Capable Warrior
Capable Warrior, along with Urban Warrior and Hunter Warrior, is part of the Commandant's five-year experimentation plan to make Marines of the future more effective. Capable Warrior, slated for spring 1999 through spring 2001, incorporated all of the information gathered during the previous two experiments to create the Corps' ultimate fighting machine.
The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, in conjunction with the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (Experimental), both headquartered at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., held their third Limited Objective Experiment, Nov. 13-15, 1998 at the Tappahannock Airport. Part of the MCWL's Capable Warrior program, which is the third and final phase of its five-year program, is to test and evaluate Operational Maneuver from the Sea (OMFTS), the Corps' conceptual warfighting doctrine for the future. The purpose of LOE 3 was to research, evaluate and test a new technique known as dynamic targeting which may help reduce the amount of time it takes for a ground unit to receive air support in combat. Dynamic targeting, according to Navy Capt. Dan Moore, head, Next Marine Corps Branch at the MCWL, allows air and sea support units to engage targets on sight, vice waiting for unit commanders in the rear to give the command to engage. Since OMFTS future operations call for only long-range naval and aircraft gunfire support vice traditional artillery support for ground troops, the time it takes for air and sea supportive fire to reach ground troops is too long between the time supportive fire is called for. Without a 20 minute or less air strike response, the OMFTS' Ship-to-Objective Maneuver (STOM), a concept that involves moving Marines from a ship as far out as 200 miles off a coast to 100 miles inland, won't be effective.
Utilizing two remote, six aviation and six ground components from various reserve units, including the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Bn.; 1st Bn., 25th Marines; 3d Bn., 14th Marines; the Virginia Army National Guard; Amphibious Warfare School students, and civilian commercial pilots, the Warfighting Lab's forces were divided into two forces: red and blue. While the Red Force acted as the enemy defending its position in Fredericksburg, Va., the Blue Force acted as the aggressors calling for air and sea support during maneuvers. The civilian pilots, who flew commercial Cessna C-172 airplanes, played the role of air support. In each Cessna plane, a Marine observer recorded the time it took between the call for air support and the time the pilot engaged. That data was then recorded and used by the Warfighting Lab to determine if dynamic targeting is successful or not.
Reducing urban casualty rates in future conflicts is a must. Project Metropolis -- an initiative that evolved from the urban combat experiments of Urban Warrior -- focuses on tactical refinements and improvements. The project's first major event was a combined arms experiment at Ft. Ord, Calif. in February 2000. It was followed by a combined arms tactical validation exercise at the Southern California Logistics Airport (formerly George Air Force Base) in Victorville, Calif. in May. A company-reinforced experiment was conducted at the Victorville site last November and a battalion event took place in February. ProMet has already met one of its goals, transitioning its Basic Urban Skills Training (BUST) program of instruction (POI) to the Training and Education Command last December. Block 2 tactical development, focused on peacekeeping operations, began with the Capable Warrior AWE.
The Marines conducted their own experiment in September 2000 in coordination with the Navy during their FBE Hotel. This event, called Millennium Dragon, served as the culminating event for the Marines' Capable Warrior Phase I. It consisted of a Ship-to-Objective Maneuver (STOM) exercise that was linked to and support the JCF AWE.
Like its predecessors, Hunter Warrior and Urban Warrior, Capable Warrior is a test project composed of several different events, one of which is Millennium Dragon. During this exercise, IMMACCS served as the command and control system providing real-time decision assistance. The Integrated Marine Multi-Agent Command and Control System (IMMACCS) provides an objectified picture of the battlespace to aid in exploiting opportunities and accelerating tempo. IMMACCS assists military commanders and crisis management teams under battle-like conditions when dynamic information changes, complex relationships, and time pressures tend to stress the cognitive abilities of decision makers and their staff. As a trailblazing fires and maneuver system, IMMACCS disciplines the information environment and highlights factors affecting the commander's key concerns. In order to accomplish this support, IMMACCS incorporates agents that have reasoning and similarly intelligent capabilities.
Part of an umbrella experiment called Kernel Blitz Experimental (KBX), the Capable Warrior Advanced Warfighting Experiment [June 2001] was planned to coincide with Pacific Command's CINC 21, the Maritime Battle Center's Fleet Battle Experiment "I," and the Extending the Littoral Battlespace Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration's (ELB ACTD) Major Systems Demonstration 2. Taking place at Camp Pendleton, it was to serve as the culminating effort of 24 months of experimentation on expeditionary operations in the littorals. The experiment focuses on actions on the objective and involves company and platoon-sized units. A night attack, a defense, a movement to contact and an urban peacekeeping operation were to be included.
During the first six years, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory focused its experimentation efforts in supporting the Warrior Series of experiments. Each phase was intended to last approximately two years in length, culminating in an Advanced Warfighting Experiment (AWE). Each phase was given a title -- Hunter Warrior, Urban Warrior, and Capable Warrior -- reflecting the conceptual focus of the phase of the experimentation. Initially, the Warrior Series was an effective means to focus Marine Corps experimentation efforts. However, with reorganization of the CDS to be more responsive to the Warfighting Advocates and the increasing emphasis on Joint experimentation, the Warrior Series no longer is an effective means to organize Marine Corps experimentation.
Accordingly, the Capable Warrior AWE scheduled for May 2001 along with the Extending the Littoral Battlespace, Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ELB ACTD) second Major Systems Demonstration was significantly downsized and subsequent warrior phases cancelled. Instead of major Warrior Series AWEs on odd numbered years, the Lab will shift to supporting major Joint experiments on even numbered years.
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