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Earnest Leader

EARNEST LEADER is an annual exercise in Saudi Arabia and consists of a series of seminars followed by a brigade level command post exercise focusing on command and control and coalition operations. Earnest Leader is an annual U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) sponsored, Third US Army executed, exercise conducted with the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF). Its purpose is to foster a friendly environment that facilitates military cooperation, peacekeeping, and participation in regional security programs. All of these elements are vital components of CENTCOM's engagement strategy within its Area of Responsibility.

Earnest Leader 00

The Brigade/Battalion Battle Simulation (BBS) Team at the National Simulation Center packed 14 workstations, 14 uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) and transformers, 10 Dec Servers and 10 MicroVAX's and shipped everything to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia for Exercise Earnest Leader 00. Exercise Earnest Leader was a Central Command sponsored, Third Army executed, BBS driven, command post exercise (CPX) for the 7th Armor Brigade of the Royal Saudi Arabian Land Forces. The three-day exercise from 1 to 3 May took place in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia using digitized terrain built by the BBS Team exclusively for the exercise. The purpose of the exercise, the first ever computer assisted exercise for the Royal Saudi Arabian Land forces, was to foster military relations and cooperation, maintain peace keeping contributions, and encourage participation in regional security programs.

The concept of the BBS driven CPX with U.S. Army participation was to assist the Saudi Arabian Army in scenario development, orders writing and the military decision making process. The Third Army conducted training seminars led by U.S. Army instructors to teach and demonstrate to select Saudi officers and NCOs how to use, plan and conduct a CPX. Included in the instruction was information about the military decision making process, the after action review process and the use of computer simulations. The end product was to have the higher headquarters of the 7th Armor Brigade write an operation order and for the brigade and its subordinate units to write their own operations order. The Saudi produced orders were executed during the exercise. The Commander, 3d Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and his staff mentored the Saudi Arabian Armor Brigade Commander and staff during the exercise.

To celebrate the conclusion of the exercise the senior Saudi Arabian General invited everyone who participated in the exercise to attend a Saudi social function called Kapsa. This is a traditional event where lamb is roasted and everyone sits in groups on the floor around a feast of food to include rice, vegetables, and an array of Saudi delicacies, using their hands to eat (of course, Americans were provided silverware to use if so desired). Believe it or not most of the Americans complained more about being uncomfortable sitting on the floor for an extended period than eating with their hands.

During the after action review, MG John J. Marcello, Chief, United States Military Training Mission (USMTM) declared the exercise an overwhelming success. He stated this exercise strengthened the military ties and served to facilitate future joint interoperability between the two armies.

Earnest Leader 03

The 2003 exercise was planned, coordinated, and executed under the shadow of the more visible events of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This year's exercise was conducted at King Khalid Military City (KKMC) near Hafar Al Batin on Saudi Arabia's border with Iraq. During the period of the exercise cycle, Army planners were challenged to manage their competing peacetime engagement requirements while staying focused on the operational requirements in the Gulf Region.

Participants of Earnest Leader 2003 (EL 03) included both the active and reserve components of the Army. Exercise support was a collective effort from several organizations with personnel coming from the United States Military Training Mission (USMTM), Saudi Arabia; ARCENT, Fort McPherson, Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC), Camp Doha; the National Simulation Center, Fort Leavenworth; and the 1st BDE, 91st Division, Dublin, California. The training audience for the exercise included ground elements of the 6th Armor Brigade of the Northern Area Command, Royal Saudi Land Forces and elements of the Royal Saudi Air Force. These elements brought the full gambit of personalities, doctrine, equipment, cultural and language challenges normally associated with coalition warfare.

U.S. forces participated in Earnest Leader 03 as advisors, observer/trainers and facilitators for simulation interaction. The RSLF's exercise objectives were accomplished through multiple missions: the first involved scenario development and orders preparation. Concurrently, the brigade provided an active training audience, the infrastructure to support a simulation network, keyboard operators for the friendly and opposing forces workstations, and developed an observer controller team. To accomplish all these tasks, the Brigade/Battalion Simulation (BBS) was selected as the best battle simulation tool for the training audience. BBS supported the 6th Armor Brigade's command post exercise (CPX) by effectively enabling the RSLF to execute many of their command and control reporting procedures. It also facilitated the brigade's military decision-making process (MDMP) to higher and lower task force elements. BBS was the nexus linking the scenario design to the commander's training objectives and planted the seeds for an independent Saudi Arabian Observer Control Team.

The location for Earnest Leader 03 was less than optimal for supporting computer equipment and network backbone. The facility at KKMC was not designed with computer equipment and networking in mind. The rooms were set in temporary hardstand buildings. The rooms were poorly air conditioned with desks too small to fully support the computers. Inexperienced computer operators were likely to inadvertently shut down systems or cause the computers to lock-up. Despite all the hurdles and obstacles, the BBS Team and ARCENT Simulation Team had to overcome; the exercise was a huge success. The Saudi Land Forces Headquarters and USMTM are already planning for Earnest Leader 04 for the 8th Armor Brigade in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.