thedrifter
02-27-04, 05:57 AM
Navy ships don't have to leave port to take part in virtual battles
By James W. Crawley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 26, 2004
The Navy is fighting a simulated war this week, using more than a dozen ships in San Diego, Washington state and Virginia in one of the largest naval war games in recent history.
Though the ships and sailors are real, the vessels remain tied up at their piers and jet fighters and missiles are just electrons, portrayed by icons on computer screens.
It's all part of simulating battles on a much larger scale than recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Navy officials said.
Improving the Navy's warfare leadership is the main goal of the exercise, said Vice Adm. Al Konetzni, a Virginia-based officer who is overseeing the complex drill.
"We're stressing the commanders and the individuals," Konetzni said yesterday.
Admirals, captains, lieutenants and enlisted personnel are pressed to make quick decisions under the stress of a large-scale war scenario with dozens of hostile units and many things happening at the same time.
The war game, called the Multiple Battle Group Inport Exercise, continues through today.
In the exercise, called "M-Biggie" by the sailors, the Navy warships are the Blue forces. Country Red is the bad guy, while Country Green is friendly and White is neutral.
Green is being threatened by its larger, more powerful neighbor Red and asks for help from the United States.
Though the Navy declines to reveal the real-world nations depicted by the color code, officials acknowledge that the scenario involves an island in the Western Pacific.
In all, 17,000 sailors, three aircraft carriers, three cruisers, six destroyers, two attack submarines and a frigate based in San Diego, Washington state and Norfolk, Va., are participating, along with a Navy eavesdropping plane in Nevada.
In San Diego, the warships taking part are the carrier John C. Stennis, cruisers Antietam and Lake Champlain, destroyers Howard and Lassen, and the submarine Helena.
Their on-board combat centers are connected by a secure computer network operated by a team of military and civilian experts from a command center at a Point Loma installation. With a few keystrokes, they can simulate hostile warships, submarines and aircraft.
"It's like a chess game, and these people are moving around the pieces, whether they're ships, planes or submarines," said Cmdr. Peter Latta, who is helping run the exercise.
A pawn in this naval "chess game" is the San Diego-based submarine Helena.
More than a dozen crew members spent yesterday in a sub simulator at the Point Loma submarine base, searching for mock hostile vessels.
"This is just like at sea," said Cmdr. Doug Wright, the Helena's commanding officer. "The only difference is we don't feel the submarine moving through the water."
Konetzni predicted that in coming decades, adversaries might try to challenge the Navy using quiet diesel submarines, anti-ship mines and other means to deny the U.S. military access to a region.
Such conflicts could require several carriers and many other warships working together, a tactic that was used off Iraq but had not been practiced in more than 10 years.
"We fight as battle forces, so we need to train as battle forces," said Vice Adm. Michael McCabe, commander of the San Diego-based 3rd Fleet, which is running the exercise.
Cost savings also are an important reason for conducting a virtual exercise, McCabe said.
"It's a fraction of the cost" compared with the millions of dollars it would require to send three carrier strike groups and their air wings to sea for an exercise, he added.
Naval officers expect the war game will be the first of several large-scale simulations.
"It's not the end of it," Konetzni said. "We won't look for a headline and quit."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James W. Crawley:
(619) 542-4559; jim.crawley@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040226-9999-1m26virtual.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
By James W. Crawley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 26, 2004
The Navy is fighting a simulated war this week, using more than a dozen ships in San Diego, Washington state and Virginia in one of the largest naval war games in recent history.
Though the ships and sailors are real, the vessels remain tied up at their piers and jet fighters and missiles are just electrons, portrayed by icons on computer screens.
It's all part of simulating battles on a much larger scale than recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Navy officials said.
Improving the Navy's warfare leadership is the main goal of the exercise, said Vice Adm. Al Konetzni, a Virginia-based officer who is overseeing the complex drill.
"We're stressing the commanders and the individuals," Konetzni said yesterday.
Admirals, captains, lieutenants and enlisted personnel are pressed to make quick decisions under the stress of a large-scale war scenario with dozens of hostile units and many things happening at the same time.
The war game, called the Multiple Battle Group Inport Exercise, continues through today.
In the exercise, called "M-Biggie" by the sailors, the Navy warships are the Blue forces. Country Red is the bad guy, while Country Green is friendly and White is neutral.
Green is being threatened by its larger, more powerful neighbor Red and asks for help from the United States.
Though the Navy declines to reveal the real-world nations depicted by the color code, officials acknowledge that the scenario involves an island in the Western Pacific.
In all, 17,000 sailors, three aircraft carriers, three cruisers, six destroyers, two attack submarines and a frigate based in San Diego, Washington state and Norfolk, Va., are participating, along with a Navy eavesdropping plane in Nevada.
In San Diego, the warships taking part are the carrier John C. Stennis, cruisers Antietam and Lake Champlain, destroyers Howard and Lassen, and the submarine Helena.
Their on-board combat centers are connected by a secure computer network operated by a team of military and civilian experts from a command center at a Point Loma installation. With a few keystrokes, they can simulate hostile warships, submarines and aircraft.
"It's like a chess game, and these people are moving around the pieces, whether they're ships, planes or submarines," said Cmdr. Peter Latta, who is helping run the exercise.
A pawn in this naval "chess game" is the San Diego-based submarine Helena.
More than a dozen crew members spent yesterday in a sub simulator at the Point Loma submarine base, searching for mock hostile vessels.
"This is just like at sea," said Cmdr. Doug Wright, the Helena's commanding officer. "The only difference is we don't feel the submarine moving through the water."
Konetzni predicted that in coming decades, adversaries might try to challenge the Navy using quiet diesel submarines, anti-ship mines and other means to deny the U.S. military access to a region.
Such conflicts could require several carriers and many other warships working together, a tactic that was used off Iraq but had not been practiced in more than 10 years.
"We fight as battle forces, so we need to train as battle forces," said Vice Adm. Michael McCabe, commander of the San Diego-based 3rd Fleet, which is running the exercise.
Cost savings also are an important reason for conducting a virtual exercise, McCabe said.
"It's a fraction of the cost" compared with the millions of dollars it would require to send three carrier strike groups and their air wings to sea for an exercise, he added.
Naval officers expect the war game will be the first of several large-scale simulations.
"It's not the end of it," Konetzni said. "We won't look for a headline and quit."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James W. Crawley:
(619) 542-4559; jim.crawley@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040226-9999-1m26virtual.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: