 Joint
Red Flag bringing big picture together
Using
a mix of live, vitual and constructive environments,
the U.S. Joint Forces Command-sponsored Joint Red Flag
05 exercise
brings top-flight, life-saving training to more than
10,000 people over thousands of miles.
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Angel L. Casaigne, Jr.
Joint Red Flag Joint Information Bureau
(NELLIS
AIR FORCE BASE, NEV. - March 19, 2005) -- The integration
of more than 10,000 people and countless assests and
technologies
from all U.S. military branches and several coalition militaries
is well underway at the U.S. Joint Forces Command-sponsored Joint
Red Flag 05.
With participants primarily from Nellis AFB, Nev., Kirtland
AFB, N.M., Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Bliss, Texas and Hurlburt
Field, Fla. implementation of live, virtual and constructive
technologies has begun.
"The
difficult tasks of combining all live, virtual and constructive
forces, saving lives and creating a computer-simulated
battle plan distributed to sites all across the country
is doing great," said Air Force Lt. Col. James Murray,
12th Air Force project officer. "This is as good as
we could have expected at this point."
Live training (Red Flag) refers to having a real person
in a real aircraft flying a live mission. Virtual training
(Virtual Flag) refers to crews actually sitting in simulators
and participating in the exercise from wherever they may
be stationed. Constructive forces are computer aided simulations
which play out much like a person sitting at a computer
playing a video game and controlling a wider span of forces
than a single aircraft, tank or ship.
JRF05
will use USJFCOM's Joint
National Training Capability to link live,
virtual and constructed (L-V-C) forces
and create a computer-simulated battlespace distributed
to sites across the country.
"During the exercise we will have approximately 350
to 400 live joint and coalition sorties each day from all
across the country for Joint Red Flag. That isn't really
out of the norm, however when you combine that with the
more than 600 to 700 construction sorties and 850 virtual
sorties we'll be flying, it's going to be very busy," said
Murray
"Once all of our systems are online, we will be able
to combine all these different missions into one big picture
spanning the entire southwest United States, creating a
scenario at a scope that has never been done or seen before," he
added.
Simulators and virtual training have presented a new and
viable cost saving, near realistic means of training for
today's military. However, this new way of training has
just taken another step forward.
"The exercise has successfully linked 31 distributed
M&S sites, incorporating 34 constructive simulations,
and over 18 virtual simulations and Weapons Tactics Trainers," said
Lt. Col. Mark D. Horn, commander of the 505th Exercise
Control Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. "This is
a great undertaking and accomplishment that we are all
proud of."
"Real and simulated input and stimuli are being
used to feed real-world systems for live and virtual participants
over operational satellite receiving stations," Horn
said. "We're very happy with the progress made so
far and are looking to only becoming better in the future."
The constructive forces are to play a large role in JRF
and add a unique aspect to the exercise and training scenario.
"Constructive simulations allow the military to
train distributively, which means that the participants
in some cases do not even need to leave their home base
location to be a part of the largest joint and combined
exercise ever attempted in history," Murray said.
"These
models and simulations also allow the warfighters to integrate
new weapons and weapon systems before they are first used
in combat situations. This allows military planners the
ability to learn how these new capabilities can be maximized
without having to use the actual aircraft or weapon.
"In the end the constructive training provided will continue
to help the military reduce the overall training costs,
while providing very realistic training using tomorrow's
weapons and techniques today," Murray said.
The monetary savings to the military and American tax
payers is also a big benefit of JRF. According to Murray,
Virtual Flag provides training to people at both the tactical
and operational levels of warfare at a significantly reduced
cost in equipment, time and personnel.
"Virtual Flag can produce a large force employment
integrating both live simulations and constructive simulations
to provide a robust and dynamic training environment that
would otherwise involve hundreds of live aircraft costing
hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fraction of the
cost," he said
In
addition to saving money, the participation of coalition
forces in JRF gives an opportunity to save many lives. "For
the first time ever, we're developing a coalition information
system and network to move more information to all participants
in a theater of operation. Information is a critical asset
in any Combined Air and Space Operations Center (CAOC).
It dramatically reduces the possibility of future friendly
fire incidents, allowing our brave men and women to fight
another day," said Murray. "This training is
an intricate part of what the military will be using in
the future to save lives."
Long distances and the cooperation of many people have
come together seamlessly to give JRF at high rate of accomplishment
midway through the exercise.
"When you think of the thousands of miles and people
involved in putting this together, this exercise is a tremendous
success so far. We're currently at a 95 percent success
rate, with it getting better everyday," Murray added. "We're
working towards 100 percent success and hope to be there
very soon. We're proud of everyone and the hard work they've
put in."
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