Transformation Wargame adds realism to scenario
by Staff Sgt. Marcia Triggs
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 25, 2002) -- The Army Transformation Wargame increased the realism of its scenario by adding a number of worldwide crises and homeland-security issues to the third annual exercise April 21-26 at Carlisle Barracks, Pa.
"We want to make the game relevant," said Brig. Gen. Michael Vane, deputy chief of staff for Doctrine, Fort Monroe, Va. "In the past we looked at one or two regions in the world, put our ideas on those particular problems and tried to solve it, not necessarily looking at how the rest of the Army was going to be affected."
A widely deployed Army, fighting a more technology-savvy enemy, in a battle where enemy lines were nonexistent, was only one issue general officers faced. Homeland security, fighting on a joint-level and defining strategic reserve are going to be the issues that need the most refining after the exercise, Vane said.
Equipped with five Objective Force divisions, the wargame scenario was set in the years 2019-2020, and just like today's crisis, soldiers were involved in both low- and high-end conflicts, while assisting in homeland security.
However, a futuristic game would not be one unless it included advanced technology, a tool that the Army leaders are hoping will give them decisive superiority, Vane said.
A couple of technology assumptions made were that the Army would own sensors that would allow soldiers to see the enemy without being detected in jungle-like conditions and command and control features that would network everyone from the division commander to his platoon leaders.
"Because we make assumptions, we use the term `giggle factor' in some of our scenarios," said Bill Rittenhouse, wargaming director for the Army Transformation Wargaming Directorate. "However, we're not in the business of predicting future events. We're about studying concepts - strategic and operational."
Army Transformation is a number of things, and changing the way the Army fights is one of them, officials said. When troops deploy to participate in a peacekeeping mission, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki said he wants a force so agile that if the mission turns to peace-enforcement, the troops are able to mentally and physically shift operations.
"Just because you define your mission as a low-end conflict doesn't mean that's how the natives view your presence," said Rick Sinnreich, a red team leader responsible for posing challenges to the Army's blue team.
"It's very difficult fighting a war that the enemy defines differently, and my job here is to make sure they don't just walk in my region and try to influence our way of life," Sinnreich added.
Grappling over dilemmas posed by the red team will help design the Army's developing Objective Force, Vane said, adding that Transformation is more than war-fighting tactics.
Homeland security has always been part of the exercise, but this year the homeland piece is a central focus, Rittenhouse said. What role will the Army play, and how will it assist first responders are questions that will be addressed, he said.
Homeland security required more than 30,000 reserve-component soldiers to be mobilized during operation Noble Eagle, and in future conflicts how can a strategic reserve help protect national security? Rittenhouse said.
"A strategic Reserve, what does that mean?" Vane said. "We're trying to create a definition to that term. What we know is that right now it involves forces from the reserve components.
"In the future it may be more than forces, but also capabilities and access to command and control, communication, computers, Intel-surveillance and reconnaissance."
There were more than 470 players in the exercise, including foreign ambassadors, 20 to 40 members from each of the sister services and all the Training and Doctrine Command school commanders. The findings from the exercise will be published and released in May, Rittenhouse, said.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
