CTC prep for C Coy
Volume 11, No. 53, October 05, 2006
By Capt Roy Henry

COMBAT Training Centre (CTC) has put C Coy 6RAR’s warfighting skills to the test as part of CTC’s annual training program.

The rotation concentrated on high-end warfighting skills that pitched C Coy against a Musorian Strike Coy enacted by the Opfor Wg of CTC.

Lt-Col John Simeoni, CO CTC, said the warfighting rotations, along with mission rehearsal exercises, were CTC’s core business. “They provide Army’s CTs with arguably the best opportunity within which to practise and execute the drills and TTPs necessary for success in close combat,” he said.

CTC provides the environment that includes all of the complexities expected of contemporary battlefields for the CT to fight within. CTC’s ability to create and replicate that environment has now been enhanced with the integration of the Live Integration Simulation (LIS) system under Project Land 134.

Project Land 134 has been in development for a number of years, and is now in the final acceptance phase, with full implementation into Army scheduled for next year. At grassroots level it is similar to the existing TESS. The LIS equipment contains several technical innovations.

Each player unit (harness or vehicle) has an inbuilt GPS. Positional data is sent via a built-in radio every four seconds to an Exercise Control Centre (ECC). The data is recorded and displayed on screens in the ECC in real time. A loose comparison would be the Blue Force Tracker, but every person is being tracked and recorded.

ECC staff can monitor the status and location of every soldier and vehicle on the battlefield and remotely kill, wound or reset the TESS. This data is collected for further analysis to later provide ground truth to the Bluefor.

OC C Coy 6RAR Maj Lucas Saunders said the equipment made the soldiers realise and understand weapon effects.

“It highlighted the necessity and requirement to conduct basic soldier skills,” Maj Saunders said.

The LIS has enhanced CTC’s ability to replicate the effects of both friendly and enemy indirect fire support.

ECC staff program offensive support missions into the computer as predetermined fire plans, or immediate neutralisation missions. When activated, the computer calculates its own damage assessment, and remotely adjudicates wounds or kills appropriately.

Maj Saunders said the rotation was a good training opportunity.

“We had to plan our operations to find the enemy to destroy him and he was doing his best to do the same against us. It certainly put our drills and skills to the test and definitely took us out of our comfort zone.”
A warfighting rotation is an excellent vehicle to get the soldiers and commanders to go through a planning and execution phase in a realistic environment, with active learning occurring through the conduct of After Action Reviews (AARs). The AARs are facilitated by observer trainers allocated to section, platoon and company HQ.

Capt Storm confirmed the benefit of this approach.

“This gave the company and platoons a lot more freedom of action as soldiers and commanders knew that they were only being observed, not assessed,” he said.

The ultimate aim of the AAR was to allow the exercising troops to discover what they did right or wrong and how to sustain or fix their TTPs. It is this selfrealisation that promotes long-term learning and change.

C Coy’s rotation contained all the complexities not generally experienced, or available during normal unit training: tactical replenishments, battlefield clearance, dealing with locals and media, key players out of action and the planning and execution of tactical operations. The rotation was a success for all participants.