Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) From Hawaii
Story by SSG Jeff Clayton, Photos Courtesy Washington Army
National Guard & SPC Robert Woods, 25th Infantry Division - Posted Feb, 2000
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It might go something like this... a Navy S.E.A.L. team slithers out of the surf and onto an enemy coastline under cover of darkness. Its objective: destroy an enemy communications center less than a mile inland and return to the water within 3 hours. This action precedes a major amphibious invasion scheduled for 0400 hours the following morning. The next morning an Army Psychological Operations unit lands on the beachhead, now secured by U.S. Marines. They have a mission too: set up operations and commence counter-propaganda broadcasts... from the same radio station the S.E.A.L.'s blew up the night before!
This may sound like a fairly simple conflict to spot during the planning process. But the truth is that the modern battlefield is plagued by information overload. It's difficult to keep track of everything and everyone. This is further complicated by the secrecy and urgency required by many operations in order to keep enemy information systems from getting wind of our plans. A new concept in mission planning was conceived during the Gulf War to address this problem.
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This new concept is called Information Operations (or IO), and it's being practiced by every branch of the U.S. military, in one form or another, and by most other governments as well. Army 'IO' seeks to synchronize - and to 'deconflict' - several traditional military disciplines through the employment of specially trained units called Field Support Teams (FST's).
The Army's field manual (FM 100-6 "Information Operations") defines IO as "all information capabilities, processes, activities, and disciplines that occur within the military information environment (MIE) and interact with the global information environment (GIE). IO are conducted at all levels of war (strategic, operational, and tactical) and across the full range of military operations (peacetime, conflict, and war). The three components of IO are: (1) Operations, (2) Relevant Information and Intelligence (RII), and (3) Information Systems (INFOSYS)". Wow! Got that?... there's a test later.
The Washington Army National Guard's (WA-ARNG) IO Group (IOG) was formed early in 1999 in response to a shortage of IO personnel and teams within the active duty forces. During its short history, under the guidance of the Army's Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA), headquartered in Fort Belvoir VA, the IOG has supported exercises in numerous locations from Grafenwoer Germany, to Fort Hood Texas and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to its latest deployment to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
From the 10th to the 18th of December 1999, one of the IOG's Field Support Teams (the element that actually brings IO to the corps or division headquarters) provided support to the 25th Infantry Division's (ID), Light (L) Warfighter Exercise dubbed "Tropic Rage".
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A "Warfighter" is a command post exercise based on an advanced computer simulation conducted at a division or corps level headquarters. It is designed to replicate all of the diverse challenges the unit might face on the battlefield, putting to test all of the headquarters' systems: command and control, communications, planning and logistics. 24 hours a day, for several days, the division commander, Major General William E. Ward and his staff were barraged with simulations of incidents from artillery strikes to refugee traffic. The FST worked as an integral part of the 25th ID (L) staff, helping to synchronize the division's efforts in Operations Security, Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations, Electronic Warfare, Public Affairs, and several other areas.
Since its inception the IOG had provided augmentation to active duty LIWA teams, but this deployment was a bit different - this time it was a National Guard operation from top to bottom. In fact the deployment marked the first time an all Army National Guard Information Operations unit had been sent to support an active duty Army Division exercise. The FST was closely scrutinized by LIWA evaluators to determine if they were qualified for worldwide operational deployment.
FST's may be configured with different personnel and skills for specific missions, but a normal team is ten soldiers led by a Major. They bring several diverse technical and tactical skills when attached to a corps or division headquarters.
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The FST worked within the maze of tents, antennae and concertina wire that comprised the field headquarters, known as the Tactical Operations Center, or "TOC". The interior of the 25th ID's TOC was fairly typical of a modern U.S. Army division - humid and cramped, but surprisingly functional. Amid an astounding array of state-of-the-art computers and communications equipment more than a hundred officers and NCO's busily answered radio-telephones, conducted briefings and updated map boards. Wires seemed to run everywhere within - wires for the computer network, phone wires, electrical wires. The operations Sergeant Major commented that just the central section of the TOC took over 4 hours to set up. That was with every member of his headquarters staff working at top speed. Wiring the 100-foot long tent - affectionately referred to as "Big Bertha" - took another four hours!
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Operations continued at a frantic pace 24-hours a day throughout the exercise. One added touch of realism for the exercise was the continuous sounds of gunfire and mortars from active ranges nearby.
"Schofield Barracks is a relatively small place when compared to many 'mainland' posts, such as Fort Lewis, so ranges and training areas are close together. It got pretty loud at times with machine guns and explosions," remarked CPT Johnny Fisher, the team's Operations Officer. CPT Fisher is an Information Systems Customer Support Analyst from Kent WA.
During the division's After Action Review (AAR), held at the Schofield Barracks Conference Center, on December 17th, MG Ward commented that the team's efforts were "integral to the success of the division… if we go to war tomorrow, this is the team I want". General Eric K. Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff also praised the team's efforts. Suffice to say that the FST had met certification requirements. According to Mr. Dave Gushi-Clementson, the 25th ID (L) IO Coordinator, "We want to set up a habitual association with the Washington National Guard team both for training, and in the event we're deployed."
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MAJ Phil Logan of Dupont WA (left) led the Field Support Team. His experience includes a tour in Bosnia with the 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, which he commanded until a few months ago. His full-time job is Assistant Public Affairs Officer for the Washington National Guard.
"The exercise went well. We've got really good soldiers, were integrated with the 25th ID staff, and they really supported our being there," said MAJ Logan. "It appears we'll most likely continue to focus on units in the Pacific Rim such as 25th ID and (the Korea-based) 2nd ID, but doing this well during the Warfighter means we could be tasked to go anywhere."
With its recent success, the WA-ARNG IO Group continues to grow, and will eventually have over 50 soldiers working in Field Support Teams, computer Vulnerability Assessment Team's (VAT's), and Computer Emergency Response Team's (CERT's).
According to CPT Scott Nelson, FST Operations Officer, from Tacoma, "during the year 2000, team members are scheduled to support exercises and operations in Bosnia, Germany, Thailand and Korea." CPT Nelson is a full-time Information Operations officer.
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Said SSG Ray Cavanaugh of Seattle, the team's Automation NCO, "If you want to be in a unit doing important stuff... stuff on the cutting edge of technology, this is the place to be."
The Guardsmen felt a bit more at home when they realized that several soldiers from another reserve component unit from Washington - the 448th Civil Affairs Battalion, headquartered in Fort Lewis - had also deployed to "Tropic Rage".
The FST worked closely with MAJ Steve Watters, a Veterinarian from Tumwater, and SSG Andrea Filing, a Clinical Social Worker from Graham (both pictured left).
Although operations continued 24 hours a day right up to the end, the team did enjoy a few hours of sun and shopping at Honolulu's famous International Market on their last day before boarding their flight back to the mainland and rainy Washington state.
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"Mele Kalikimaka"
from the
Aloha State
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