Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1986

3

Training

The imperative for training of high quality was never more challenging than in fiscal year 1986. Within the framework of a revitalized combined arms concept, new tactics placed higher emphasis on initiative, flexibility, and synchronization. To transform textbook theory into wartime practice requires well-trained units. New weapons systems, more mobile and lethal, make possible a continuing doctrinal revolution. To transform design potential into battlefield capability requires well-trained individuals and crews. To transform these highly motivated volunteers into combat-ready soldiers, crews, and units requires well-trained leaders. The Army during the year reemphasized leadership-a low-cost investment with high-yield benefits-in both the school and the unit.

Individual Training

Completed in final draft form in October 1985, the revised Field Manual (FM) 100-5, Operations, received the Chief of Staff's approval in February 1986. With its publication in May 1986, the new field manual provided an important link between AirLand Battle doctrine and Army professional education and training. Incorporated in the manual are lessons learned since the introduction of AirLand Battle doctrine in 1982. These lessons stem from combat operations, teachings, exercises, war games, and comments from the Army in the field. The lively professional discussion that greeted the appearance of FM 100-5 indicated that the manual would play a large role in improving the Army's training in the operational level of war.

An intense 9-week course with an additional 144-hour correspondence phase, the Combined Arms and Service Staff School at Fort Leavenworth is designed to provide captains with the professional skills necessary to serve successfully as

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staff officers at battalion, brigade, and division levels. The Army began the course in 1981 after the Review of the Education and Training of Officers' Study Group said that all captains should be trained in the basic staff operations of the Army in the field. Mentors, usually former battalion commanders, instruct the captains in small problem-solving groups. The Army's goal is to train in the school all basic branch captains from year groups 1979 and later between their sixth and ninth years of service. Command involvement in and support of the program greatly increased during fiscal year 1986. Senior commanders encouraged captains to complete the correspondence phase of the course in order to be eligible for the attendance phase. The school conducted nine classes during the fiscal year, training 2,229 students-nearly double the 1,200 trained in fiscal year 1985. Policies and procedures refined in the program during 1986 will be employed for full implementation in fiscal year 1987, when the school will train 4,500 captains per year.

As a result of a recommendation of the Professional Development of Officers Study, completed in December 1984, the Command and General Staff College began a new program of doctrinal training for Army officers slated to attend foreign schools. Known as the Combined Arms Refresher Course, the program includes sixty-two instructional hours of tactics and operations, supplemented by instruction in topics such as terrorism, low intensity conflict, and joint and combined operations. Eventually, the course will be expanded to include officers scheduled to attend command and staff colleges of sister services. In March 1986 the Army War College conducted a one-week pilot course aimed at developing a similar program for officers who will attend the senior service colleges of sister services.

Recent initiatives have increased the required Ranger positions in the Army from fewer than 1,000 to a projected total of almost 5,500 by fiscal year 1987. These needs translate to an annual training requirement of over 3,000 soldiers. By fiscal year 1987, the Army intended to increase the available training opportunities for Rangers to over 3,000 slots annually, from 2,300 in fiscal year 1986.

Restructuring of the Noncommissioned Officer Education System, carried out during the year, will provide sergeants in combat support and combat service support branches with the same type of professional training, oriented toward leader development, that is afforded their counterparts in combat

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branches. With the realignment of the system, all noncommissioned officer training follows a common track. Training for NCOs focuses initially on leadership in the Primary Leadership Development Course. The next step is the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, which contains standard leader training required throughout the Army and skill training that addresses directly the requirements of soldiers serving in each branch of the Army. Production of highly trained and motivated NCO section or squad leaders is the aim of the basic course. Through increased emphasis on soldiers' skills and encouragement of common understanding of tasks, these two courses serve to bond the NCOs of all branches. NCOs continue professional training in the Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course. Capping the system is the highly selective and challenging Sergeants Major Course taught at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.

Since the Korean War, the professional development of NCOs has been the subject of only three major studies. The third of these, the NCO Professional Development Study, submitted forty-five recommendations to the Chief of Staff in December 1985 after more than five months of deliberations. The Chief of Staff approved thirty-five of these recommendations, in addition to a proposal that a top-level Department of the Army board be appointed to review NCO professional development at least every two years. The goal of these reviews will be to determine what the Army requires of its NCO Corps and to ensure that the NCO Professional Development System is supporting those requirements.

With the advent of the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, the Infantry Center and School at Fort Benning, Georgia, doubled enrollment in the twelve-week master gunner's course. Equipped with the TOW missile, a 25-mm. cannon, and a machine gun, the Bradley is the infantry's first turret vehicle. Additional master gunners are required to bring Bradley units up to the level of gunnery that is standard in armor units. By upgrading one gunner position in each Bradley platoon, the goal will be accomplished without any increase in Bradley platoon strength.

The fiscal year 1985 Defense Authorization Act authorized the Secretary of Defense to institute a program of counterintelligence polygraph screening examinations for Department of Defense personnel whose duties involve access to classified information. In response to this congressional mandate, the Deputy Secretary of Defense on 28 October 1985 designated

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the Secretary of the Army as the executive agent for polygraph training within the Department of Defense and directed him to expand the existing polygraph examiner training course at the Military Police School at Fort McClellan, Alabama. On 15 April 1986 the polygraph course at Fort McClellan was redesignated the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute. Supported on a "fair share" basis by the military services and the National Security Agency, the institute expanded its training capability from 48 to 108 students per year. Additionally, the institute has responsibilities to train polygraph examiners from other federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service, and to conduct polygraph research.

Training Support

In its third year of training reserve component units alongside active units, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, was the training site for two more Army National Guard roundout battalions. As the Army's key facility for training mechanized and armor task forces, the National Training Center has significantly improved unit performance. One light infantry battalion was included among the units trained in 1986. This training experience prepared this unit for high intensity combat and demonstrated how heavy and light forces can work together on the modern battlefield.

Fiscal year 1986 saw an increase in the Army's investment in range construction to $112 million, up from $76 million the previous year. Begun in 1982, the Army Range Modernization Program has matured into an effective management system to field range systems in support of modernized weapons and training requirements. The Multipurpose Range Complex is the keystone facility that provides a challenging gunnery experience for tank and mechanized infantry units up to platoon level. Eleven of the fourteen planned ranges will be under construction or completed by fiscal year 1987. The Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) facilities provide individual and collective training for this difficult mode of combat. Twelve MOUT complexes are planned; two additional facilities will be completed or under construction by fiscal year 1987.

In June 1986 the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's (TRADOC's) Language Research Center, Training Technology Field Activity, was officially activated at the Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California. Jointly managed by the institute and the Deputy Chief of Staff,

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Training, TRADOC, the new center's mission is to identify, test, and evaluate, under controlled conditions, new methods of language instruction, and to apply in the institute's language courses the results of these activities. As its first major action, the center began a six-month analysis of the status of military language instruction, its use, and sustainment problems. Results of this analysis will be applied to a "test-bed" course at the institute, and should provide a basis from which to work in solving language training problems.

The Army has developed and fielded training devices, simulators, and simulations that are revolutionizing the way soldiers and units train. These tools permit unit commanders to sustain higher levels of unit proficiency at less cost, and they provide training feedback not previously available. With special emphasis on providing simulations to the reserve components, the devices are increasingly integrated into initial entry and unit sustainment programs. Although many of the recent investments in training technology do not provide an absolute saving, they improve the effectiveness of training and the proficiency of soldiers and units, as well as compensate for increased operating costs of modernized systems. For instance, the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System and the instrumentation at the National Training Center allow objective evaluation and permit critiques of individual and collective tasks in areas of increasing importance and technical complexity.

While battle simulations provide an efficient method of training soldiers, unit commanders, and staffs, the simulations currently available to commanders are either manually-driven or very labor-intensive automated systems. There are no standard, computer-driven simulations at corps or division level. Brigade through crew simulations are inefficient and often do not operate in real time. Improvements in battle simulation were under way during the year, however. For example, the Army Training Battle Simulation System, fielding of which began in 1985, is a computer-driven simulation that provides a highly realistic environment to train battalion commanders and their staffs in the control and coordination of combined arms operations.

The fiscal year 1986 ammunition budget reflected savings achieved through the use of devices and simulators and through reductions in forecasted ammunition needs-reductions resulting from the activities of the Standards in Training

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Commission. The commission establishes uniform standards for weapons training and supporting resources for the Army.

Development continued on an automated training management system responsive to the planning and resource needs of units from battalion through Department of the Army. With assessment, conceptual definition, and functional description of the Integrated Training Management System completed, the Army was prepared to initiate a competitive contract action for a prototype validation of the continental U.S. division module of the system in the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized).

Reserve Component Training

During the year, the Army had under way initiatives to improve training of the reserve component units so as to prepare them better to execute their wartime mission. The Key Personnel Upgrade Program develops key personnel within Army National Guard units through direct association during additional training periods with counterpart active component officers or NCOs. This program provides Army National Guard officers and NCOs practical experience in a tactical environment. In the U.S. Army Reserve, a readiness training program places members of the Individual Ready Reserve on periods of voluntary active duty with an active component unit in positions appropriate for their grades and mobilization specialties.

The Overseas Deployment Training Program enables high priority reserve component units to train in their geographical contingency areas with their wartime gaining command. Begun in 1976 with 26 units and cells participating, the program has grown to nearly 2,000 participating units and cells in fiscal year 1986. Included this year was the 32d Infantry Brigade, Wisconsin Army National Guard, which took part in the REFORGER exercise in Europe. Selected units trained up to twenty-six days in joint Chiefs of Staff exercises, working alongside their active component counterparts.

On 1 March 1986 the North Carolina Army National Guard organized the first Army National Guard advanced attack helicopter battalion, which will be equipped with the AH-64 Apache. During the remainder of the year, the newly formed 30th Aviation Battalion began qualification of aviators and maintenance personnel in the Army's newest attack helicopter at various schools within the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. First deliveries of the AH-64 to the North Carolina Guard are scheduled for fiscal year 1987.

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During the year, development continued on several important training facility programs for the reserve components: a Regional Training Center, Regional Maintenance Training Site (RMTS), and Regional Training Site-Medical (RTS-Medical). The Regional Training Center, planned for Fort Dix, New Jersey, will be a test-bed facility for developing combat arms, combat support, and combat service support soldier and leader skills through a device-based training strategy. The RMTSs will be located throughout the continental United States in areas with a high density of reserve component maintenance units. The projected establishment during the fiscal year of pilot RMTSs was delayed because of problems in documenting modified tables of organization and equipment, bringing units on line, and obtaining equipment packages. These difficulties were on the verge of solution at year's end, however, and the Army expected to have four pilot sites-two more than earlier projected-operational in the early months of fiscal year 1987. Twenty-one RMTSs are scheduled to become operational by 1991. The RMTSs will be the keystone in transition and sustainment training for the reserve component maintenance personnel on the repair of current and force modernization equipment. For many units, the RMTSs will provide the only opportunity they will have to train on modern equipment before deployment to the theater of operations. The third program, the RTS-Medical, will provide reserve component medical units with complete sets of deployable hospital equipment for training.

U.S. Army Reserve Forces Schools play a vital role in the training of reserve component soldiers. The schools offer the Command and General Staff College Course, warrant officer entry courses, NCO leadership courses, and other courses supporting the NCO educational system. To increase enrollment in these courses by Army Reserve soldiers, the Army conducted a test during the fiscal year to determine if it is feasible to pay these soldiers while they attend the courses.

Exercises

The overall Army exercise program includes both unilateral and joint and combined exercises. Unilateral exercises are generally sponsored and conducted at corps level and below. Major joint and combined exercises are coordinated and sponsored by the joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) or one of the unified commands under the auspices of the joint Chiefs of Staff Exer-

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cises Program. The levels of Army commitment of troops and support to the exercise schedule are governed by availability of forces to meet troop list requests, the sufficiency of support funds, and the relative value of the activity as a training vehicle or instrument of national policy.

Deployment exercises provide invaluable training to units based in the continental United States. Joint training and interoperability objectives are established for each exercise to ensure that forces have sufficient time to develop supporting objectives and conduct preparatory training. Reserve component participation for specific exercises is identified at least two years in advance.

Of fifteen JCS-directed and thirty-seven JCS-coordinated exercises in which the Army participated in fiscal year 1986, a major one was REFORGER 86, in which the Army deployed approximately 17,000 U.S.-based forces to Europe to conduct a field training exercise with theater forces. Held from 1 January to 21 February, this eighteenth exercise in the series again demonstrated U.S. fighting capabilities and the rapid reinforcement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), improved NATO interoperability, and exercised general defense and contingency plans. U.S.-based troop units involved included the 1st Infantry Division; the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 32d Infantry Brigade (Mechanized); and the Army Reserve's 310th Theater Army Area Command, 354th Civil Affairs Command, and 412th Engineer Command. With this first use of a major Army National Guard unit, reserve component units accounted for over 40 percent of the participating U.S.-based forces.

In recent years, actual maneuver in the field-training phases of REFORGER has been scaled back due to environmental considerations. Adverse weather often makes the potential costs of maneuver damage claims unacceptable. To prepare for REFORGER 86, a combined U.S.-Federal Republic of Germany team traveled to the United States and provided damage prevention training. Field commanders made decisions during the exercise to scale down the scope of activities and reduce movements of heavy vehicles. This sensitivity to the host nation's needs has paid dividends in the reduction of claims costs, but also has reduced training opportunities.

The largest of the exercises in which the Army participated was TEAM SPIRIT, a joint/combined exercise conducted by the Republic of Korea-United States Combined Forces Command from 10 February to 25 April. The purpose of the TEAM SPIRIT

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series is to improve the defensive posture of the Republic of Korea and the United States through training in joint/combined operations, including the reception, staging, employment, and redeployment of out-of-country U.S. augmentation forces. Over 200,000 personnel, including approximately 60,000 from U.S. services, took part in 1986. U.S. Army units participating included the Eighth Army, elements of the 2d and 25th Infantry Divisions, I Corps Headquarters, a brigade task force from the 9th Infantry Division, and elements of the National Guard and the Army Reserve.

TEAM SPIRIT 86 proved to be the most challenging and tactically realistic exercise in the eleven-year history of the series. Republic of Korea and U.S. interoperability at all levels was outstanding, and the exercise included two firsts: a large-scale joint/combined tactical airdrop and subsequent linkup, and the employment of two field army headquarters.

GALLANT EAGLE, a large-scale field training exercise sponsored by the U.S. Central Command, was conducted at several locations in the western United States from 25 July to 3 August. Air support for the exercise was staged from several airfields spread throughout the southwestern United States. Ground operations were conducted by exercise forces at Fort Irwin, California, and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-nine Palms, California. Approximately 35,000 military personnel were involved in the exercise, with the Army Reserve and the National Guard providing extensive combat service support during all phases. Participating Army units were Third Army Headquarters; XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters; elements of the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions, and of the 24th Infantry Division; the 197th Infantry Brigade; 75th Infantry Regiment Headquarters; 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces; and elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment. GALLANT EAGLE 86 provided a simulated combat environment for training, planning, and execution of joint military operations. The exercise permitted an evaluation of Central Command Headquarters and portions of its multi-service forces in tactical operations in a desert setting.

The U.S. Southern Command sponsored AHUAS TARA 86 and CABANAS 86, a command post exercise and a field training exercise, respectively, in Honduras. AHUAS TARA was staged from 13 March to 20 April, and CABANAS from 28 February to 30 June. These joint/combined exercises with Honduran forces were part of a series designed to continue U.S. presence in Central America, to establish command, control, and commu-

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nication procedures, and to promote interoperability, rationalization, and standardization between forces.

To provide a military presence in the Caribbean was one aim of OCEAN VENTURE 86, a joint/combined, JCS-directed exercise sponsored by the U.S. Atlantic Command and held from 28 April to 12 May. This exercise also sought to strengthen perceptions of U.S. ability and willingness to project military power, when necessary, to protect national interests of friendly nations. The primary aim was to train Atlantic Command Headquarters and service task forces in rapid crisis deployments and tactical operations. A total of 8,200 U.S. personnel, including 2,400 Army, participated.

Each year the Army participates in worldwide joint Chiefs of Staff command post exercises. These exercises provide the opportunity to train the Army staff and major commands and evaluate plans, policies, procedures, and systems under simulated crisis conditions.

In fiscal year 1986 two such joint exercises were conducted. PORT CALL 86 tested the crisis management procedures of the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the services, unified and specified commands, and other participating organizations in mobilization and deployment in support of conventional war plans in a multitheater environment. PORT CALL 86 also tested the decision-making process leading to increased military capabilities and expansion of the industrial base in the execution of mobilization and conventional war plans. PRESENT ARMS 86 was an evaluation of selected Worldwide Military Command and Control System procedures and components.

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