Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anita Stratton | Broadcast journalist Sgt. Christian Duplessie with the Idaho Army National Guard,...... read more read more
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FORT IRWIN, Calif. - Foreign marketplaces filled with host-nation citizens, U.S. Soldiers and opposing forces are scenes often shown by media reporters around the world as they bring news from overseas conflicts. This same scene unfolds for National Guard Soldiers with the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team during their August 2015 National Training Center (NTC) rotation at Fort Irwin, California.
A group of contractors and active duty U.S. Army Soldiers dress up as roleplayers to provide a realistic training environment. These roleplayers bring the look and feel of a foreign theater of operations to the simulated theater of operations at NTC.
Media on the battlefield, Middle Eastern native-language speakers, and the technology behind it all, augment the tactical training Soldiers receive.
U.S. Army Spc. Brandon Groom, a combat videographer assigned to Vulture Team, Operations Group, National Training Center (NTC), at Fort Irwin, portrays a civilian news videographer during a field training exercise. The training is based on a scenario with “Atropian” citizens from a made-up town with a fake name.
“We help train the RTU [rotation training unit] on how to interact with media,” he said. “We go out and interview Soldiers about a situation in the scenario to see if they react appropriately with the media. If they don’t, then we spin it in such a way that they are not cooperating properly.”
The purpose of the training is to help Soldiers get used to media being on the battlefield while difficult events are unfolding. Soldiers must learn how to accurately describe their operations to the world audience that may be watching.
Sgt. Maj. Jesse Watkins with 2nd Squadron, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, said the media training experience was both challenging and realistic.
“At first they asked easy questions, but then as the interview continued they asked tougher questions,” he said. “It really made you think about how you phrase things.”
U. S. Army Spc. John Martin, observer/coach trainer with Vulture Team, Operations Group at NTC, also portrays civilian news videographer to cover the conflict in the scenario.
“Our goal is to give them that realistic experience to speak to media in a combat situation on the battlefield,” Martin said. “This training is part of what they see [when deployed], whether it will be American or from any particular country. We are here to test their mettle.”
Soldiers react to the media differently; therefore, the response from the role-players is also different.
Martin said, “It can be tough, a significant emotional event, or it can be very smooth and we work well together. It all depends on their level of training.”
Some Soldiers are very comfortable with the media. Some are not sure what to do with civilians coming into their area of operations, asking questions and putting a camera in their face. "Undercover" Soldiers, such as Groom and Martin, are able to step out of their role if necessary to give a few tips and hints for a successful encounter.
“Be courteous; speak to them. Don’t divulge any sensitive information. Just be cordial,” Martin said. “But if they come to me [as media] in a hostile posture, I will push back. It really depends on how they approach us that dictates our level of push back to them.”
The roleplaying news reporters are civilians with a Middle Eastern background, which aids in the authenticity of the training. They play the citizens of Atropia, who have a vested interest in the military action and occupation.
“The reporters I am with most of the time are Atropian,” Martin said. “They play a role where this is their home country.”
The benefit of Atropian ‘citizens’ as part of the training goes beyond media and handling an interview.
Groom said the RTU Soldiers “get cultural exposure from the role-players and learn more about them.”
“One thing you do is build relationships with people,” Martin said. “It’s an experience you will never get anywhere else.”
One civilian role-player, who wishes to remain anonymous due to her Middle-Eastern background, describes the socio-political questions she asks the RTU Soldiers.
“We ask why they are here; how do they communicate with the Atropian forces and government; what is their mission; how long are they going to be here; and what resources do they have to complete the mission,” she said.
They focus questions on the dynamics of their relationship with the people of Atropia.
She continued to list the questions they ask: “What is their relationship with the Atropians; how are the Atropians treating them; do they have translators; who is leading whom; do they trust their own lives in the hands of the Atropians?”
Relationships are crucial on the battlefield. Contracted civilian role-players, also portray townspeople in the village of Ujen, a replica of a village in the Middle East. They interact with the Soldiers training at NTC, giving them exposure to their culture and a chance to build a relationship with them.
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Susanna Bradley, officer in charge of the non-tactical operations section, manages 10 Soldiers and 32 role-players. The Soldiers are "stationed" in Ujen during training. The civilians chose to live there.
“Most of them have been coming out here for upward of 10 years," said Bradley.
Civilian Mona Putrus is a longstanding roleplayer based in Ujen.
“I have been coming out here for 12 years,” she said. “I love it. I like to feed the Soldiers when I can.”
The civilians live in metal shipping boxes that are made to look like Middle Eastern brick homes during the 14-18 day field exercise.
“It takes a lot of dedication to want to live in some CONEX boxes out in the desert, where it gets to be 105-110 degrees in the summer, “ Bradley said.
“I will live here for 17 days this time,” Putrus said.
As town officer in charge, Bradley makes sure the town runs smoothly and the civilian and military roleplayers maintain their roles, stay prepared and do not reveal they are Fort Irwin Soldiers.
Bradley receives a scenario, created by other military staff members, with the history of the town and the roles they are portraying toward the RTU coming in to train.
“I give the scenario to the role-players so they know if they need to be friendly or hostile or how they are supposed to react depending on which events occur,” she said. “They get so familiar with the scenario, so intimate with the information, it makes it even easier for them to do their jobs.”
Putrus played different roles in the past, she said, but portrays a nurse most of the time. Other role-players are the typical citizens one would see in a village, such as shopkeepers in the market and townspeople doing business. They speak their native language, use props for distraction and make noise when the action starts. The engagement takes place in the village of Ujen, also known as “Medina Wasl.”
“Ujen is the second largest village in the training area. It is an exact replica of an Iraqi village, fully functioning with a mosque and electricity,” said Bradley. “It is a highly technical site that provides special training to fully integrate what they would be facing downrange.”
Soldiers are fitted with Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) harnesses while in the training area, also known as “The Box.” The system tracks their movements.
“The personal MILES vest is like a big laser tag system,” Bradley said. “The vest will buzz so you know you are dead [out of play].”
Vehicles and weapons are also fitted with the MILES system. Information from the MILES system is then downloaded and used for analysis.
“Vehicles have a light that will go off to tell you have been hit,” Bradley continued. “It will tell you if the vehicle is stopped and no longer functional or if everyone in it has been killed depending on what shot it. It can actually tell if you are shooting an M4 rifle, a M249 light machine gun or a .50 caliber machine gun. It will actually inflict damages appropriate to each weapon’s capabilities.”
The area is also set up for simulated chemical attacks, mine detonations and has its own cell phone network that the controllers can jam. Certain places in the town are geared to set off the MILES system if Soldiers enter those places during the simulated attacks.
“We have a fake cell phone network for Soldiers working with signal intelligence,” Bradley said. “They will have marked certain areas where no one can use their cell phones any more. There is training for all military occupational specialties when they come out.”
To make the training more realistic, some of the ‘citizens’ of Atropia are part of the opposition force, the unconventional fighters, otherwise known as insurgents. They will live in the village just as one might experience in the Middle East.
“We have the unconventional fighters come in,” Bradley said, “And they will actually mix in with the civilians here. That is probably the most challenging training I have seen the units get.”
Soldiers, roleplayers, unconventional fighters, vehicles and weapons are a great deal of components, especially with more than 5,000 RTU Soldiers, to monitor for the training to be successful.
“Video footage is combined with footage from the feeds they get from the MILES systems,” Bradley said. “Movements can be seen from aerial and ground perspectives. The units compare and contrast what they thought they were doing with what was really going on. “
The system allows the trainers and RTU see the big picture, individual movements and check battle damage. Lessons learned from training are taken back to home station and analyzed. The shortcomings are addressed and put into unit training plans. Guidance like this help prevent accidents from happening overseas.
One building in Ujen recognizes fallen Soldiers of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ARC).
“The International Hotel is dedicated to Pfc. Lyndon Marcus who died in Iraq. Each of the rooms in the hotel are dedicated to Soldiers of the 11th ARC who died overseas,” said Bradley. “So we take it very seriously providing the training for the RTU. This is a reminder of how important that is.”
The service of a roleplayer is more than just a job. For Soldiers and civilians working and living in “The Box,” it is a passion and a commitment.
The civilian roleplaying correspondent said, “Soldiers are dear to my heart. If I can help one person out there: mission complete.”
http://www.army.mil/article/11966/Hotel_dedicated_at_Fort_Irwin_in_honor_of_fallen_Soldier/
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2015 02:01 |
| Story ID: | 174262 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 309 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Roleplayers and technology enhance Soldier training, by SFC Anita Stratton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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