FORT DRUM, NY. -- Canadian radio, seagulls at the commissary and snowshoes at the trophy shop: Operations Group Bravo of the Mission Command Training Program experienced it all during the recent brigade Warfighter exercise conducted at Fort Drum, New York.
The exercise, which ran from March 12 through March 21, was conducted with the staff and key leadership of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division (Light). It saw many firsts, including the first use of WARSIM software to train a unit conducting stability operations.
Lt. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski (Ret.), serving as the Senior Mentor for the exercise, advised members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team to "Train hard and have fun" while going through process, which is less about "grading" a unit than it is a chance to use important staff skills as part of a team. During that same initial introduction Wojdakowski told the members of the brigade that the warfighter "will point out and highlight weaknesses and then work them to get better."
10th Mountain Division has a colorful and unique history. During WWII the U.S. Army provided specialized training to Soldiers of the 10th in mountain and snow-bound environments, training which would prove its worth in the fighting in the mountains of Italy. Now it serves as a light infantry division, trained to "do more with less" but it still retains its "Mountain" tab on its distinctive insignia in recognition of its origins as an alpine warfare unit. The 10th Mountain has proven its worth time and time again during operations overseas, most notably in efforts to subdue the "Triangle of Death" in Iraq.
During the Warfighter Soldiers were trained for a scenario based in Afghanistan, where the 1st Brigade Combat Team will be deployed. In the scenario the battalions of the 1st BCT had to act as a team to successfully meet their goals.
"Mission Command is based on trust." said Col. Steve Michael, Commander of the 1st BCT. He emphasized that "the brigade commander must trust each battalion commander to understand his role and abilities."
Simulations provided by Operations Group Common Operating Environment (OPSGRP COE) allowed the 1st BCT to "see" the battle as it unfolded and the Observer/Trainers of OPSGRP Bravo provided insight into how to work staff processes, but it was Bravo's Opposing Forces (OPFOR) team which provided the 10th Infantry Division an "enemy" to defeat.
The OPFOR concept can trace its origins back to the pre-WWII U.S. Army maneuvers which designated some units "blue" and other "red" and distinguished each by armbands and other devices. This lacked realism as the "enemy" looked almost exactly liked "friendlies." This evolved into the Aggressor Forces, a mock force made up of U.S. Army Soldiers temporarily outfitted in a different style uniform with different insignia and speaking a different language (Esperanto). The U.S. Army Aggressor Center was based at Fort Riley, Kansas and provided consistent guidance in tactics and doctrine (so that the Aggressor would fight differently too) but often Soldiers were only "Aggressors" for the duration of an exercise and then turned their uniforms back in.
The Aggressor Force in turn evolved into the OPFOR in the 1980s. No longer a vague enemy, the OPFOR was modeled along Soviet lines and OPFOR units were organized to fight using Soviet-style equipment. Today there is no longer a Soviet threat but OPFOR remains, and for the deployable training center known as MCTP they are a thinking, adaptable enemy… even if they only exist in a computer.
"OPFOR is a training aid," said Maj. Ronnie Cain, the Opposing Force Division Chief. "The composition of the force is based on guidance from TRISA (Training and Doctrine Command Intelligence Support Activity) and the tactics, weapons and capabilities can be determined based upon information about what is known of a potential enemy." The way they will fight is, indirectly, determined by the unit commanders who will be fighting them.
The Operations Group OPFOR is given a scenario and provided unit training objectives, which in this case were set by the 1st BCT Commander. The OPFOR then creates a battle plan the same way any commander would, by conducting the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) and looking at his own capabilities. But the plan will be tailored in such a way as to provide maneuver commanders a chance to exploit weaknesses drive them to exercise important staff skills identified by the brigade commander. The OPFOR defense plan will always include intentional flaws which the unit can take advantage of… if they detect them and react quickly enough.
It is important that the OPFOR provides a competitive fight. "If the training audience makes a mistake it will cost them," said Maj. Cain. "If I make a mistake it will cost ME."
The OPFOR does not just plan for fighting the unit in cyberspace: they also conducted an Information Operations campaign, attempting to thwart the 1st BCT's efforts to provide true information to its "audiences" and to effect perceptions of the local population.
When the exercise finished this week both trainers and the training audience appreciated the rigorous challenges that the Warfighter provided, helping to prepare the 10th Mountain Division Soldiers for future missions. "It helped point out and highlight weaknesses," said Col. Michael, "and then work to get them better."
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