Army Fighting Future Battles in Digital Laboratories Now
By Colonel Mark Forman
From February 11th through February 14th, the US Army's Battle Command Battle Lab at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas conducted the annual "Digital War-fighter Experiment" or "DWE". The experiment involved nearly 190 Soldiers and civilians from various US Army installations across the country, and a contingent from the United Kingdom. The purpose of the experiment was to conduct a corps-level experiment in order to answer specific objectives supporting Army transformation; provide critical observations and insights to the Army.
The military officer students at the Army's Command and General Staff School, also located at Fort Leavenworth, replicated an Army division-level staff, "fighting" a future war using a scenario in a fictitious country. The experiment captured observations for analysis of advances in the decision-making capabilities for future Army Corps-level organizations. Employing changes to network structure and traditional lines of coordination and communication provides insights for the Army on how the Army may operate in the future. The scenario was multi-faceted, portraying a determined, adaptive, asymmetrically fighting enemy and also included many realistic challenges similar to those facing military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan today. No longer is the "lethal" fight the sole focus of the staff at corps and division level (i.e. destroying the enemy's military and will to fight = victory). Putting battlefield "friction" in a computer model contributes to the validity of the experiment results to application in the field for the conflicts the Army will likely face for the next quarter century. The experiment included variables such as state department imperatives, civilian refugee traffic, local civilian tribal leadership cooperation or conflict, as well as the enemy's use of media as a deliberate misinformation campaign.
An additional benefit of the experiment was the observation of systems interoperability between US and its allies; employing "Command Post of the Future" (CPoF) organization and technology. In the organizational realm, the staff was organized along war-fighting functional lines (maneuver, fires, intelligence, sustainment, protection, etc.). In the technological realm, students were able to meet in "chat rooms" for coordination, and share graphics they were building to represent enemy disposition, current and future plans. A participant in the experiment, who had recently returned from a 12 month combat tour in Iraq, Major John Rainville, had this to say about the event, "DWE tests future systems to make sure the future brigade and division commanders have the best information flow to make the best decisions - decisions that will affect the lives of young Soldiers. My son wants to be an Army officer and will be old enough to be a platoon leader when this technology and organization is in the future Army, so it's important to me that we get it right now."
An additional concept tested during the experiment was that of the "Red Cell." Traditionally, military staffs have formed a Red Cell from the intelligence staff element to portray how they think the enemy will act and react to the plan of maneuver. The new Red Cell concept goes beyond trying to get into the enemy's mindset and decision cycle; it is an organization within the staff that operates independently from the other staff sections in developing possible enemy and friendly courses of action. The Red Cell members receive intensive training in Red Cell roles and responsibilities vice the Red Cell of old which was more enemy-template focused. A major advantage of a dedicated, independent and highly trained Red Cell is to quell "groupthink" within the organization.
Armed with the knowledge gained by this experiment, the Army's leadership can gain an appreciation for how technological systems and organizational structures may meet the needs of the future Army in full-spectrum operations.
Colonel Mark R. Forman, an Infantry officer, is the Deputy Director of the Battle Command - Battle Laboratory a subordinate organization of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Comments
The DWE09 training exercise and experiment sponsored collaboratively by CGSC CTAC, Student Section 22, and the Battle Command Battle Laboratory-Leavenworth (BCBL-L) begins 9 Feb 2009. The DWE series of events is an annual training exercise/experiment designed to support the training event of the AOWC W200 Division Operations Block while immersing Student Section 22 in current and emerging digital technologies in support of Corps/DIV/BCT echelon operations. The DWE collaborative events provide CGSS Student Section 22 graduates with an enhanced ability to join, immediately contribute and lead as a member of their gaining units Command Team in the current fight and operational environment.
DWE traces its history to 2004 when then Lt. Gen. William Wallace, the Combined Arms Center Commander, directed the integration of Command and General Staff College students into the BCBL-L experimental design. The collaboration between CGSC and BCBL-L provides students a more robust training environment; helps students become familiar with Army experimentation, which helps shape emerging doctrine, concepts and DOTML-PF solutions; and students provide qualified experiment role players because many have recent combat experience in the battle command echelons being replicated.
The concept for the 2009 DWE allows the BCBL-L to conduct a Corps level experiment nested with CGSS AOWC Block II Digital Warfighter Exercise (9 -13 Feb). CGSS students staff a modular division headquarters as well as select subordinate brigade headquarters (~64 students). Local CAC and personnel from throughout TRADOC form at the BCBL Futures Lab in Pope Hall to staff a Corps command post and other US maneuver and the support brigade headquarters (~67 participants).
BCBL-L supports the training exercise of Section 22 by fulfilling the role as the Higher Control (HICON). As the students are replicating a downsized Division main command post, BCBL-L supports them in their roles as the higher commander and primary staff of a modular corps headquarters. As an experiment, BCBL-L uses the event to address the hypothesis of: if the Future Modular Corps and Division Commander effectively integrates the staff process with JIIM elements within a stability environment, then he can achieve unity of effort in conducting security force assistance missions. This experimentation effort contributes significantly towards supporting Army transformation and providing critical observations and insights to CAC, TRADOC, and other Army organizations.
The Section 22 student division and the Corps staffs will be using the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) battle command system. CPOF is in use in Iraq and Afghanistan today. Through the CPOF battle command system, the students, located in the Lewis and Clark facility, will be able to electronically co-locate with the Corps headquarters, located in Pope Hall within the old USDB facility. This capability allows each headquarters to rapidly distribute and share up-to-date tactical and battle command information between each site and respective functional and coordinating staff.
Concurrent with the DWE09, the remainder of the 900 CGSC students will participate in a Command Post Exercise (CPX) Feb 5-12 to apply the command and staff lessons they have been learning thus far in the course, which began in August of 2008. The eight-day exercise, four days of preparation and four of execution, is a decentralized, simulation-driven, exercise that causes students to fight a major combat operation like D-Day or Desert Storm. The intent of the exercise is to develop military officers adept in making discretionary judgments and skilled in problem-solving not only within the spectrum of conflict but under volatile, ambiguous and complicated circumstances.
The DWE model of combining the strengths of both CGSC training and BCBL-L experimentation expertise proves to be an ideal venue for showcasing the innovative training and battle command initiatives resident at the Combined Arms Center. The CGSC team, led by LTC Troy Fodness, and the BCBL team, led by MAJ Steve Lucas have worked throughout this past year in the planning and preparations leading up to execution of this years DWE main event. Each team leader is supported by a superb team of professionals who have a wealth of experience in battle command operations and training innovative and adaptive future leaders.