African Lion 2011

AGADIR, Morocco – Marines from 4th Combat Engineer Battalion partnered with members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces to conduct a nine-day command post exercise here as part of exercise African Lion 2011.

“The overall objective of the CPX was for the Moroccans and American to come together to plan an operation and execute it as a true combined staff,” said Scott Raiger, lead U.S. planner for the command post exercise portion of African Lion 2011 and designer of the simulated scenario the combined staff faced.

On the first day the headquarters staff of 4th CEB, a Marine Corps reserve unit headquartered in Baltimore, and a comparable-sized composite Moroccan military staff, received a brief about the scenario they would confront as a regimental-level combined staff.

The mission scenario was based on providing assistance to a fictitious island-nation off Morocco’s coast that sustained large scale damage from an underwater earthquake and resulting tsunami, while in the middle of experiencing a rebellion against the national government.

Taking advantage of the temporary chaos caused by the natural disasters, rebel forces moved across a U.N.-monitored ‘zone of separation’ to occupy key cities held by the government. Moroccan and U.S. forces in the country as part of a U.N. peace monitoring mission were tasked with helping reestablish the zone of separation while at the same time assisting citizens affected by the natural disasters.

“The Moroccans specifically requested for a scenario of an HA/DR [Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief] mission while in a non-permissive environment for this year’s CPX,” said Raiger.

Following the brief the two staffs came together for five days to conduct mission analysis and work through the respective planning process procedures of each military. The combined staffs worked through the language barrier to develop a single operations order for the combined regiment, which was comprised of one Marine Corps infantry battalion and two Moroccan infantry battalions.

“The planning phase is just as important as the execution phase,” said Raiger. “The war-gaming is fun, but a lot of the real learning occurs during the planning phase.”

Once the planning phase was complete, the CPX transitioned into the execution phase. The Marine Air Ground Task Force Tactical Warfare Simulation system was used to facilitate this three-day portion of the CPX.

The MTWS system allows a commander and his staff the ability to exercise command and control functions and practice standard operating procedures by providing real time engagement and movement data for the given scenario.

It also allows commanders to use all of the assets inherent to a Marine Corps MAGTF, such as supporting arms, aviation assets and logistical units. In addition, a ‘fog of war’ element is incorporated into the program in a variety of ways, such as reducing the detail of information provided by the computer during low-light conditions or under severe weather.

The U.S.-Moroccan combined regimental headquarters staff established a combat operations center at a classroom aboard the Moroccan Southern Zone Headquarters here. In separate classrooms across a courtyard, simulated battalion-level combat operations centers were established for the subordinate American and Moroccan battalions.

Marines and Moroccans working at the battalion level received orders from the regimental headquarters via handheld radios. As the orders were received and reissued by the battalion commanders, terminal operators executed those orders within the simulation.

The computer responded automatically within the scenario programmed into the system. Resulting information was then reported back to the regimental headquarters as the simulated mission was conducted.

The computer program determines the results of any tactical engagements, according to Rudy Ruhwedel, a Cubic Corp. contractor with I Marine Expeditionary Force Battle Simulation Center and the lead military analyst for the CPX.

The realism of the system provided a unique training opportunity for the Marines of 4th CEB. Coordinating troop movements and evacuating casualties, while simultaneously coordinating fires with adjacent units was an eye-opener for Staff Sgt. Nicholas S. Blitz, a combat engineer with 4th CEB and the operations chief for the American battalion during the CPX.

“Keeping track of everything on such a large scale, brought me back to the lesson I learned in boot camp, attention to detail,” said Blitz.

The execution phase concluded after three days. A day for an after-action review rounded out the nine-day schedule.

“In the end, we could see development in cooperation and a better understanding of each other’s capabilities and ability to execute required missions,” said Maj. Wesley W. Muller, operations officer for 4th CEB and the American regimental operations officer for the CPX.

African Lion is an annually scheduled, bilateral U.S.-Moroccan exercise designed to promote interoperability and mutual understanding of each nation’s military tactics, techniques and procedures. The CPX is only one portion of the exercise; which also includes field, aviation and peacekeeping training evolutions, along with several Humanitarian Civic Assistance visits.

African Lion is the largest exercise within the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility, bringing together more than 2,000 U.S. service members from 16 locations throughout Europe and North America with more than 900 members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. All U.S. forces will return to their home bases in the United States and Europe at the conclusion of the exercise.