Non-Subscriber Extract
A tale of many cities: demands of urban warfare fuel CQB skills
By Huw Williams
10th September 2008
Long experience has shown that where armed forces with modern technology are able to dominate the battlespace and once conventional kinetic operations have concluded, protracted asymmetric operations, often in urban terrain, are the hardest to win.
As the Russian military found to its cost in Chechnya, once fighting enters urban areas where individual soldiers and platoons have become the key players, close-quarter battle (CQB) skills are essential and the effect of modern weaponry decreases. Perhaps more importantly, at the same time the casualty rate increases. Presently United States and allied forces are undertaking operations that require well-honed CQB skills in Afghanistan and Iraq, where military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) are the norm.
Reports made by US Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Science Board (DSB) task forces recognised some of the deficiencies in US armed forces' ability to conduct MOUT at the commencement of operations in Iraq in 2003, and noted that much of this was due to the focus and nature of training that was undertaken. A 2006 report outlined that the emphasis was previously placed on larger-scale operations at centralised training facilitates, with little time and resources spent on low-level training in the CQB skills that are required by smaller units in current operations.
The recommendations made by this report, include: the provision of realistic training environments; introduction of a representative population; utilisation of an opposition force (OPFOR) that has a genuine fighting capability; enhancement of instrumentation; systems for recording and analysing training scenarios; and focusing on junior and non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Much has been achieved since 2006 but some of these recommendations had already been introduced into the training structure of the US Marine Corps (USMC) in 2003, in preparation for the start of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom' in March of that year.
Some training and facilities are provided internally and some by commercial ventures. Amongst the latter, the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of the USMC was the first marine unit to utilise the facilities provided by Strategic Operations: a company that specialises in providing realistic training environments at its 20-acre site in San Diego.
The company is a division of Stu Segall Productions, which provides production facilities and services to the film and television industry. However, since the events of 11 September 2001 the company experienced a decrease in the demand for its services with a move away from its core business of 'action' productions.
Subsequently it was contacted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which requested the use of its facilities and role-players for training its warrant-enforcement teams.
Since then more than 80,000 US military personnel have undertaken training that Strategic Operations has been involved in. The company also plays an important role at training facilities at a number of bases, including: Fort Polk, Louisiana; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; and the US Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. In addition to personnel from the USMC and US Army, specialforces, including those from 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) and the US Navy SEALS (Sea, Air and Land) have also been trained.
The president of Strategic Operations, Stu Segall, describes the services provided as 'hyper-realistic training'. Speaking to Jane's, he outlines a number of the facilities and services that he has been tasked to provide to improve CQB training.
Segall explains that his company draws on its expertise in the film industry, using licensed pyrotechnicians to create realistic explosions safely in close proximity to personnel. Effects include: rocket-propelled grenades; mines; improvised explosive devices (IEDs); and vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs), including 'suicide' vehicles; as well as the accompanying sounds and even appropriate smells.
Image: Interactive life-size holographic projections replicate civilians and combatants at the US Office of Naval Research's Infantry Immersive Trainer. (ONR)