IRREGULAR WARFARE (IW)
Abstract
There is an immediate and critical need to develop immersive training solutions for small combat units to conduct Irregular Warfare (IW) operations in complex urban and restrictive terrain environments. The U.S. military’s dominance in traditional modes of combat has pushed its adversaries toward irregular and asymmetric tactics. Moreover, the threat environment is becoming increasingly complex due to mega-urbanization, the presence of large numbers of noncombatants in any military action, and the evolving dynamics of the information environment. Meeting the challenges of the current and future IW environment requires more tactically-enhanced small combat units. Hence, the Department of Defense must prepare small combat unit leaders/leader teams to make tactical and ethical decisions that carry significant strategic implications. Additionally, leaders and staffs at all levels must understand their role in supporting this type of fight: one that can move from non-kinetic to kinetic and back in seconds, and one where the people are the battlefield and not just collateral actors. Accordingly, DoD must specifically train and broadly educate its joint forces to understand cultures and populations, to thrive in chaotic environments, to recognize and respond creatively to dynamic and demanding situations, and to operate with coalition, interagency, and host nation partners as the norm and not the exception. To accomplish IW training objectives, the Department requires training facilities that fully immerse the lower-level units in a live, virtual, and constructive training environment that replicates as closely as possible the conditions of today’s and tomorrow’s battlefield. These training facilities must allow the unit to utilize the full range of assets that will be available to them in actual missions including their individual equipment, individual and crew-served weapons, command and control systems, navigation systems, and target location/designation systems. It will link joint enablers such as Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) and joint fires from many different locations across the joint force, as well as link training units’ company, battalion, and regiment/brigade, which may also be conducting immersion training simultaneously. The need is to identify those common training needs and solutions that require a Joint approach across the Services. The strategy will be to leverage and integrate the existing and emerging Coalition, Inter-agency, Service and COCOM capabilities that can address the needs of the warfighter to train in an IW environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2011
- Source ID
- 764_0603757D8Z_6_0400_PB_2011
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