Ready: HMAS Newcastle’s Seahawk helicopter readies for a night task in the Persian Gulf. More on Newcastle, pages 6 and 7.

Photo: CPL Robert Nyffenegger

By Michael Brooke

Intruder alerts, vessel attacks, sentry point and illegal fishing scenarios will put Navy’s boarding party and force protection members through their paces with the introduction of new training software.

The software serials, for the RAN’s Weapons Tactical Training Simulator (WTTS) facilities, will increase the skill and capability of Navy personnel while reducing the high costs of conducting individual and collective training.

LCDR Wayne Richards, of Maritime Headquarters Warfare Division, said the serials will improve the ability and skill of sailors involved in force protection and boarding party tasks such as accesspoint security and boarding illegal entry ships, while observing the Rules of Engagement.

LCDR Richards said there are seven serials in the force protection package, which require more than just a decision by a student whether or not to fire his weapon in response to an emerging threat.

“The simulator training is a method of training that places RAN personnel in scenarios that test and train their ability to judge, reason and, depending on the product, shoot their weapon,” he said. “The scenarios not only test a student’s decision-making process but also his or her knowledge of the procedure they must follow in determining what level of force they are allowed to exercise to control specific situations.”

The serials follow the guidelines for ROE as outlined in ADF doctrine publications and therefore test a student’s perception of the level of force he/she should apply to increasing threat levels, he said.

“This is the RAN’s most ambitious WTTS undertaking and it is designed to provide sailors with a very realistic learning tool, complete with an After Action Review capability that enables the students to monitor their own force response to the range of emerging threats,” he said The entire training package can run for 45-minutes, with each of the seven serials containing up to eight alternative courses of action, which determine the outcome of each training scenario.

For example, the course of action taken by a student sentry in response to two thugs robbing a woman will determine how the situation concludes, with the options ranging from the bandits running off empty handed, running off with the purse, or firing a hand gun at the sentry.

LCDR Richards said the serials would be an excellent procedural trainer because of the inclusion of hostile fire simulators that will fire sim-munitions at the students, forcing them to use terrain and cover before responding with an appropriate level of force to suppress the threat.

Scenario software to prepare sailors

Navy Video films a Force Protection scenario at HMAS Waterhen. LS Cameron Evans and AB Heath Firkin attempt to calm an agitator (professional actor) during filming.

Photo: ABPH Paul Berry

The training scenarios will be classified Restricted and were filmed at navy bases and on RAN warships during August 1-18.

The first in the series, the Intruder Alert scenario, was filmed on HMAS Melbourne Garden island and tests the ship’s Quick Reaction Force.

The second, the Vessel Attack scenario, similar to the terrorist attack on the USS Cole, was filmed on HMAS Parramatta, and tests the ability of sentries to take action that will deter threats from foreign boats and boarders.

The third serial was filmed at HMAS Waterhen and is a decision-making exercise that tests the ability of a sentry at a checkpoint to maintain law and order within the ROE.

The fourth scenario was filmed in Darwin and is focussed on a foreign fishing vessel operating illegally in Australian waters. The remaining three serials address a range of decisions and courses of action to be made in boarding a foreign vessel suspected of illegal entry.

LCDR Richards said the first four serials would be ready for acceptance by Navy in December this year, and the remaining three in February 2006.

The serials were made by the RAN, DMO and the Fire Army Training System of the US.

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