Photo By Dani Johnson | National Simulation Center’s Sustainment Exercise Simulation Directorate, located in...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. -- Integrating sustainment simulation into the Republic of Korea and the United States Ulchi Freedom Shield 25 event from Aug. 18-28 was the task of National Simulation Center’s Sustainment Exercise Simulation Directorate, located in the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command Simulations Training Center, with a team from SESD in the Korea Battle Simulation Center, Camp Humphreys, ROK.
UFS25 is an annual defense-oriented exercise featuring live-fire, constructive, and field training exercises that engage alliance forces and governmental agencies. Key aspects of the training focus on conducting all-domain operations leveraging component assets.
“As the sole-provider of the sustainment simulation model, Joint Deployment Logistics Model (JDLM) in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility, SESD significantly contributes to the combat readiness of all forces in Korea by being fully integrated in the planning, preparation, and execution of realistic, challenging, and logistically informed training,” said Kevin William, SESD Logistics Management supervisor.
“Sustainment is very important not just for UFS but for all training simulated or not,” said Col. Todd A. Wise, chief, Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea CJ45 Plans and Exercises. “For simulated training it adds realism that cannot be easily hand waved and thus skewing the learning objectives.
“The more sustainment constraints are exercised in UFS and other simulations, the better commanders and operators understand the potential tradeoffs of maneuver objectives based on sustainment limitations and the criticality of synchronizing all the Warfighting Functions,” added Wise.
SESD enables commanders to accomplish mission command training objectives at home stations, combat training centers, and within joint exercise environments by providing effective sustainment simulation support at the point of need.
“The need for sustainment commanders and personnel in exercises should never be understated,” said Williams. “They aren’t just needed, they are critical.
“Take the notion that experience is developed over many interactions of doing something multiple times,” he added. “If only “warfighters” participated in exercises, then their experiences would be developed through exercises with unlimited supplies, immediate replacement of personnel and equipment, and unhindered movement. They would take those experiences from never failing in a WFX (warfighter exercise) and expect sustainment to always be there.”
SESD works closely with the Mission Command Training Program, CASCOM, and Army Futures Command Sustainment Capabilities, Development, Integration Directorate to ensure that each team member is current on new doctrine and concepts that include contested logistics.
“The team modifies training material, updates the JDLM database, and incorporates new tactics, techniques, and procedures while preparing to support an event,” said Williams. “During the event, we provide training and TTPs to the primary audience and response cells to ensure they are exposed to the most recent sustainment initiatives.”
During UFS25, SESD’s exercise control center, operating at Fort Lee, served as the central hub for all technical operations involving the sustainment constructive simulation. The network architecture, designed and implemented by the SESD Network Team, enabled distributed exercises conducted simultaneously at varying security classifications in Korea.
“On average, the ECC supports approximately 17 simulation exercises annually,” said Dr. Timothy Pritchard, SESD Information Technology supervisor. “Operating these events from a centralized location at Fort Lee requires only three personnel per shift. Relocating the JDLM simulation technical operations to a different site for each exercise event would incur substantial temporary duty expenses and require additional personnel, resulting in significantly increased costs and logistical complexity.”
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command released in August 2024, the Operational Environment 2024-2034: Large-Scale Combat Operations publication, which states, “the U.S. Army will encounter an increasingly contested battlespace by adversaries that have been studying us as we have executed the last two decades of operations and using those lessons in their defense and strategic planning.”
“In a LSCO environment, sustainment won’t always be available,” explained Williams. “It could take longer to get there, or the enemy could interdict the supply lines. By not training with the actual sustainment units, a warfighter going into combat with ill-informed lessons learned will endanger not only the mission but the lives of all Soldiers under their commands.”
A common quote that is attributed to Gen. Omar Bradley, General of the Army and first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1949, and is widely used in the sustainment community, “amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.”
“The battlefield in LSCO has expanded with maneuver units taking up more space and using ammunition that strikes further and with more precision,” said Eric Clarke, SESD chief of operations. “It is also littered with autonomous vehicles, drones, and displaced civilians while also being under constant surveillance by enemy cyber and space assets.
“The ability to sustain a force in LSCO is much more complicated than it was in the previous operating environment of COIN (counter insurgency operations) and must be trained in live, virtual, and constructive environments to ensure the maneuver commander can maintain momentum, agility, and lethality,” explained Clarke. “If sustainment is not trained in events such as UFS 25 then the risk of failure in actual combat operations could be catastrophic.”
On average, SESD supports between 17-20 exercises annually. For each event, SESD provides ECC operational support at Fort Lee and on-site TDY support for setup, JDLM operator training, and functional support. SESD can support three to four simultaneous exercises and up to three to four separate TDY locations at a time. In a year, the Simulation Support Division personnel will spend up to 250 days in the ECC while the Exercise Support Division personnel will spend up to 250 days TDY at locations such as Camp Humphreys and Camp Casey, ROK.
| Date Taken: | 09.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2025 14:02 |
| Story ID: | 547025 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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