Training for war?

Posted by Ron

April 22, 2009

by Ron McBride

Every officer in the United States Army asks themselves this same question. Most rely on someone with a higher rank to tell them what to do. But eventually the higher ups reach a stopping point.

The National Training Center in Fort Irwin, CA prepares units for war, and allows them to make mistakes without dead or wounded soldiers, to learn from these mistakes, so that in real life they can perform their duties with reduced casualties.

The in-depth planning for units to prepare for deployment into war zones, is done long before the up to brigade size forces arrive at the National Training Center.

At present there are two war zones which the United States Military Forces must prepare for. Each requires a different approach and different scenarios within those war zones. The hostile environments in Iraq and Afghanistan require specialized training, each must include how to behave and react in these two regions.

Each unit must have tight security procedures, and in many cases require a local fixer who can communicate and translate for the U.S. forces.

Each unit must be familiar with GPS, Satellite Communications, body armor and ballistic helmets. Most receive some training in boot camp, but this is just what it’s called, basic training. Further training is required before deployment into a war zone.

The Operations Center at Fort Irwin, plans far in advance of an arriving force. One of their biggest problems is how to provide a realistic opposing force (OpFor) that will put the visiting units through their paces. OpFor is the Blackhorse Brigade, they not only act as enemy forces, but have 17 villages that not only look like an Iraqi village or an Afghan one, but is populated with shop keepers, residents, villagers, police forces and home grown terrorists.

The Ops Center, keeps tabs on the progress of visiting units, as well as the whereabouts of all the OpFor teams. Centralized planning and decentralized execution is practiced each day, and the end result is a very high standard of junior leadership. The American Noncommissioned Officers, many who have seen one or more tours of duty in one of the zones of conflict, are the best trained Noncom’s on earth.

Noncom’s train the troops under them to be able to utilize both tactical maneuver and operational maneuvers. Tactical maneuver is designed to gain an advantage over an enemy in combat, while operational maneuver is designed to use less fighting to accomplish the same mission. These noncom’s are the backbone of the American Army.

These American soldiers try to avoid confrontation with the civilian population, unit commanders at all levels strive to maintain a balanced approach to these civilians, deterrence, reassurance and attrition are the three mainstays of this approach, keeping them in balance is the challenge.

To aid these commanders on the ground, support helicopters and vehicles are provided to allow for various tactical actions. Some times these must be conducted in rapid succession to support local operations. Such rapid response to potential situations will usually stop them before they develop into something quite serious.

Least I forget, intelligence is a key function of these operations especially in insurgency areas. The result of these intelligence actions allows commanders to assess the opposition’s capabilities. These military units in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan are used in a wide variety of conflicts, and are expected to be part of the diplomatic process as well.

As you can see, there is a lot more to training a soldier, officer and unit than learning how to handle and fire a gun properly. The NTC’s realistic approach provides training that heretofore was not possible. It covers all areas mentioned above.

But there is a lot more to a soldiers life than just training for conflicts what ever form they may take. For example many are married with families, and when it comes time for deployment, it can sometimes lead to hard ships. At NTC the Commanding General and his staff strive to provide the best life style possible for their charges, not just the soldiers but their spouses and children as well.

An example that I saw when visiting the NTC recently was that all the reserved parking areas for high ranking officers are no more. Under a program began by former commanding general Pittard, these parking slots have been convert to “expectant mothers and those with children under 1 year of age”. These signs much like the handicap signs one sees in all shopping areas, are a subtle reminder that the brass cares.

The one thing I take offense with, is the privitelization of many services on military bases that was begun under the George W. Bush administration. From PX to fueling stations, from housing to fast food, anywhere you go on base they advertise that you don’t pay taxes, therefore the assumption is that things are much cheaper. Not true. For example cigarettes are $3.00 a carton higher than they are off base where you are paying taxes. Food costs are about the same, although in some cases they are higher than at say Wal-mart.

Gasoline prices at the gas stations are the same price, up to 10 cents higher, if military personnel aren’t paying taxes, why are the prices higher?

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