Army Fighting Future Battles in Digital Laboratories Now
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.
