War game helps equip Staff Academy students for combat leadership

Photo By Richard Blumenstein | Gunnery Sgt. Richard P. Britten, a finance technician with Headquarters and Service Battalion, Marine Corps Base, plots projected enemy movements during a Marine Air Ground Task Force Tactical Warfare Simulator training evolution April 4 at the III Marine Expeditionary Force Combined Arms Staff Trainer on Camp Hansen. Marines taking part in the Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy's Advanced Course used the simulators to gain hands-on experience in running a command operations center.  

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JAPAN

04.13.2007

Courtesy Story

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

By Lance Cpl. Richard Blumenstein
III Marine Expeditionary Force PAO

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan -- Students in the Okinawa Staff Noncommissioned Officers Academy's Advanced Course experienced the chaos of a simulated battlefield April 2-5 in the Marine Air Ground Task Force Tactical Warfare Simulator on Camp Hansen.

The training was intended to give staff NCOs a better understanding of how to lead troops from regimental and battalion command levels in combat environments, according to Richard Evans, a trainer with Tactical Exercise Control Group, the unit that runs the simulator.

"With the simulator you get to experience each command's responsibilities and see how it affects each unit," said Gunnery Sgt. Tammy A. Bakewell, one of the students. "It helps you get a feel for what it would be like if you have to go to war."

The simulator uses computer games and topographical maps with icons representing the exact location of simulated Marine companies, platoons, and support elements. It allows leaders to view the entire battlefield and coordinate operations within it.

"It's a war game," Evans said. "We're giving them a general overview of how a command operations center works."

Evans noted that each icon on the map has separate attack and defense statistics similar to a role-playing game. The icons each have different attributes that mirror the capabilities of the platoons in the field they represent. For instance, reconnaissance platoons have the ability to locate enemy targets while the motorized platoons can strike out at them from a distance.

"We pump fake information into the screen to simulate the different platoons' abilities," Evans said. "We simulate things like tank, motor, recon and infantry platoons."

The training evolution also provided the Marines with the opportunity to learn the communications skills required to operate at the command level.

"If these guys aren't passing the information, then everyone on the ground isn't doing their part to help," said De Vallion J. Piper, a maneuver analyst with TECG. "These games are just something for the Marines to look at and respond to. The real thing they're learning is communication."

Marines received information such as enemy unit locations, re-supply requirements and medical emergencies from instructors acting as Marines on the ground.

They then sent orders down the chain of command to respond to each situation in the most effective way.

"They can't just right click their mouse and move in their air support," Evans said. "They have to radio in and call another section with their instructions."

The Marines participating in the training said the chaotic battlefield scenarios the simulators created allowed them to gain the experience they need in running and organizing a COC.

"This simulator gives those of us with no experience in the COC a chance to gain that experience," said Gunnery Sgt. James D. Willeford. "This course allows us to scratch the surface of what it takes to be a combat leader."

• Date Taken: 04.13.2007
• Date Posted: 04.13.2007 15:55
• Story ID: 9911
• Location: CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP