26 ARMY � February 2013

Decisive-Action Training

A visually modified opposing force (OPFOR) vehicle replicat-ing a Soviet-era BMP climbs a hill at the National Training Cen-ter (NTC), Fort Irwin, Calif., as the OPFOR makes a conven-tional armored attack during a decisive-action training rotation.Decisive-action training reintroduces conventional warfarescenarios within the context of wide-area security operationsthat also include a range of unconventional threats.

The National Training Center

‘Old School Without

February 2013 � ARMY 27

Rotations:

Text and PhotographsBy Dennis Steele

Senior Staff Writer

As first splinters of dawn hit the desert at the

National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin,

Calif., on a day in early December, the Black-

horse Regiment (11th Armored Cavalry Regi-

ment) was back in the saddle again, spewing dust trails

from their armored vehicles across NTC’s vast Mojave

training area as the opposing force (OPFOR) raced to-

ward the Blue Force training rotation unit to visit virtual

destruction on them. It was a taste of the old days of con-

ventional armored force-on-force battles at NTC when

hundreds of yellow blinking lights—indicating individ-

ual vehicle “kills”—filled NTC’s valleys and draws.

The old days of massive armored training clashes oc-

curred more than a decade ago, before 9/11 and the wars

Going Back in Time’

in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the NTC and the Army’sother training centers changed focus to prepare units forcounterinsurgency (COIN) warfare.

Armor clashes are coming back in an expanded hy-brid way, however, as the Army shifts from theexclusive use of its training centers to train de-ploying units to increasingly prepare brigadecombat teams (BCTs) for future engagements, set-

ting the training foundation for Army 2020.The Army’s BCT collective training is entering a cross-

road, gradually making the turn from COIN deploymenttraining as requirements decrease for Afghanistan towardthe Mission Command-oriented complexities of futurefights, nation assistance and wide-area security.It is called decisive-action training, and there is more to it

than a reintroduction of conventional force-on-force trainingengagements. That type of training combines with the over-all requirements of conducting wide-area security opera-

28 ARMY � February 2013

Clockwise from top left, CPT John Principe, an observer-trainer-mentor (OTM) from NTC’s Tarantula Team, makes a radio call asdawn breaks during a training scenario. Bradley fighting vehiclesfrom the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 4th Infantry Division(Mechanized), use a pass over a hill range to maneuver againstthe OPFOR during a decisive-action training rotation at NTC inearly December. A 1st BCT platoon leader takes aim during a dis-mounted operation. (He wears an older desert combat uniformpattern chemical suit for training purposes.) Two 1st BCT soldiersmake a dash toward the objective during a dismounted attack.

February 2013 � ARMY 29

tions that include COIN elements and a fewextra wrinkles. Decisive-action training rota-tions will prepare BCTs for what the Armysees as the probable thrust of future deploy-ments and engagements they will face.Decisive action includes pretty much every-

thing from armor fights to humanitarian operations (simultaneously) with insurgentforces and criminal gangs thrown into themix along with the need to gain the trustand fight alongside friendly coalition forces,and it includes an increased emphasis on thetenets of Mission Command.

The commander, Operations Group,known as the COG, orchestrates thecombined training effects that NTCcan throw at the training unit, serv-ing as the director, in a film-maker

sense, of the training unit’s individualizedtraining scenario, which is the structuralscript of the training rotation made up ofhundreds of individual, detailed scenariosdeveloped for the event. The COG paces itall, emphasizing some over others as thetraining goes along to steer the unit towarda training goal and increasing or lowering

30 ARMY � February 2013

Above, a Bradley fighting vehicle waits to counteran OPFOR attack as the sun breaks at NTC.Right, a soldier role-playing as a host-nation

troop (wearing the battle dress uniform pattern toidentify him) jumps through a window at a mocktown to fight in conjunction with soldiers from the1st BCT, 4th Infantry Division (1st BCT/4th ID) as

they undergo decisive-action training at NTC.

February 2013 � ARMY 31

training effects to do the steering while en-suring the overall safety of the event.COL Paul Calvert, who currently serves as

NTC’s COG, explained what went into creat-ing decisive-action training rotations:

The first decisive-action rotation at NTC wasdone in March 2012. There were months of sce-nario design that were put into developing thedecisive-action threat environment. That causedus to build an environment that would be con-ducive to U.S. forces coming into a country thatwe had not been into previously and with whichwe had not done much engagement in the pastbut was a friend of the United States, introduc-ing forces into the theater when the country isbeing threatened.There were a lot of things from a planning

standpoint that went into building an environ-ment [within which] we could … design a sce-nario that is credible to the unit coming here toexecute the training rotation.

Significant to the scenario is the oppo-nent. What was developed was near-peerthreat … and in conjunction with thatnear-peer conventional threat were an in-surgency force as well as a guerrilla/para-military threat and a criminal network, allof which the rotational unit has the oppor-tunity to influence in some form or fash-ion—drive wedges between the insur-gency/paramilitary threat, for example, tokeep them from combining efforts andcollaborating against U.S. forces. There aremultiple threads that present the opportu-nity for the U.S. forces to negate the col-laborative effort between the insurgencyas well as the guerilla forces.The environment is complex; the threat

is complex. The rotational unit has to deal

A 1-22 Infantry soldier aimsinto a doorway as he movesduring decisive-action training.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion,22nd Infantry (1-22 Infantry) movethrough an urban combat trainingvillage during a training assault.

with many different things. It is not only conduct-ing combined-arms maneuver but also executingwide-area security, and a number of threats exist aspart of that wide-area security.It’s a little bit of the flavor of a conventional fight

as well as that of a counterinsurgency fight.We spent the last 10–12 years in a counterinsur-

gency fight; we have a lot of skills in those types ofoperations, and we don’t want those to atrophyover time. Thus the need was to build a complexenvironment in which we have multiple threatsthat a unit is going to have to deal with so we canget back into training core competencies and ourbaseline skills to fight combined-arms maneuverwhile still maintaining the skills that have beenhoned over the last 10–12 years in counterinsur-gency as we execute wide-area security operations.The biggest difference between the decisive-

action rotations now and the rotations that we wererunning pre-2003 is the complexity of the threat.Before, we had a near-peer threat that we weredealing with in high-intensity conflict; now wehave a complex threat that is a near-peer enemy aswell as guerrilla insurgency and criminal networks.

32 ARMY � February 2013

Above, an OTM HUMVEE raises dust as it trav-els through the NTC training area. Right, LTCPaul Garcia—a senior OTM (Tarantula 07)—

listens to a key leader meeting during training.

NTC employs vast training assets. Technical assetsinclude complex instrumentation to assess trainingdata and specialized effects that make the trainingas real as possible: pyrotechnics, makeup and pros-thetics to create realistic casualties, and a scalable

cast of role-players, many of whom are native speakers ofthe language used at the training unit’s deployment loca-tion. There also is a complex system to capture video of thetraining to provide feedback to the unit undergoing train-ing. Most video stations are remotely controlled today.

The foundation for training at NTC is embodied by thehundreds of observer-trainer-mentors (OTMs as they arecalled today), the NCOs and officers from the OperationsGroup who accompany troops and commanders at everylevel of the unit undergoing training.The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment’s NTC training mis-

sion is to provide a credible OPFOR while NTC’s 916th Sup-port Brigade conducts the reception, staging, onward move-ment and integration mission for the training rotation unitand then supports its redeployment back to its home station.

February 2013 � ARMY 33

Left, technicians monitorvideo and other sensor feedsfrom a control center over-looking the National UrbanWarfare Center. The Na-tional Urban Warfare Centeris a city of more than 300training buildings built in thedesert training area of NTC.The city is 90 percent instru-mented, and up to 350day/night cameras canrecord activity to provide vi-sual feedback for after-actionreviews. Below, a 1st Battal-ion, 66th Armor (1-66 Ar-mor), soldier drags a mockcasualty to cover duringtraining. (The soldiers wearan old-pattern chemical suitmix for training purposes.)

Since 9/11, entire towns and villages havebeen built in the once-empty desert train-ing area to accommodate training for oper-ating in population centers. Some townshave vast tunnel systems running under

them to add to the complexity, and technicianscan even remotely infuse smells into the tunnelsand buildings, ranging from freshly baked breadto sewage, to add to the realism.Meanwhile, much of the garrison portion of Fort

Irwin has been improved since 9/11 to better sup-port soldiers and family members stationed thereand the tens of thousands of active and reservecomponent soldiers who come there annually totrain. Range complexes continue to be improvedfor the live-fire portion of a unit’s training rotation.Two years ago, NTC incorporated a southern

expansion area after several years of work tomeet state and federal requirements, includingenvironmental protection requirements, and toaddress citizen concerns. The result is a trainingarea of roughly 1,200 square miles today, makingit about the size of the state of Rhode Island, ac-cording to officials.“Importantly, we control the airspace over NTC

through agreements with the Federal Aviation Ad-ministration and other services,” said BG TerryFerrell, the commanding general of NTC and FortIrwin. “We also are nested regionally with thebases of other services—Edwards Air Force Base,

34 ARMY � February 2013

Right, soldiers from1-66 Armor assaultthrough barriers atNTC during deci-

sive-action training.Bottom right, flamejumps from a train-ing detonation toreplicate a rocket-propelled grenade

explosion.

February 2013 � ARMY 35

Left, an OPFOR Javelin gunnertakes aim at Blue Force vehiclesduring the opening stages ofdecisive-action training at NTC.Bottom left, an OTM holds hisso-called “god gun” at the ready.The pistol-shaped instrumentcan be used to inflict a hit on ve-hicle or individual soldier sen-sors if the OTM decides it iswarranted, and it can also beused to resurrect a soldier orvehicle from a previous hit,hence the name.

Calif., and Marine Corps Base Twenty-NinePalms, Calif. The Navy can fly missions fromSan Diego Naval Air Station down the coast.We are positioned to work joint training andspecial operations training. We have con-ducted multinational training, but the area inwhich we want to expand is interagencytraining, incorporating more training withU.S. federal agencies to prepare the militaryand the other agencies to work together betterfor future operations.”

BG Ferrell said that NTC has vastly in-creased its capacity for cyber opera-tions training in recent years and thatlevels I and II cyber attacks can nowbe launched against units training at

NTC to increase their countermeasure capa-bilities. Today, the training area box also has aclosed-cell-phone system that allows units totrain in areas that might involve intelligencegathering or system disruption.“We can even conduct GPS [global posi-

tioning system] jamming during limited peri-ods in limited locations,” he added.During decisive-action training rotations,

NTC forces the training unit to run off its tac-tical communications backbone and not trainas though they can plug into a mature theatercommunications system.

36 ARMY � February 2013

Right, an 11th Ar-mored Cavalry

Regiment (ACR)soldier checks formovement. The11th ACR—the

Blackhorse Regi-ment—acts as theOPFOR at NTC.

Bottom right,Bradley fighting ve-hicles from the 1stBCT/4th ID maneu-

ver toward an objective.

Overall, the general said that decisive-actiontraining goes toward “re-bluing” Armyunits to increase or bring back skills thathave deteriorated to meet the immediateneeds of the operations in Iraq and Af-

ghanistan. Improving combined-arms capabilities isvital to re-bluing, according to the Army’s top lead-ers.Decisive-action training goes further, however,

said BG Ferrell, incorporating features applicable un-der the U.S. Army Training Command’s Training Cir-cular 7-100, “Hybrid Threat Capabilities.”He also said that an ever-growing threat database

will be used to insert specifics and add realism totraining scenarios at NTC in the future as the Armydesignates regionally aligned units.“Regional alignment is where we are moving,” BG

Ferrell explained.Generally speaking, however, decisive-action train-

ing rotations “de-FOB” (forward operating base) theArmy. For many years, Army BCTs have moved intofixed facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan with a rangeof operational and personal comfort assets waitingfor them. Even units training at NTC operated fromFOBs as they would in-theater.For decisive-action training rotations, the FOBs are

gone.“Soldiers will be living in the dirt—their Bradley

or command post will be their life,” the general ex-plained. “Units will train with what they have, repli-cating initial entry or forcible entry into an austereenvironment, and they will see for themselves whatthey can or cannot do.”

February 2013 � ARMY 37

Top left, soldiersfrom the 1-66 Ar-mor check for OP-FOR activity. Left,the 1-22 Infantrycommander, LTCSteve Adams(right) uses an in-terpreter to con-verse with an NTCcontractor role-playing the part ofa provincial gover-nor during the 1stBCT/4th ID deci-sive-action trainingrotation.

As decisive-action training af-fects the greater Army’s train-ing goals, COL Calvert said,“We’re gauging overall successon [whether] we’re learning

every day. Are we getting better everyday? Are we gaining understanding ofhow to execute Mission Command atbrigade and battalion levels? Are wetraining to our core competencies forcombined-arms maneuver, and are wecontinuing sustainment training of thoseskills that were learned over the last10–12 years in COIN operations?“We are trying to stress systems and

processes, and we’re trying to reestablishthe core competencies of our forces thatatrophied over a number of years: shoot,move, communicate and improve theability to integrate enablers such as firesand intelligence collection assets. This iswhere the Army is going in the future, nodoubt about it.”BG Ferrell explained, “Decisive-action

training is ‘old school’ without goingback in time. It’s preparing for the nextfight.” �