ETG Prepares Units for Deployment Using Synthetic Training

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SCW) Paul D. Williams, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Expeditionary Training Group (ETG) conducted Operation Bold Step for several Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) units, the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, her ships, and seven other military commands across Hampton Roads, Feb. 28 through March 10.

The exercise was the culminating event of the integrated phase of the Fleet Response Training Plan (FRTP) for these units. The FST is designed to use computer-driven war games to better prepare NECC war fighters to integrate with carrier strike group staffs, ship boarding teams, and joint and coalition partners to maximize capabilities during deployment.

Operation Bold Step brought together Sailors from Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 10, Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 3, Navy Expeditionary Intelligence Command, and Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training (MCAST). The units worked together for a series of "live" events embedded in the larger synthetic exercise. The live action included Visit, Board, Search and Seizure events, and interoperability training between NEIC and boarding teams at the Naval Station Norfolk piers and opposed insertion missions in a mock village at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, in Virginia Beach.

At the village, RIVRON 3 provided a Riverine Security Team (RST), along with Sailors from NEIC and MCAST, to conduct missions in the mock village. During these scenarios Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) from RIVRON 3 were in communication with pilots from the GHWB Strike Group to conduct simulated close-air support missions and suppression of simulated enemy forces in the village.

"Working with an NEIC and MCAST team ashore was very valuable because as we gain experience doing such missions we become more versatile and more employable by various commanders," said Lt. j.g. Robert Cameron, RST officer for RIVRON 3, Det. 1.

"It was great to get my JTACs some time talking with an actual pilot, and for the whole team to run a variety of different mission sets," said Cameron. "Most importantly, it was a good experience for us to work with other units on the ground."

FST-J 11-4, Operation Bold Step, was conducted to certify the GHWB Strike Group for Major Combat Operations and to certify MSRON 10 and RIVRON 3 as Maritime Security Operations Ready.

"It really is a great event; it's such a huge exercise," said Robert Hennessy, synthetic training specialist with ETG. "We make our own NECC units train together because the first time they work together shouldn't be when they are in theater."