Photo By Staff Sgt. Ian Kummer | Soldiers from the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade tear...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas - Most Soldiers are taught from the very first day of boot camp to “train like you fight.” For most troops, that mantra seems pretty straight-forward. Infantrymen practice foot patrols and room-clearing exercises. Drivers and gunners practice convoy operations.
But how does a command team train? How do the Soldiers in a tactical operations center (TOC) practice the command and control of an entire brigade during a combat mission? How can these staff members safely learn how to manage dozens of flights, artillery strikes, medevac missions and fuel supply convoys on a real-life battlefield?
The Army’s answer to these questions is the Mission Command Training Program (MCTP). Every year the MCTP networks Army units from around the world in massive combat simulations. These exercises allow the unit commanders and their staff members to navigate the most hazardous scenarios their Soldiers might ever face from the safety of a computer simulation.
One-hundred-and-forty-four men and women from the California Army National Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade attended the Warfighter Exercise (WFX) 15-05 at Fort Hood, Texas, June 3-12. This training is a crucial stepping-stone in the CAB’s preparation for a scheduled deployment to Kuwait later this year.
The brigade command team, Col. Jeffrey Holliday and Command Sgt. Maj. Troy Eck, led 1st Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment on the brigade’s deployment to Iraq in 2010-2011. More than three quarters of the CAB Soldiers have deployed before – now they all must learn their new roles in the new mission.
“This is an opportunity for us to improve our skillsets,” said Pleasant Hill, California, resident Spc. Kristen Kaminski, an aviation operations specialist from 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, 40th CAB. “We have to take these exercises seriously, it could save someone’s life out there.
Every Soldier in the TOC, regardless of rank or status, is responsible for being aware of what is going on in the battlefield, and able to take additional responsibilities if needed. Kaminski, who deployed with her battalion to Kosovo in 2012, emphasized the importance of learning as much as a possible about her own job and the jobs of the Soldiers in the TOC with her.
“You should know your job, the job of the person under you, and the person over you,” Kaminski said. “You have to be able to step into a job when someone steps out.”
During WFX the CAB served as the primary aviation asset for the Texas Army National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division. Active-duty Soldiers from the 101st Division Artillery were also present.
“WFX is all about integrating a joint force of reservists and the active component,” said Lt. Col. Rick Debowski, the MCTP operations officer. “Train like you fight.”
The CAB Soldiers got hands-on experience with the tools they will be using during their mission in Kuwait. For example Command Post of the Future (CPOF), the Army’s primary mission-command software since 2006, allows the TOC staff and the subordinate battalions to track data ranging from unit locations to significant events, such as medevacs and air strikes. While CPOF is capable of being used to simulate engagements with enemy forces, WFX required something far more sophisticated: WARSIM.
WARSIM is not just a video game – it is an in-depth simulation tool that calculates the full logistical consequences of any troop movement or attack. WARSIM calculates the food, ammunition, fuel and other supplies consumed by Soldiers and equipment throughout the mission, providing real-world training for every section in the TOC.
Unlike most commercial war gaming software, WARSIM has human role-players for every subordinate unit involved, even enemies. Informally referred to as “pucks,” battalion commands not physically present at WFX and enemy units were simulated by Soldiers and civilian contractors in a separate training area from the division TOCs. Every subordinate unit is represented by a real person at a WARSIM station.
“We actually have a thinking opponent that’s moving around enemy units,” said Maj. Daniel Goldsmith, the officer in charge of the brigade’s response cell.
WFX tested the CAB’s ability to provide air support operations against a “near-peer” opponent; an enemy military with training, technology and equipment equal or almost equal to that of the United States. This is an experience completely different from the counter-insurgency operations that the CAB conducted during their deployment to Iraq.
“[In the War on Terror], AH-64 Apache helicopters have deployed in two-aircraft teams – aerial weapons teams – but doctrinally we would be sending them in platoon, company or even battalion-sized elements,” said Champaign, Illinois, native 1st Lt. Ryan Close, a platoon commander from 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, 40th CAB, based out of West Jordan, Utah. “In Afghanistan and Iraq we haven’t done that in a long time, but with the wars winding down, we’re getting back to that doctrinal training.”
Close worked as an attack planner in the TOC, an expert in the capabilities of his battalion’s attack helicopters. Staff officers like Close are responsible for keeping the brigade commander informed of his units’ capabilities and limitations during a mission.
“We’re very useful to the brigade and the state if employed properly,” Close said.
But even the staff sections with a routine job stateside become vital during a combat mission. The S-1 personnel section is responsible for keeping accountability of every person under the command, and ensuring their administrative needs are taken care of. The S-1 is also responsible for notifying next of kin when a Soldier is killed or wounded.
“We let the commander know what the Soldiers’ limits are, and we make sure the Soldiers have what they need to stay in the fight,” said 1st Lt. Allison Henderson, the personnel officer in charge.
WFX taught the Soldiers of the CAB a lot, but there is still a lot of work and training to be done before they deploy to Kuwait later this year.
“There are whole battalions who aren’t here, we need to take what we learned and pollenate the rest of the brigade,” said Chief Warrant Officer Jeffrey Crandall, the chief warrant officer of the brigade.
| Date Taken: | 06.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2015 16:11 |
| Story ID: | 168180 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Hometown: | CHAMPAIGN, IL, US |
| Hometown: | PLEASANT HILL, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 285 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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