Attachment_06_XCTC_White_Paper.pdf

An Army National Guard White Paper

The Army National Guard eXportable Combat Training Capability

Office of the Chief, Training Division, Army National Guard

March 2018

The Army National Guard eXportable Combat Training Capability is more than a maneuver Combat Training Center ramp-up event, it’s how the Army National Guard develops leaders and trains platoon-level Decisive Action proficiency.

-- Lieutenant General Timothy J. Kadavy, June 2017

INTRODUCTION

The eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) is the Army National Guard (ARNG) capstone home station training event for Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) to attain T-Level 3 (T3) training readiness. Accordingly, the XCTC program affords commanders the opportunity to assess Mission Essential Task (MET) proficiency in force-on-force and live fire training environments.

The XCTC mission is twofold: first, develop adaptive leaders; and secondly, enable platoons to achieve trained proficiency in core functions or designed capabilities. Each 21-day exercise employs the traditional pillars of the Army’s maneuver Combat Training Centers (MCTC), but unlike the MCTCs, XCTC brings the training experience to a home station location.1

The purpose of this paper is to highlight major capabilities and important evolutionary initiatives. It describes the program’s considerable training value, and more importantly, serves as the definitive XCTC reference guide for Army senior leaders. The XCTC is an innovative, platoon focused, home station ARNG training event that reduces overhead without sacrificing training quality, standards, or outcomes.

TRAINING STRATEGY

The XCTC is a programmed and resourced platoon-level training exercise for ARNG BCTs in the current HQDA training models.2 It is an ARNG capstone training event that produces unit readiness and adaptive leaders. The XCTC program tailors platoon and company lane training exercises to meet specific MET requirements.3 Although platoons are the primary training audience, XCTC provides training opportunities for supporting units as well as battalion and brigade staffs. Therefore, units are expected to arrive at squad-level proficiency and prepared to execute platoon and above multi-echelon training and mission command.

COMMANDER’S PROGRAM

The XCTC is a flexible, scalable, and tailorable commander-driven training event. Training scenarios are designed to challenge units at all levels, but commanders retain the flexibility to

1 CTC Pillars: Training Unit; Operations Group; Operational Environment; Instrumentation; and Facilities.

2 ARNG BCT Structure / Year of XCTC: 20 Infantry BCTs - year 3 of a 5 year training model; 5 Armor BCTs - year 2 of a 4 year training model; and 2 Stryker BCTs - year 2 of a 4 year training model.

3 In accordance with FM 7-0, Train To Win In A Complex World.

“rheostat” training intensity based on objectives and unit needs. The BCT commander specifically determines the training focus and readiness end state for each rotation. Commanders are best positioned to drive XCTC training management decisions because commanders know their unit’s training status, strengths, weaknesses, and future mission requirements. Preparing units for operations is a commander responsibility, and short of a MCTC rotation, XCTC provides the best opportunity for ARNG BCT commanders to achieve required readiness objectives.

MISSION COMMAND

Rotational training units (RTU) exercise mission command daily at every echelon through decentralized mission orders.4 The process begins several months prior when the RTU receives the operations order (OPORD) from its higher headquarters, and then issues a subsequent OPORD to its battalions.5 Upon entering the maneuver box, the BCT receives fragmentary orders to drive the training scenario. In application, platoons and companies conduct troop leading procedures, while battalion and brigade staffs orient on current and future operations. The XCTC training environment requires leaders to synchronize military decision-making processes (MDMP) with mission command systems.

TRAINING UNIT

The standard XCTC troop list consists of those units assigned under the current Army BCT design. However, RTUs may request minor troop list exceptions early in the planning process.6 Approved exceptions typically include echelons above brigade (EAB) assets deemed critical to mission success by the commander.7 In FY18, the XCTC program expanded the troop list for BCTs with follow-on MCTC rotations. The expanded troop list includes essential enabler units and select unit leaders from the RTU’s approved MCTC troop list.8 By developing unit and key leader relationships early in the training model, BCTs are better prepared for the MCTC experience. As a result, commanders and units no longer meet one another for the first time at the MCTC.

OPERATIONS GROUP

The XCTC operations group is a collaborative, multi-partner organization consisting of highly qualified military and contracted personnel. The operations group assists in exercise planning and preparation, and in combination with host installations and other organizations, provides training support. The operations group is further augmented by professionally trained First

4 The rotational training unit is the BCT, the principle unit for training support.

5 The RTU receives the exercise OPORD that sets the maneuver training box from its State JFHQ, a Division Headquarters, or the XCTC Rotation Director serving as the higher headquarters.

6 Final troop list approval occurs at the D-320 Concept Brief.

7 Enabling capabilities outside the BCT structure, but in direct support to the BCT. Examples include: Aviation and Engineers.

8 Units such as Combat Support and Sustainment Battalion (CSSB) headquarters, and the key unit leaders under the CSSB.

U.S. Army observer coach / trainers (OC/T) to analyze training performance, and State Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) personnel to replicate the RTU headquarters. The XCTC operations group is a diverse, low-overhead organization that facilitates training and assists the BCT in achieving training objectives.

OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The XCTC training scenario is designed to stress leaders and unit capabilities in a complex, realistic operational environment. The program delivers credible opposing forces that emulate modern threat units, as well as a mix of role players to replicate today’s diverse human terrain.

Soldiers and leaders experience a level of realism that cannot be achieved by the unit. In FY18, the XCTC exercise maneuver box converts to a fully immersed, 24/7 threat-based training environment for select BCTs with follow-on MCTCs. Immersion for all RTUs begins in FY19.

INSTRUMENTATION

The XCTC program uses FlexTrain to support exercise control and collect objective data on unit performance.9 It allows commanders to more effectively certify platoon proficiency and MET training levels. More importantly, FlexTrain enables continuous performance improvement and adaptive learning by facilitating high-fidelity reviews of unit and Soldier successes and failures.

FlexTrain Instrumented-After Action Reviews (I-AAR) remove the guess work, offering leaders multiple mediums (2D, 3D, video, and tactical audio) to assess performance and gain insight not otherwise possible.10 FlexTrain specifically enables reflection in-action, which expands Soldier knowledge, deepens understanding, and improves the overall learning experience. Beginning in FY18, RTU commanders will plan the inclusion of I-AARs at decisive points in the exercise. The intent is to reduce training downtime by conducting less frequent, but more meaningful I-AARs.

FlexTrain is a high-end investment in ARNG training and Soldiers—the return on investment is improved learning and task performance.

FACILITIES

The program delivers an exportable home station training experience by leveraging existing Army training lands and facilities at the RTU point-of-need. Training occurs at both reserve and active component installations, thereby eliminating the requirement for permanent XCTC infrastructure. This significantly reduces program operating costs without sacrificing training

9 FlexTrain is a rapidly-deployable, GPS-based instrumentation system that supports platoon- to brigade-level training. Developed for the ARNG, this highly-tailorable system tracks vehicles and participants to the individual level, allowing unit leaders to monitor events in real-time and replay scenarios in I-AARs.

10 3D I-AARs provide a game-like interface… avatars show the exact locations of individual Soldiers and vehicles; shot lines [captured through an interface to the Army’s Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) training system] indicate “hits” and “near-misses”; video feeds that provide live-action perspectives; and synchronized tactical audio communications.

standards or quality. Both host installations and local communities benefit from XCTC events.

Army installations receive additional Training Support System (TSS) funding and communities benefit from temporary employment opportunities.11

LEADER DEVELOPMENT

The XCTC program is more than training and warfighting readiness, it is an operational pathway for leader development. As a crucible training event, leaders earn a competitive advantage by improving tactical abilities and leadership skills. Replicating today’s complex operational environment with greater fidelity and realism forces leaders to quickly assess ambiguous situations, make decisions, and act upon them. The result is tactically proficient, self-confident ARNG leaders.

MANDATORY ELEMENTS

Though the BCT commander manages much of the training environment, several prescriptive elements are inherent in every exercise. Prescriptive elements are the training standards, events, and environmental conditions necessary to replicate a Decisive Action Training Environment. For instance, by FY19 every scenario will include the following training elements:

• Realistic, competitive, and fully immersed 24/7 threat-based force-on-force environments designed to replicate conditions approximating actual combat.

• Dynamic and complex threat-based training lanes.12

• Culminating battalion-level field training exercise.13

• Over-the-shoulder MDMP training support during culminating event planning.14

• Consequence based tactical sustainment operations conducted from self-secured and mobile brigade support areas.15

• Escalating threat conditions to drive command post displacement criteria.

11 Temporary hires (support personnel and role players) often include off-duty traditional ARNG Soldiers and former Soldiers.

12 A Dynamic and Complex environment must include four or more operational environment conditions. An example is a time constrained exercise conducted in an urban environment amongst local nationals, against an adaptive OPFOR capable of adjusting to RTU behaviors.

13 The XCTC high water training event where battalions execute a field training exercise from a brigade mission order developed during the exercise. Intent - Brigade and battalions exercise mission command over company-level training lanes. Battalion staffs are expected to conduct MDMP, produce an order, and participate in a brigade-level combined arms rehearsal.

14 Over-the-shoulder MDMP support provided by the ARNG Mission Command Training Support Program (MCTSP).

15 Sustainment units plan, prepare, and execute scenario driven Logistics Release Point and Logistics Package delivery operations to dispersed units across the operational environment. An inability to execute sustainment operations will impact maneuver unit mission accomplishment.

CONCLUSION

The ARNG XCTC program improves leader capability and prepares Soldiers and units for contingency operations and known demand missions through a single culminating home station training event. Moreover, XCTC delivers a high fidelity home station training experience that delivers objectively measured outcomes. The training experience, which includes changing conditions and various operating environments, specifically allows for a more seamless transition from training to operations. The XCTC program represents the ARNG’s investment in leader development and collective training—the return on investment is Army readiness.