All Source Training
Gordon S Fowkes, LTC USA RET
All Source Operations
At any given locus, given proper support, there are inputs
and connections to a finite number of points of contact who interface with the
command process. This is not peculiarly
military in nature, because any given civilian economic enterprise is in a
state of continuous, contiguous, and concurrent state of affairs 24/7. If the
shipment doesn’t arrive on time, sales and production are inflicted.
As the sales staff or machine gunners are interlocked with
the market or those on the battlefield, so must the chain of command. As in the real world, the boss of bosses
either is involved in what goes on to the lowest level or risks losing market
share, as in another city falling to ISIS.
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| THE WORLD OF NOW |
A common error in both operations and training is to leave a
link out of the multiple loops that links the inside to the outside. That means turning on the electricity, unloading
the truck, and ordering new supplies. In
combat terms it means direct communication up two levels, and in the modern
world, monitoring several others. Thus
the squad leader must be able to monitor the company net, at least one of them.
The battalion commander has a wide range of outsiders that must remain in positive
contact including logistics, support, and adjacent units.
If any link is broken or not present, things that should
happen at the right time, happen at the wrong time or not at all. Such is the
case of responsive fire support in comparing such to the paradigms of previous
wars. The table of organization for a
tank company had two tanks, one for the company commander and one for the US
Air Force fighter pilot. The older mechanized infantry units rarely had a reap
pilot so the vehicle became an S3 asset.
The existence of co-located fire support assets linked to a given unit
gave rise to the position of fire support coordinator (FSCOORD).
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| 1969 Vietnam - 2/2 Mech Infantry in War Zone C, and my OB notebook |
All Source Organization
The Tactical Operations Center (TOC) becomes the central
nervous center linking the brain to the spinal column, the nervous system
(motor, sensor, sympathetic and parasympathetic included). In the prehistoric times of my generation,
that meant every radio net in the TOC was monitored by all. Phones required a written note, distribution
and carbons as needed.
In ancient times, like in Vietnam, Korea, WW2 and Desert
Storm, the commander was immersed in multi-source inputs in the back ground,
ears tuned to key phrases on any of them for information of immediate interest.
Thus any medivac indicated to the commander that forces were in contact, before
the report, if any, was forwarded.
In fact, in my tour in the DTOC of the 1st Air
Cavalry Division 1968-69, the absence of a steady flow of middling reports was
a clear indicator that someone was too busy fighting to engage in reporting. That called for listening to the nets the
forces in contact used. We even used the
EW assets of the division to listen in just to stay up to snuff. The non-combat
variant is management by walking around.
All Source Training
A rifle squad does not operate in a vacuum except when in
deep doo doo. And that happens when
Murphy interjects gremlins and chaos on well prepared intentions. Any realistic training must also replicate
Murphy based on the vulnerabilities of the current mission, operations and
forces not under the control of the unit in the hot box.
That means an array in training of those who replicate the
world outside the hot box of the unit(s) in training, and on site where
realistic. That especially includes the enemy, an enemy that operates in
accordance of an enemy plan at least two levels above. It a link is missing, it must be replicated
realistically. This is the normal
organization with those units that give large command post exercises. In a
defensive scenario of a brigade enemy forces up three levels must be replicated
in the office and three down in the case of defense. This is the proper role for military training
organizations, that of replicating the outside world. And, if one must, contractors that specialize.
Since the commander of a unit does not decide on what
courses of action to take in combat, except as the result of what the situation
in existence calls for as in METT-TC.
The unit commander’s actions to attack, defend, withdraw or call for
reinforcement are based in the Real World not under the control of the trained
unit.
All Source Planning
Since all operations in the field depend upon missions
assigned from above, so must All Source training. The usual mode of training is
based on the commander’s estimate of what his unit’s mission essential task
list (his own, not the nonsense from on high) consists of. The normal mode is for the Operations Officer
(S3/G3) then determines what will be done in training, based on available
ranges, gas, ammo and threat of high level visitors. The intelligence officer has no role in
commander/operations planning.
Since the enemy order of battle and plans are determined at
the level of the exercise, or in accordance with next higher’s whim or whimsy,
there is no intelligence to trigger the events.
And, when A company attacks B Company, their tactics, equipment,
strength that comprise enemy order of battle are common knowledge.
In Vietnam, officers were assigned to the S2/G2 position by
those shot up, screwed up, short or the FNG (funny new guy). Every once in a while a trained S2 or MI guy
was accidentally assigned as the S2/G2 and the results were astounding. The Tet Offensive’s post mortem conducted by
the Target Acquisition, Combat Intelligence, Surveillance in Vietnam (TACSIV
II) to fix the problem that all the necessary information to predict Tet was
already in the system. I was a ride along observer.
The TACSIV solution was drawn from a CDEC experiment in an
organic MI Battalion to the division, removing from ASA control and placing a qualified
MI officer in S2/G2 slots with additional MI personnel in support. The
difference before TACSIV there was no intelligence which resulted in not so
intelligent command decisions, to one in which the Commander had real
intelligence. This modus operandi is
what I believe has been fully integrated and implemented in our ground forces
today.
All training must be situation initiated, which includes
intelligence reports, change of mission, and/or of terrain and troops
available. The control of All Source
stimuli should be done with the plans of two levels up, or if they are too busy
filling out charts and PowerPoint graphics, do it yourself. When I was commanding an Army Reserve MI
battalion some decades ago, I did the creation of new circumstances myself,
acting as if something new had just come up.
It was at Ft Hood when the 304th
MI Bn was in ANACDUTRA (Summer Camp) given the remnants of the old training
cycle modus idioticus which wasted the opportunity to go straight to battalion
level operations. This was facilitated by the fact that the Commander of the 49th
Armored Division TXNG sent his entire division to the field which gave a target
rich environment for MI/EW. I had ensured
that a sense of hostile Speznas troops were in the area, requiring full
security including outposts were in place.
I then called my OPFOR squad to attack which brought the battalion to
wide awake, and then I issued the order that the battalion was to create a
direction finding base at a distance from the present location.
Reality, and unintended
consequences worked in my way. It
appeared that my focus on following regulations and doctrine was undermining
the machinations of the local REMFCOM. So they sent the Deputy Commanding
General on a night raid by helicopter to my position. This came to light when a very worried
Operations Sergeant told me in the middle of the briefing that one of the
guards had placed the Brigadier General in the Front Leaning Rest Position.
Doomed, I was, until the BG showed up grinning like a Cheshire Cat. This was well before BMNT.
And he loved it.
The growth of simulation and command post exercising to
date, is often remoted, and plugged into anyone’s command if needed. This allows a Full Spectrum All Source
training capability to replicate combat against the Little Green Men on Mars,
or step back in time to Cannae. All
under the command and control of the participating unit.
All Source Support
There is, at present, a huge investment in personnel and
activities to run the micromanaged ARFORGEN system which as an unintended
consequence, leaves out the chain of command in each and every step of the
present ladder of skills which also has the unintended consequence of dumbing
down the chain of command. As such, the
collective combat capabilities in combat have degraded to the level once
reached just before Korea.
Those same assets can be cross trained and exercise much in
the manner of what the 75th Maneuver Command did, as well as the III
Corps Battle Simulation Center did in previous century. This support can be
fixed and/or roaming. Fixed assets would
be the locations where a local units (AC, RC, NG) can plug those who are to be
trained. Roaming assets go to the unit,
and usually consist of experts in specific fields. I have used both on both
sides of the battle board.
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| Left, the Vale Cento, a Templar Galley in 3D, Right is the Kobayashi Maru exercise in Star Wars |
