Chapter 2: Exercise Design Sequence

There are four phases the exercise planner goes through to develop a collective training event that critically assesses unit training status at any level. The exercise design sequence takes the exercise planner from the initial determination of exercise parameters, through countertask and operational environment (OE) development, and concludes with orders production.

During phase 1 (initial planning), the training unit and the exercise director determine the exercise parameters to start the design process. Once the design parameters and prioritized training objectives are determined, the focus in phase 2 (task and countertask development) is on developing opposing force (OPFOR) tasks that counter the training unit’s training objectives. Once phase 2 is completed, the exercise planner has the necessary tools to create the conditions of the OE in phase 3, (PMESII-PT OE development). Finally, during phase 4 (orders, plans, and instruction development), the exercise planner produces the orders, plans, and instructions that translate the OE decisions that were made in phase 3 into the products necessary for the training unit to conduct the exercise. Table 2-1 shows the exercise design sequence. It lists who should be involved in each phase, what tools are required, what key decisions must be made, and what the final products of the phase will be. Essential to all phases is the understanding of the concept of an OE and all the associated operational variables that affect military operations and training. Chapter 3 will describe, in detail, each operational variable and its subvariables.

Table 2-1. Exercise design sequence
Exercise Design Sequence	Phase 1 Initial Planning	Phase 2 Task and Countertask Development	Phase 3 PMESII-PT OE Development	Phase 4 Orders, Plans, and Instruction Development
WHO:	· Training Unit Commander · Exercise Director · Exercise Planner · Senior Trainer	· Exercise Planner · OPFOR Commander	· Exercise Planner	· Exercise Planner · Exercise Director
TOOLS:	· Troop List · Proposed Training Objectives · AUTL/UJTL · Requested Conditions · Commander’s Training Assessment · Exercise Resources · Exercise Director’s Initial Guidance	· Defined Exercise Parameters · Prioritized Training Objectives (METL) · TC 7-100 Series · OPFOR Tactical Task List · Worldwide Equipment Guide (WEG)*	· OE Assessment (OEA) · PMESII-PT Subvariables · Prioritized Training Objectives (METL) · OPFOR Countertasks · OE/WFF Analysis Matrix	· Defined OE · TC 7-100 Series · COA Sketch · OPFOR OB
KEY DECISIONS:	· Exercise Timeline · Type of Exercise · Operational Theme · Existing OEA or Composite OE	· Training Unit Tasks · OPFOR Countertasks · OPFOR OB* · OPFOR Task Organization* · OPFOR Tier Levels*	· PMESII-PT Subvariable Selection · Common Processes · Key Events	· Chronology of Key Events · C-,M- and D-Day · STARTEX · Disposition of Forces
PRODUCTS:	· Defined Exercise Parameters · Prioritized Training Objectives (METL)	· Developed Tasks and Countertasks · OPFOR OB* · OPFOR Task Organization* · OPFOR Tier Levels*	· OE/WFF Analysis · Refined Training Objectives and Task Organization · Developed OE	· Higher Unit OPLANs and Orders · OPFOR Orders · ROE · Role-Player Instructions · Road to War
* Phase 2 is the earliest point at which OPFOR OB and task organization, along with adjustment of OPFOR equipment tiers (using the WEG), could occur. However, this could also begin or be refined in phase 3 or phase 4.

Section I - Phase 1: Initial Planning

The initial step in the exercise design process is the most critical. The senior trainer, exercise director, and exercise planner meet for the first time at an initial planning conference to conduct preliminary planning and establish the parameters for the exercise. In many areas of the exercise, there is great uncer- tainty as to whether a new design will actually do what is desired, and new scenarios often have unexpected problems. The purpose of initial planning is to define and develop the parameters of the exercise. By defining the exercise parameters, certain key decisions can be made, which gives the exercise planner the tools necessary to begin developing the exercise. The initial planning establishes who is to be trained, where they are to be trained, expected training outcomes, and what broad conditions will be replicated in the exercise’s OE to meet the training objectives.

Tools

The training unit’s commander, the exercise director, and the exercise planner must be present at phase 1 for initial planning. During the initial planning phase, the training unit commander must provide the exercise director and exercise planners with the following parameters:

Troop list of unit to be trained.
Proposed training objectives based on HQDA-approved mission essential task list (METL).
Unit-requested conditions.
Available exercise resources (such as training area, support, simulations).
Commander's assessment of the unit’s current training status.

The training unit troop list should identify as closely as possible the actual task organization, number of Soldiers of the units participating in the exercise, and their equipment. The exercise planner needs to identify the key echelons to be trained and lock in the troop list as early as possible in the exercise development process to avoid time-consuming scenario rewrites. Additionally, a list of key leaders, their experience level, recent training, and time in position is helpful in gauging command and staff experience, which may influence training conditions and operational tempo (OPTEMPO). Developed from established unit METLs, training objectives represent focal points for the exercise planner when developing courses of action (COAs) and the supporting OE. The accomplishment of the training objectives is the prime reason exercises are conducted. Training objectives are statements that describe the desired outcome of a training activity in the unit (FM 7-0). They consist of tasks, conditions, and standards. The development of training objectives is fully discussed in FM 7-15.

Some training environments are pre-determined based on the use of “live” training sites such as the maneuver combat training centers (MCTCs) or because units are training for specific situations in specific places (that is, mission rehearsal exercises). However, units participating in simulations or command post exercises (CPXs) may ask that a specific venue be developed to support the units training. The training unit may also request specific conditions in which to perform tasks.

Resources to be considered by the exercise planner include—

The amount of time available to complete the training.
Support personnel required.
Simulations available.
Observer-controller support.
OPFOR augmentation.
Transportation assets.
Available training areas.
Training facilities.

The amount of available resources can limit the size or number of live training events (for example, field training and live fire exercises), requiring commanders to substitute a mix of virtual and constructive simulation exercises.

As discussed in chapter 1, the senior trainer, in conjunction with the commander of the unit to be trained, conducts an assessment of the anticipated training status of the training unit immediately prior to the exercise. This training condition of the unit as it enters the exercise is expressed as T-P-U (trained, needs practice, and untrained) in accordance with FM 7-0. This status provides the exercise planner and/or OPFOR commander critical information on the proper mix of OPFOR units and other conditions needed for the exercise.

It is essential that the exercise director is involved throughout the entire exercise planning process and especially during phase 1. If the exercise director is not involved with the initial key decisions that are made to design the framework of the exercise, problems may evolve later when the exercise director ar- rives and the exercise is not going as he envisioned. The exercise director must provide initial guidance and also broker the compromises that must often be made in the decisions concerning the proper training objectives to train toward. Often the available resources are not available to meet all the desired training objectives and conditions. Therefore, a decision must be made as to what risk is acceptable in limiting the number of objectives, which can then reduce the level of fidelity of the OE conditions.

Key Decisions

Several key decisions need to be made at this point:

What are the time parameters of the exercise?
Will the exercise be live, virtual, constructive, gaming, or a combination?
What is the operational theme?
Will the scenario be based on an existing operational environment assessment (OEA) for an actual OE or a composite OE?

Time Parameters

The amount of time allotted for the exercise must be one of the first decisions made before an OE can be designed or fitted to an exercise. The exercise planner must know the length of the exercise in order to develop situations and the fidelity of the OE. For example, if the exercise is only a few days, more in- formation may have to be given to the training unit prior to the start in order for them to do their mission analysis and planning. If the exercise is longer, situations and events can have time to evolve and the train- ing unit will have more opportunities to influence their environments. The exercise planner will be plan- ning the buildup to key events and the consequences and effects of those key events. Depending on the time available, there may not be time to build up to a key event, and there may only be first- or second- order consequences after a key event.

Type of Exercise

The Army’s increased capability to integrate virtual and constructive simulations with live training, and the increased need for joint and multi-echelon training require exercise planners to develop a detailed and consistent OE for each training event. Defining the OE provides top-down coherence, flexibility, and continuity to the exercise and allows interaction at all levels. Depending on the particular training unit, the majority of training exercises will use a combination of live, virtual, constructive, and gaming (L-V-C-G) training enablers. For example, if a brigade combat team (BCT) trains at an MCTC, it may not have its full complement of troops available for the exercise and could be lacking its military intelligence company. Be- cause a BCT cannot train effectively without its intelligence function, the military intelligence company could be simulated by having several intelligence experts communicate to the BCT through its normal communications and data transfer methods. Likewise, an aviation platoon may not have Operational Themeits normal equipment because of fielding or maintenance issues; so it could train virtually on a simulator, with the results transmitted to the BCT through normal communications and data transfer methods. This way, although all the troops and equipment are not available for the exercise, the unit is still able to complete effective collective training.

Operational Theme

Selection of the operational theme(s) is a key decision that the exercise director needs to make during the initial planning phase. In coordination with the higher commander, this initial decision is normally completed during the preliminary planning sessions. The operational theme is the character of the dominant major operation being conducted at any time within a land force commander’s area of operations. The operational theme helps convey the nature of the major operation to the force to facilitate common under- standing of how the commander broadly intends to operate. (FM 3-0) Operational themes can be selected from the following:

Major combat operations.
Irregular warfare.
Peace operations.
Limited intervention.
Peacetime military engagement.

The assignment of the operational theme for a training exercise is critical because it helps commanders identify the most important training tasks. It also helps provide the means to coordinate and integrate more focused supporting collective and individual tasks throughout the organization. Depending on the time allotted for the exercise, it may be possible to train sequentially under two different operational themes.

Operational Environment Assessment

The decision on whether a training exercise will be based an existing OEA for an actual OE or a composite COE-based OE depends on whether the exercise is the based on a directed or contingency mis- sion. For example, sometimes a training unit is assigned a contingency mission in a particular area of the world; so its training could be based on a real location and OE. Otherwise, the training unit would focus on honing its core tasks. Either way, the OEA is a tool to easily and effectively design the OE for the exercise. If a particular area of the world is the focus, the TRADOC G-2 Intelligence Support Activity (TRISA) has developed several OEAs that can be found on its website at https://www.us.army.mil/suite/files/14752839 (AKO access is required). The purpose of the OEAs on the TRISA website is twofold. Each OEA provides a detailed description and analysis of a specific OE and a model for the application of the operational variables (PMESII-PT) to support actual operations or exercises. The PMESII-PT variables, their subvariables, and related impacts are discussed, as well as potential trends in the OE. If no existing OEA corresponds to the OE desired for a particular training exercise, exercise planners can follow the methodology of these real-world examples to create an OEA for the OE associated with the desired geographical area. If an exercise does not require fidelity to an actual OE, exercise planners can modify an existing OEA or design their own composite OE. A composite OE is developed by selecting the subvariable or sub-subvariable set- tings (from a detailed list found in chapter 3) that best support the training objectives. If the training unit is only focusing on its core tasks, it can also use an existing OEA, modify an existing OEA, or it can design its own composite OE.

Note. In order to meet specific training requirements or unit-requested conditions, the creation of any training event will normally include portions of existing, modified, or composite OEs regardless of whether training is for a contingency mission or core tasks.