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3rd Fleet Planners Control Every Twist in JTFEX

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030808-07

Release Date: 8/10/2003 6:11:00 AM

By Chief Journalist (SW/AW) Deborah Carson, 3rd Fleet Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- During a Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX), the responsibility of Commander, 3rd Fleet (COMTHIRDFLT) is to prepare the strike group to successfully perform its mission.

In the case of the first ever Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1, its forces must be able to detect, anticipate and react to a variety of global events in support of the war on terrorism and other situations as the need arises.

Creating the scenarios to support the training falls into the hands of the members of the white cell, which is part of COMTHIRDFLT's Joint Exercise Control Group (JECG) aboard the command ship USS Coronado (AGF 11). The planners of this exercise have spent months designing the scenarios that take place during this JTFEX.

"This exercise in particular is different," said Lt. Cmdr. Steve Boraz, the exercise intelligence coordinator for the ESG-1 JTFEX. "We've never done anything like this where we have a JTFEX that's training an ESG. It's a new concept in the Navy, which is designed to take the old Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) and Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) concept and what they are able to bring to the table, and strengthen them and make them a more capable, flexible, powerful unit."

The ESG brings the proven firepower and flexibility of the ARG/MEU and combines it with the robust strike and defensive combination of a cruiser, destroyer, frigate and submarine. This new combination of operational assets provides the warfare commander with a complimentary tool to the well-known Carrier Strike Group (CSG)/ARG/MEU.

The white cell runs like clockwork 24 hours a day during JTFEX and is supported by active-duty Navy, Marines and Reservists. Every person in the white cell keeps track of the action by referring to very large spreadsheet, or matrix, which shows a snapshot of the entire exercise in three ways: the broad overall view, the day to day view, and a minute to minute view, which is called the Master Scenario Events List or MSEL (pronounced "measle").

"The MSEL is the recipe for making the exercise go," said Boraz. "Without the intelligence portion of JTFEX, the participants would just be working with a schedule of events. There would be no training value.

"The scenario is like a body, and the bones are the schedule of events. The blood, flesh, tissue and everything else is intelligence," explained Boraz. "It's what supports the exercise and makes it function the way it does. Otherwise, it's just telling them to go and shoot a missile."

Boraz says one of the objectives of this JTFEX is to experiment, and be able to discern when an ESG would be the ideal force to send in.

The scenario for this JTFEX deals with operations against terrorism. The planners think of every move the terrorists might make and put it in the script. "This scenario started with terrorists attacking blue forces in country orange," said Boraz.

"So a message is sent saying 'They attacked us, let's get ready to go.' That is followed by information on the situation and what the blue forces need to do. We provide all the background as well, and so, before the actual game gets started, we've set up the bowling pins, if you will."

As in real world, the script that these "directors" write doesn't always go as planned. In one scenario, based on intelligence that had been gathered, there was a threat of terrorists shooting down a civilian aircraft. The white cell pushed that information to the ESG, and they responded differently than the planners expected.

"We watched their chat rooms and listened to their radios to see whether they were taking the bait or not," said Boraz. "If they don't, I can do a couple of things. I can apply more information so that it stimulates their systems and processes a little more, or I can suggest to the Battle Watch captain that he ask what's going on."

Boraz says asking what's happening accurately simulates reality as to how the training audience is going to operate in theater. He says giving a situation report helps get the information up to higher authority so the right decisions can be made.

The ESG-1 JTFEX was scripted by a team of Navy and Marine Corps scenario building experts specifically for the assets of a combined blue-green Navy-Marine Corps team.

"The ESG is a whole new concept," said Gunnery Sgt. John Dolphin, of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "I'm sure there will be some growing pains, but for the better. No other nation will have the capability of an ESG. And it is great to be able to have the ability to [use Marine Corps assets] to enhance this exercise in its complexity because of what the Navy and Marine Corps are able to bring together. We're on the right track, and that's what training is all about."