What it takes to develop an effective military exercise - SDDC

MILITARY SURFACE DEPLOYMENT AND DISTRIBUTION COMMANDNEWS RELEASESDDC Command Affairs Office1 Soldier WayScott Air Force Base, IL 62225Voice: 618.220.6284E-Mail: SDDC-CA@sddc.army.mil017-22-09-2011What it takes to develop an effective military exerciseCommand Affairs OfficeHQ SDDCMILITARY OCEAN TERMINAL CONCORD, Calif., (July 22, 2011) – Members of the MilitarySurface Deployment and Distribution Command’s 834th Transportation, Battalion at Military OceanTerminal Concord, Calif., came to work Monday morning, July 18, expecting the next four days to beanything but routine port operations for the command. They started the week at the receiver’s end ofCoyote Shield 2011.The first order of business was responding to a simulated 6.4 earthquake affecting the installation andsurrounding communities. Lt. Col. Chris Hart, commander of the 834th and MOTCO, assembledrepresentatives from each battalion directorate and stood up their Emergency Operations Center, or EOC.“Coyote Shield is an excellent opportunity for us to exercise and evaluate our antiterrorism and forceprotection postures and forces,” Hart said.As the week progressed, training scenarios advanced with intensity, testing the unit’s response anddecision-making capabilities.SDDC’s Intelligence and Security Directorate, or G-2, is responsible for managing the Coyote Shieldexercise at MOTCO, as well as the similar Point Defender exercise at Military Ocean Terminal SunnyPoint, N.C. Both are antiterrorism, force protection and emergency response exercises.Developing and executing a challenging and effective training exercise involves more than just giving anorganization a series of scenarios to work and watching them react. G-2’s planning process starts eightmonths in advance acquiring SDDC and unit training objectives, then, developing an exercise agenda tomeet those requirements.To plan, develop and execute an effective exercise, G-2 can’t do it alone. The directorate puts together asmall army of experts to produce and perform a variety of tasks making the exercise challenging andeffective to meet training objectives. Execution is literally a timed choreographed production requiringdozens of participants and evaluators.Larry Ragan, antiterrorism officer for SDDC G-2, oversees Point Defender and Coyote Shield.“This exercise is designed to examine tactics, techniques, coordination and communications, how theEOC is working, how the police and fire department are working and every facet of antiterrorism, forceprotection and emergency response.” Ragan said.

County and local law enforcement, fire departments, and emergency management offices around MOTSUand MOTCO are also invited to participate in the exercises with each installation.Ragan said that offering a training environment to county and local responders is a win-win situation.Even though it cost the county a bit more from their budget for their folks to train with the military, theycan capitalize on discovering their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as, advance their relationshipwith the installation.G-2 relies on partners and outsourced personnel for their expertise and assistance in executing theexercise. For Coyote Shield 2011, team participants comprised of contractors, members from U.S.Transportation Command, SDDC, 596th, 597th and 599th Transportation Brigades, 375th Security Forcesfrom Scott Air Force Base and local Army Reserves to bring to life a training production that ischallenging and meaningful for the 834th and Contra Costa County emergency responders. In total, 44people were on the Coyote Shield exercise team testing the skills of about 140 unit personnel and dozensof county responders.“Our objective for a successful exercise is to push the limits of the organization with our scenarios,”Ragan said. “We want to get them out of their comfort zone from their daily operations routine and wewant them to self-discover what areas they excel in and where they need to improve upon.”During development of the exercise scenarios, the team leaves no details left to chance.Cars and trucks from a local junkyard are rented and used for vehicle accidents and to carry improvisedexplosive devices as the team attempts to breach installation security. Some team members are assignedto role-play victims of vehicle accidents and chemical spills, complete with moulage [mock injuries] foradded realism of injuries.One person from the battalion is chosen to role-play a disgruntled employee, discreetly showing signs ofdiscontent throughout the week and culminating into an active shooter on the last day for police torespond too. Even the details of adding paraphernalia to a mock crack house gives police responders anenvironment of a real drug busts to deal with.Pyrotechnics are added into scenarios involving fire and explosions for realism and the team has theirown “news reporter” and film crew, dual-tasked to test leadership’s communication skills with mediaevents and document exercise highlights providing feedback to installation and county personnel.Preparation and attention to details are key ingredients for an effective and meaningful exercise. Thisallows the unit to gain valuable insight into their current capabilities and areas for improvement.--END--