Kirtland hosts exercise in virtual battlespace

Published Feb. 18, 2014
By Kendahl Johnson
377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Virtual Flag 14-2 begins Feb. 21, and participants will take part in the seven-day large force composite exercise in a virtual battlespace that merges tactical- and operational-level training.

Maj. Joseph Michaelson, exercise director, said the exercise helps prepare warfighters for combat situations through operational integration of forces from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines.

"This unique training opportunity allows Air Force warfighters to practice, develop, and validate joint tactics, techniques, and procedures with a combat representative force," he said.

Simulators will link together more than 400 participants from 63 units and 28 distributed sites on a network maintained and operated by the 705th Combat Training Squadron at the Distributed Mission Operations Center. The participants will "battle" in a realistic scenario utilizing the joint live, virtual and constructive mission operations environment.

"The DMOC acts as a network hub, and with the aid of technical experts, manipulates the information transmitted across the networks to ensure the highest fidelity, realism, and training value possible," Michaelson said.

Due to budget constraints, there are fewer live opportunities to train, but Virtual Flag offers a realistic and inexpensive way for units to practice tactics, techniques and procedures against virtual combatants, including aircraft, ships, tanks and troops.

"This training offers an affordable and effective way to prepare our warfighters for real-world combat scenarios," Michaelson said. "The venue allows Air Force warfighters the opportunity to accomplish combat readiness requirements from the tactical employment of a weapon to the operational floor of a combined air operations center."

Virtual Flag 14-2 is designed to train warfighters for combined air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace operations in contested, degraded, and operationally-limited environments. The exercise scenario will focus on mission areas that require close coordination between multiple joint weapon systems in order to ensure mission success. Mission areas include areas such as air operations in maritime surface warfare, integrated air and missile defense, and command and control. The opposing forces will be led by aggressors from the 57th Adversary Tactics Group from Nellis AFB, Nev.

"They will replicate current and emerging threats that are guaranteed to challenge the joint training audience," Michaelson said.

The DMOC hosts three joint virtual flag exercises each year, a virtual flag with joint and coalition partners, and several other training events.