Above Left, US Army

U.S. Army U.S. Above left, U.S. Army soldiers conduct live-fire training on the Combat Outpost Live Fire Range, which falls under control of Joint Multi- national Training Command (JMTC), headquartered in Grafenwoehr, Germany. Above right, SFC Serafin Graciani from the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), Timber- wolves Observer-Controller Team, teaches Romanian troops to conduct a search and document evidence in October 2010 in Cincu, Ro- mania. Right, soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team train at the multinational training center for deployment to Afghanistan. The soldiers refined their skills in mounted and dismounted patrols, small unit tactics, military operations in urban terrain, air assault techniques, counter-improvised explosive devices and long- range marksmanship. The soldiers also trained with coalition Afghan National Army soldiers during their time at Hohenfels. 72 ARMY I March 2011 oday’s soldiers are combating the deadly improvised explosive device (IED), the mountainous and harsh terrain in Afghanistan and a war of wills, which involves more than gaining territory or con- trolling physical terrain. Today’s fight is about gaining trust and winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, according to GEN David H. Petraeus, commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)/ U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. Fighting today’s war means training soldiers to win the “battle of wits,” while working closely with our international and Afghan partners within a coalition and combined operational environment. About 84 percent of the troop-contributing nations fighting alongside U.S. soldiers are from Europe. To ensure that the ISAF commander’s intent is met, U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) boasts the Army’s largest training command outside the continental United States, which provides facili- U.S. Army/SPC Arthur Ruepong Army/SPC U.S. ties using live, virtual, constructive, simulation and gaming assets: the Joint Multinational Training Command (JMTC) By Denver Makle in Grafenwoehr, Germany. It is the only U.S. Army training command that regularly trains U.S. forces with multinational partners for deployment and coalition operations in Afghanistan. “We’ve just completed our 17th iteration of operational mentor liaison teams (OMLT) from 24 countries,” said BG Steven L. Salazar, commanding general, JMTC. “More than 6,000 multinational soldiers have been trained here to be mentors. There is a synergy among observer-controllers (O-Cs) who have trained mentors from multiple different nations. I can’t think of a single joint enabler that we have not been able to employ here that you might otherwise be able to employ at another CTC [combat training center]. “One of the advantages we have in Europe is that all of our units are focused on Afghanistan,” BG Salazar said. “These guys are training with the same folks whom they are going to fight with when they go downrange.” The combat training center is located in central Europe. In addition to 57,000 acres of ranges and training areas at the Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) and 40,000 acres at the neighboring Hohenfels Training Area (HTA), there are multiple German and American satellite training areas that extend from Schweinfurt to the Alps. Through co-usage agreements with the German military and established maneuver rights areas, training can be ex- panded beyond GTA and HTA. In 2009, the training areas accommodated more than 7,000 people from the 173rd Air- borne Brigade Combat Team and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade for a historic training event, during which two brigades simultaneously prepared for deployment in sup- U.S. Army/Gary L. Kieffer U.S. March 2011 I ARMY 73 SFC Mathew Salinas, JMRC Timberwolves Observer-Controller Team, teaches Roman- ian troops the steps of escalation of force at an established check point in October 2010, at Cincu Forces Combat Training Area. port of counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. “We can bring soldiers a more realistic training experience using host-nation lands and training areas, which allow us to expand the training terrain,” said Reinhold Plossner, JMTC maneuver coordination officer. Plossner said special agreements with the German military and host-nation government contribute to a more dynamic training Arthur Ruepong Army/SPC U.S. environment. The JMTC provides combat-maneuver train- table. At that time, units prepared for conventional, force- ing in addition to specialized training for special operations on-force warfare, with an emphasis on heavy and mecha- such as high-altitude alpine training and survival training nized gunnery. “In the 1990s, Grafenwoehr saw 12,000 sol- using these maneuver rights areas. diers training per day,” said Cropps, GTA scheduler. “Today “One of the unique aspects of GTA is that we can build a we are fully booked with 3,000.” Cropps noted that al- training event or range based on a unit’s desired training though fewer soldiers train daily, training is more dynamic objectives,” said MAJ Kevin Broadnax, chief of the rota- than ever before. Many ranges have been modified and up- tional exercises branch at JMTC. “For example, a static dated to support current operations and diverse training re- qualification range can be modified to train soldiers on quirements. Today units such as the 170th Heavy Brigade counter-IED [C-IED] tactics, techniques and procedures.” Combat Team (BCT) prepare for a wide spectrum of tasks At GTA, the addition of multinational forces expands and tactics as they prepare for operations. BCTs must be the training value for any unit, offering cultural and lin- trained for force-on-force tactics as well as counterinsur- guistic training in addition to the normal training objec- gency, asymmetric warfare and urban combat. tives, MAJ Broadnax said. Just as the Infantry and Armor branches have combined “We know that current and future fights and threats will their training centers to accommodate maneuver, so, too, require multinational teams to counter them. That is why have the ranges on the GTA combined. Ranges are no we train in a multinational environment nearly every single longer listed as “Bradley,” “Scout” or “Tank” gunnery day at our JMTC training venues,” said COL Curtis J. Car- ranges. They are now scheduled and utilized as multipur- son, chief of JMTC training. “Through the process of sev- pose ranges, where a training element can conduct multi- eral different training and scheduling conferences, includ- ple training scenarios on one range complex. ing U.S. and multinational military attendees, the JMTC is “Upgrading the ranges to allow units to conduct multi- able to turn nearly every large-scale collective training purpose training increases the effectiveness of training by event into multinational training events. The access we allowing units to train several different tasks simultane- have to multinational planners at these conferences makes ously,” said Ernest L. Roth, JMTC maneuver coordination putting together multinational events routine.” officer. Range 118 is probably the range that has undergone Last fiscal year, the JMTC hosted nearly 200 visits, or ap- the greatest transition, said Roth. The 2009 upgrades to proximately 600 diplomats and leaders from all over Eu- GTA’s Range 118 include a five-story shoot house and a rope, Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States. two-story 360-degree live-fire structure, three-dimensional “Here they see firsthand the extensive training provided mannequin-type targets, multiple E-type targets, day-and- for both U.S. and NATO partner nations contributing to night cameras, and a speaker system to provide realistic ISAF,” said COL Michael S. Higginbottom, chief of staff of sound effects during training. the JMTC. “Since Range 118 opened in November 2009, more than 3,000 soldiers have trained on it,” said SFC Daniel Muren, Training for Current Operations the maneuvers branch noncommissioned officer-in-charge. As a former 1st Armored Division master gunner, Ray “The majority of units that request 118 use all of 118. Based Cropps remembers when Bradley fighting vehicles and on lessons learned, we have added a high-explosive box, tanks lined the tank trail, waiting their turn at the gunnery which is a mini impact area for units to fire mortars into during training on the range. Denver Makle serves as the deputy public affairs officer of the “How units train on Range 118, the interim battle area Joint Multinational Training Command. complex, is driven by their commanders,” said SFC Muren. 74 ARMY I March 2011 The training scenario is similar to a real-life mission. ISAF soldiers were at- tacked by the Taliban at their COP in northern Afghanistan in October 2009. The attack left eight soldiers dead and many more injured. The lessons learned from real-world experiences are incor- porated into predeployment training at the training center to ensure that soldiers master certain skills before they go downrange. Professional Opposing Forces and Specialty Teams Creating a realistic training environment employs the ingenuity of the sol- U.S. Army/SPC Eric Cabral U.S. dier. For example, a replicated village SPC Matthew Benzing of Company D, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. at HTA is reminiscent of Kunduz, Army Europe, collects biometrics data from a villager using the handheld inter- Afghanistan. During a typical mission agency identity detection equipment system in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in rehearsal exercise, the concrete build- June 2010. Company D is deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. ings are decorated with traditional rugs and tapestries, and the Pashto “We allow them the flexibility to conduct training based on translations of the names of establishments are prominently their mission essential task lists. We only ensure that the displayed alongside the English words; the streets are filled range can be used the way they want to use it and that it is with people dressed in traditional Afghan garb while a safe.” replicated radio station plays news, songs and commentary.

Load more