Joint Readiness Training Center Exercise 09-09: Coalition Airmen offered unique IW training op

Published Aug. 24, 2009
By Capt. Joe Knable
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- If you stumbled upon a man wearing a Middle Eastern attire, a host nation security police colonel and military officers from three coalition countries, you might actually think you are somewhere in the Middle East.

However, this scene was part of irregular warfare, or IW, training at Little Rock AFB as part of the Green Flag Little Rock, or GFLR. The training at Little Rock is in in conjunction with the Joint Readiness Training Center Exercise 09-09 at Fort Polk, La. At the JRTC exercise, 3,200 Soldiers are "deployed" to an austere environment at Fort Polk. GFLR provides training for aircrews who perform airlift and airdrop missions, aeromedical evacuation and bare-base set up and operations for the JRTC exercise.

The goal of GFLR is for aircrews to fly their first five simulated combat missions in a safe environment, said Maj. Earl W. Burress, the trainer and mentor in charge of irregular warfare training at Little Rock AFB. The irregular warfare exercises are part of the training Air Force members receive to prepare them for theater operations.

Irregular warfare is "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant population(s). IW favors indirect and asymmetric approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capacities, in order to erode an adversary's power, influence, and will," according to the U.S. Air Force Irregular Warfare Operating Concept, Dec. 1, 2008.

In the training scenarios at Little Rock AFB, aircrews from the U.S., Canada and Belgium are participating. While the players know that IW training will occur during the exercise, they do not know when it will take place, what the circumstance will be, or who will participate.

"Just like in real-world deployments, they must be ready at all times," said Major Burress.

For this exercise, Department of Defense security and intelligence agents dressed up as Iraqi nationals and engaged coalition players in a variety of IW scenarios.

On the first day, agents posed as a local leader, his security police colonel and a U.S. escort. The agents met with representatives of all four coalition teams, including the Air Force aeromedical evacuation team, and the American, Belgian, and Canadian aircrews, to discuss a variety of topics ranging from military assistance, humanitarian aid, political sentiments and religious affiliation.

Players were challenged to maintain their military bearing with many personal and controversial questions and statements including a marriage proposal directed at the female Canadian mission commander.

The players focused on remaining professional, warm, and diplomatic in their responses, while gathering intelligence that might be useful to the coalition.

After the 45-minute meeting, Air Force intelligence trainer/mentors discussed what the players did well and what they might want to do differently "in country." The meeting was purposely long with uncomfortable pauses because the culture in many foreign countries is different. Such a meeting could last six hours, one trainer explained.

"This first meeting was intended to illustrate 'wasta,' a key concept in Iraq that translates roughly to the concepts of strength, honor, and trust," said Major Burress.

"Building relationships is the bull's-eye for meetings with local nationals. Once they build wasta, the local nationals will provide invaluable help," he said.

In the second encounter, the son of the local leader was very angry because of what he described as an "immoral use of technology," Major Burress said.

Players had to overcome a simulated language barrier to discover the true issue. He was told the pilots were using night vision goggles to see through local women's clothing. Once players understood this, they brought a pair of NVGs in for the local leader's son to look through and he discovered for himself that the allegation was erroneous -- NVGs have no such capability.

The third IW exercise was the shortest of all. The U.S. agent knocked frantically on the door until players answered. He said that the local leader had something urgent to show the players and they had better send their mission commander right away. The team assembled quickly and uncovered a significant cache of weapons the Iraqis had discovered. The most important thing discovered were man-portable, air-defense systems, which could destroy coalition airplanes and thwart their mission. The mission commander thanked the local leader with a cash gratuity and asked that he please let them know if he found anything else.

This training is very unique for U.S. Airmen, Major Burress said. He said successful training would result in "participants who understand that their actions influence the local population and therefore the war on the strategic level, they have increased skills in relating to Muslim and Middle Eastern cultures, and they are actively influencing the battle-space in a positive way."