Train to Outthink, Outmaneuver, and Outfight the Enemy

[rangerrebew]

 Sun, 01/23/2022 - 10:01pm

 

Train to Outthink, Outmaneuver, and Outfight the Enemy

By Hyun Jun Chang

 

Introduction

    A near-peer adversary with capabilities similar to or better than ours.
    An enemy who wants to win as bad as we do, with an untethered opposing, hostile and independent will.
    An enemy that learns and adapts to how we fight.
    An enemy that needs to be “hunted” through reconnaissance.
    An enemy that cannot be predicted.

Above are some descriptions of the enemy we are likely to face in future conflicts. But do we train to fight and win against such an enemy? No. Instead, in most of our training, we fight an opposing force (OPFOR), a role player who is often scripted and told to act a certain way in order to (IOT) enable the training unit (TU) to achieve a training objective. Our missions are usually terrain focused – to seize key terrain – with an enemy that is either on the objective or inbound. But terrain doesn’t move or think. Is there a better way to train? Yes. Free-play force-on-force (FoF) exercise, where each side is precisely the enemy described above. It is the superior way to train, and how we should train every time. It trains a unit to “outthink, outmaneuver, and outfight the enemy,” instead of “pursuing perfection in method rather than obtaining decisive results.”1, 2

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/train-outthink-outmaneuver-and-outfight-enemy

[rangerrebew]

The author forgot the most important advantage for US troops - out CRT them.

[AARguy]

I disagree. We train in five phases:
    - Individual --- basic skills like marksmanship, first aid, map reading, et al
    - Crew --- Operating with others at squad or section level as crew of a tank or member of a squad
    - Team --- Operating with other squads, sections, vehicles, etc
    - Collective --- examples include Infantry operating with armor... addin Artillery, et al
    - Joint --- Army operating with Marines, Air Force and yes, even the Navy

In the final stages of unit training, exercises are conducted at our CTC's (Combat Training Centers) where realistic Force-on-Force training occurs using a sophisticated laser system called MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) which simulates weapon effects. The lasers are coded so that when a an Infantry shoots at a tank there is no effect but when a TOW is fired at a tank, realistic casualties are assessed. The free-play of these CTC exercises allow the initiative of each side to shine through. I worked in this training environment as an "Observer/Controller for years. Nothing was scripted. It was total free play. The OPFOR folks trained this way all the time and loved to win. As they often said about their contests against units rotating through the CTC's, "We are here to train them... and we train them GOOD!" (accompanied by a smirk and smile of pride at their victories). One example of the initiative I noticed was when attack helicopters were introduced to the CTC at Fort Irwin. The aircraft were "staged" out of a rear area called "Bicycle Lake". They were there for a week but could not leave the ground after powering up before the MILES system indicated they had been killed. They thought the MILES gear was defective. After investigating and trying to find the problem, it turned out that their enemy had infiltrated in the hills around the airfield and were "shooting" them as soon as they saw any blades turn.

The total free play at the CTC's is the key to the valuable training occurring there. Our enemies will do the unexpected. We take great pains to train to exactly to that standard.