets and to visualize the flow of operations.”
Despite the seeming monotony of the process, the staff can neither let their guard down nor relax at all, he said.
“Sometimes it may seem boring,” he said. “But, there are critical moments, events and decision points that can appear at a moment’s notice and they all affect one another. You should always be moving through time in your mind, if not through space physically to help determine your next move. The entire outcome can be determined by one critical moment in time.”
Master Sgt. Sophia Mendoza, 79th SSC, training management non-commissioned officer, came away from the training exercise a better leader, she said.
“When something like this happens, there’s an awful lot that can go awry,” said Mendoza. “All the better reason to have this exercise because the training and experience we all gained is invaluable. I believe everyone took away some new knowledge that will be useful in their careers.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2012 20:06 |
| Story ID: | 85259 |
| Location: | LOS ALAMITOS, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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