Sharpening civil affairs training through simulation

Photo By Sgt. Kimber Huang | A Marine trainer at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton observes an exercise iteration from the Combat Convoy Simulator control room. (Photo by SPC Kimber Gillus.)  

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

08.15.2014

Story by Spc. Kimber Huang 

U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne)

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—Standing inside of a HUMMWV turret, Cpl. James Grigsby performs a functions check on a 50 caliber machine gun mounted to the vehicle. He then turns the turret to the left and the right, looking out into the rocky terrain before him.

There is a knocking sound. A man approaches the side of the Grigsby’s HUMMWV's. "Hey! Control room says something's off. Do the functions check again."

Grigsby looks down from the turret. "Like this?" Then the 50 caliber machine gun slams loudly as he sends the weapon's bolt forward.
"No, no. Just let it go, don't ride it home," the man says, motioning to the bolt release. Grigsby does it again. "All right, it registered. That should be good."

This HUMMWV isn’t manning a check point. It's stationed inside of a building, surrounded by projectors, monitors, and giant screens. The rocky slopes Grigsby sees in the distance are pixels on a screen; projectors and speakers hum from above.

The 426th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Upland, California, based Army Reserve unit, is participating in the latest training. It combines virtual convoy simulation and civil affairs assessments. Soldiers move through a computer-generated landscape to identify key leaders within communities and then interface with local nationals. The purpose of the training is that it’s a way for Soldiers to sharpen their civil affairs skills while maintaining situational awareness in combat operations.

"There is the traditional, 'boring way' of civil affairs training, with the typical tasks, standards and conditions. And then there is experiential training," said Capt. Jonathan Lopez, a team chief for the 426th. "Use of technology can meld tactical training and civil affairs training.

This innovative approach is thanks in part to the Marines' Combat Convoy Simulator facilities located here. CCS provides a 360-degree experience inside a HUMMWV. Screens surround the HUMMWV simulator, and a central control room records everything within the virtual landscape, from vehicle speed to location to weapon fire.
Multiple simulator stations are linked together through the facility to form a virtual convoy. Teams can only reach each other and the control room through radio, adding the extra challenge of clear communication in a situation where squads in transit can be separated by thousands of meters.

"With this kind of technology, we can incorporate real world experiences," said Staff Sgt. Jerome Timmons, a Huntington Beach, California, native, currently assigned with the 426th. He was most recently deployed as a combat medic with another unit. "It's important for [Reserve Soldiers] to have this type of top-notch training, because it encourages enlisted Soldiers in particular to think outside of the box."

While the military has had access to virtual simulation technology since 2004, it’s been focused on those units with a more traditional combat role. The idea of combining MOS-specific training tasks with computer-generated virtual scenarios is relatively new to combat support units, such as civil affairs.

With the unique nature of the CCS, trainers can adapt scenarios to data gathered from Soldiers' reaction time, observance of procedures, and even their engagement with the virtual environment. Adjustments can then be made in real time during the exercise.

"Say their vehicle spacing is off, the teams aren't staying in sight of each other, or we think the vehicles in the front are moving too slowly, we use the program to throw in a commercial vehicle to break up the convoy. Soldiers have to know how to react to that," said Lopez.

While deployed, civil affairs assessments can take place over the course of weeks or months. The 426th crafted their own training materials to address that fluid timeline, including a cast of recurring 'characters' and an episodic storyline that unfolds with each convoy iteration. Trainers posed as key leaders and community elders evaluating Soldiers on their engagement skills and procedures.
After his iteration in the turret, Grigsby explained how the training structure reinforced the need for situational awareness. "The exercises have that recurring theme. There can be an instant change in the scenario and things can happen out of nowhere, just like on a deployment."

Moving forward with missions in places ranging from Central America to the Horn of Africa, the military is faced with the challenge of adapting troops to what are known as 'permissive' and 'semi-permissive' environments. These are locales where Soldiers, while not engaged in open-conflict with an opposing force, must maintain their tactical awareness.

Lopez believes that the 426th virtual convoy training speaks directly to those situations, with the added element of civil affairs tasks. "We will be expected, more and more, to move through civilian environments in these countries. But we must understand that those environments are not our civilian environments. We have to stick with our standards for security and safety,

As the Army Reserve looks toward the future, it's clear that training for Reserve Soldiers will change as well. Using technology such as the CCS to combine MOS-specific tasks with virtually-simulated environments allows command to observe mission challenges and adapt scenarios that speak to individual Soldier deficiencies, giving deploying troops a critical edge before they even step on foreign soil.

"This training is of a different caliber," said Grigsby. "With technology evolving, it's only going to get better."




-30-

• Date Taken: 08.15.2014
• Date Posted: 08.15.2014 07:12
• Story ID: 139424
• Location: MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US