The ranking chaplain had already gone before anyone in the chaplain section knew this was going on, so I had to be there in his place. I don’t have any significant input into the battle rhythm, as I don’t chair any of those meetings or boards, but every staff section had to be represented, so I couldn’t go off to bed.
However, as far as the training itself goes, and the Unit Ministry Team’s participation in it, I think things are going pretty well. The main working group I participate in is pretty pleased with some suggestions I made and is working them into their plans. Eventually they’ll be included in a FRAGO (Fragmentary Order) to subordinate units – which is as far as things go for this exercise, because there are no real, subordinate units in this exercise.
This is what we call a Command Post Exercise (CPX) – meaning the point of the exercise is to work the people and the procedures of the Command Post. Each of the major subordinate units is represented by a single role player whose function is to receive the orders, and report information as if there were a real unit there. The actual information he reports is made up, based on a combination of computer simulations of what might happen in a real, military operation, and also what the training objectives of our commander and staff principals are. In other words, the information is made up that will drive specific staff processes on which our bosses want us to be trained.
Our higher headquarters (US Central Command) is also represented by a role player, as are other organizations that influence our operational environment. For example, non-governmental organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent can have significant impact on our operations. So can US governmental agencies like the Department of State, the governments of allied nations or the host nation (where our operation is supposed to be happening), and the mass media. All of these are represented by role-players.
In CPXs, computer simulations provide inputs that represent information from intelligence gathering systems. For example, the computer can be programmed with the location and activities of enemy units, friendly units, and various neutral aspects of the battlefield (such as the shape of the terrain around us), and with the capabilities of various intelligence systems, then you can ask the computer (for example), “If I fly an airplane along this particular route, at this particular speed and altitude at this particular time, what will the pilot see?” or, “If I put this particular type of radio intercept equipment at this particular place, and turn it on from this time to that time, what will the operator hear?”
You might well ask, “With all this simulation and role-playing, why do you have to go to Kuwait to do this CPX? Why don’t you just stay in Atlanta?” Good question. The major reason is simply that the equipment to set up and operate the command post is here in Kuwait. We keep it here so that it will be faster to deploy it to a crisis location in the Middle East if we have to do so. There’s too much to easily get it all into airplanes, and sending it by ship can take a long time. Therefore, the closer we can keep it to where we think we might need it, the faster we can respond to a crisis by moving our headquarters.
Apropos of nothing in particular… attached is a photo of the inside of our sleep tents. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the sleep tents to the command post (which can seem a lot more in 115-degree heat). The focus isn’t great – partly because the lights were off on the end where I was standing so the camera wasn’t getting enough light to focus well. But, it gives you the idea. The tent is supposed to accommodate 70 people – but that would feel very crowded. Right now, it has about 45 people in it, I think, and it doesn’t feel crowded, at least not by the standards of someone who has been in the Army for 24 years. “Not crowded” in this case means that we have space between cots that is just about as wide as the cots themselves. Most of the extra cots are set up along the walls, for people to set their rucksacks and duffel bags on. That way we can keep our gear off the floor so the tent doesn’t feel so cluttered, and looks like it has a modicum of organization.
Well, I haven’t managed to connect to the Internet, yet, and it’s about time to put away my computer so I can go to work. Next time I try to go on-line, I guess I’ll go to the wireless hot-spot that’s closer to the network service’s office, and if I can’t get through, I’ll step in there and ask whether there’s something they can do about it.
Fr. Jonathan Landon +
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