Introduction
Situational awareness (SA) and digital battle command and control (C2) are crucial to the continuing success of the U.S. Army. Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) clearly demonstrates that success on the battlefield is due not only to the skillful use of advanced weapon systems, but also to the effective use of digital battle command systems. The war has also highlighted the importance of using realistic synthetic environments for operational testing and training.
Background
The U.S. Army Operational Test Command developed the Simulation Testing Operations Rehearsal Model (STORM) to provide a synthetic environment for realistic operational testing in an era of constricted resources (land, dollars, Soldiers, enemy forces, and time). STORM is an essential simulation tool of the Operational Test Command Analytic Simulation and Instrumentation Suite (OASIS), stimulating digital battle command systems on the lower Tactical Internet (TI) with tactically realistic SA and C2 messages.
STORM is a federation of entity-based simulations that operates in a distributed interactive simulation environment. STORM fuses live players, role players, and simulated entities (vehicle or Soldier) to create a realistic battlefield by portraying higher, adjacent, and lower units. STORM uses actual tactical communications systems to digitally transmit and receive SA and C2 messages, using the joint variable message format, between live and simulated forces in real time, thereby providing a common operational picture.
STORM has been instrumental to the successful development of the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2), providing a robust, synthetic environment for its developmental and operational testing. During its debut of FBCB2 operational test support in April 2000, STORM simulated an armor battalion and a mechanized infantry battalion of an adjacent brigade combat team (BCT) to the live BCT of the 4th Infantry Division deployed in the field at Fort Hood, Texas. Soldiers operating ten STORM work cells simulated the companies, scout and mortar platoons, and other elements comprising the two battalions of the BCT. Based on where the Soldiers operating these work cells positioned their forces within Janus, which was the combat simulation used to support the test, STORM automatically, and in accordance with FBCB2 rules, generated the SA messages that these units, if live, would have created. The STORM work cells also enabled the Soldiers operating them to exchange C2 messages with their battalion and brigade tactical operations centers (TOCs). In addition, STORM provided a realistic threat environment, augmenting the live opposing armor battalion deployed to the field, to provide a division-sized opposing force. Counting both live and simulated units, STORM portrayed over 9,600 vehicle entities.
Because of its success in portraying a realistic synthetic battlefield environment, STORM was recognized as a valuable tool for digital battle command training. Consequently, STORM supported numerous digitized training events, including the Joint Contingency Force (JCF) Advanced Warfighting Experiment at Fort Polk, Louisiana (September 2000), the FBCB2 Division Capstone Exercise at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California (April 2001), and several 4th Infantry Division NTC ramp-up training events (October 2000 - April 2002). Since November 2000, I Corps has been using STORM at the Mission Support Training Facility (MSTF) at Fort Lewis, Washington to support the digital training requirements of its Stryker brigades.
Stryker Support
In May 2003 as part of the Congressionally-mandated Certification Exercise/Operational Evaluation (CERTEX/OE) for the Army's first digitally equipped Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT), the SBCT was required to demonstrate key operational effectiveness capabilities, including joint, multinational, and interagency interoperability at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk. When U.S. Army Forces Command needed to simulate a digitally equipped Stryker battalion during the CERTEX/OE events, they turned to STORM as the solution. STORM supported all facets of the training leading to the CERTEX/OE and ultimately to the unit’s deployment to Iraq. This training included Warfighter training (September-October 2002) at Fort Lewis and training at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin (April 2003). During the CERTEX/OE, STORM stimulated the TOC of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry. This was accomplished with Soldiers operating six STORM work cells to simulate the three infantry companies, scout and mortar platoons, and logistical elements.
Due to land and other resource constraints at the JRTC, evaluation of the communications infrastructure of the entire SBCT would have been impossible without the message traffic provided by STORM. During the course of the 13-day event, over 3.5 million SA and more than 2,500 C2 messages were sent from STORM. Almost 700,000 SA and nearly 1,500 C2 messages were received by STORM. Thus, STORM provided a seamless digital battle command environment between the live and simulated forces, allowing the SBCT commander to exercise the C2 structure of the entire 3,600 Soldier brigade under deployment conditions.
Blue Force Tracker Support
During the first quarter of FY04, the STORM components underwent a major enhancement effort for compatibility with the requirements of the satellite-based Blue Force Tracker (BFT) system in use for OIF. In February 2004, STORM supported the FBCB2-BFT Developmental Test/Operational Test (DT/OT) using two STORM suites, one to stimulate the terrestrial-based FBCB2 and the other to stimulate the satellite-based BFT system. The terrestrial FBCB2 STORM suite, located at Fort Hood, simulated 760 FBCB2-equipped vehicles and stimulated the live terrestrial FBCB2s, located at Fort Huachuca, with SA messages via a Defense Research and Engineering Network connection to the Digital Army U.S. Message Text Format/Variable Message Format Stimulator (DAUVS), a component of STORM, located at Fort Huachuca. The BFT STORM suite simulated 355 BFT-equipped vehicles and stimulated the live BFT systems with SA and C2 messages via a local area network connection to the BFT Operations Center at Fort Hood.
Due to the differences in the satellite system versus the terrestrial-based system, a different methodology was required for stimulating the BFT systems. In the past, the methodology used to increase the tactical communications load for testing the terrestrial FBCB2s was to increase the rate and amount of vehicles moving within STORM; the faster the vehicles moved, the more SA messages were generated by STORM. However, due to satellite bandwidth constraints, the BFT Operations Center would send out only the most recent position locations for a fixed number of vehicles at a fixed time interval. Additional vehicles increased SA latency of the system. So, a different methodology was devised to increase the communications load for testing the BFT system. The STORM-simulated FBCB2-equipped vehicles were moved into the BFT's area of interest (AOI), thereby increasing the communications load and the number of platforms seen by the BFT. Conversely, STORM-simulated FBCB2-equipped vehicles were moved out of the BFT AOI to decrease the communications load.
During the DT/OT, STORM played a key role in surfacing issues pertaining to AOI, Unit Task Reorganization, and Center of Mass at the BFT Operations Center, enabling the issues to be resolved in a timely manner during the DT/OT. STORM proved to be essential to the test, providing the rigorous SA and C2 digital synthetic environment required to ensure that the best system is fielded to our Soldiers as they encounter the challenges of OIF.
Army Constructive Training Federation Support In FY04, an interoperability and enhancement effort with the National Simulation Center's Run-Time Manager (RTM) provided STORM the capability to automatically generate bottom-up, lower TI C2 message traffic based on conditions and events occurring in the simulation, thereby reducing the Soldier and manpower requirements to adequately stimulate a Division-level command post exercise. Triggers, based on conditions and events provided by the TRADOC System Managers, were implemented in Janus to generate new protocol data units (PDUs). The RTM used the new PDUs to automatically generate the appropriate C2 message, such as an Obstacle Report, a Spot Report, or a Call for Fire. The RTM passed the C2 messages to STORM for delivery over the lower TI to the ABCS systems in the battalion and brigade TOCs. The first V&V event for this new automated C2 generation functionality with RTM, STORM, and Janus was successfully conducted in May 2004. In addition, STORM demonstrated interoperability with RTM during the Army Constructive Training Federation (ACTF) version 1 Operational Readiness Event in June 2004 at the Central Technical Support Facility at Fort Hood, Texas. Similarly, PDUs are currently being implemented in JCATS, and another V&V event is planned with RTM, STORM, and JCATS later this year.
Future Support
STORM demonstrates innovation and achievement in advancing the state-of-the-art constructive simulations; synthetic wrap-around environments; and interoperability between live, tactical forces and virtual and constructive simulations. Digital battle command is in its infancy now, but its use is rapidly expanding and will explode with the fielding of additional systems throughout DOD. As the use of digital battle command expands throughout DOD, the upgrades and enhancements required to maintain STORM as a high-fidelity tool for developmental and operational testing also ensure its continued usefulness in the training arena. In November 2003, the Future Combat Systems Lead Systems Integrator officially requested that STORM be delivered for their use in February 2005. STORM has the capability to continue to support transformation to network-centric warfare, but, more importantly, STORM has proved valuable in preparing Soldiers for digital battle command to meet the demands of a hostile environment in Iraq.
MARY ANNE TATUM is an Operations Research Systems Analyst in the Transformation Technology Directorate of the U.S. Army Operational Test Command and has managed the STORM program for the past several years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwest Texas State University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso.