Simulations cut Navy's costs

When thousands of Marines came ashore in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune last week as part of the largest amphibious exercise of its kind in a decade, observers in a Virginia Navy command center could see twice as many U.S. forces approaching the beach than were actually there.

It wasn't a computer error, but an effort to blend live and simulated training that military officials say allows them to put additional pressure on their commanders at sea without the heavy costs associated with moving actual ships and Marines.

"This is going to be the wave of the future, if you will, in that we're going to continue to use synthetic training to keep our readiness levels as high as we can keep them. We understand, you know, in a tight budgetary environment there may be less money for operating and those kind of things, so how good we can build readiness synthetically is going to be very important," said Rear Adm. Terry Kraft, commander of Navy Warfare Development Command.

The Pentagon is dealing with a projected reduction in defense spending of $487 billion over 10 years. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the administration will ask Congress for $525 billion to run the Pentagon in 2013 — $6 billion less than the current budget.

Navy officials could not provide a specific dollar figure for the cost of the exercise known as Bold Alligator because they said it was wrapped up in regular training. All told, the exercise has involved more than 20,000 service members, two dozen ships and allies from nine countries over the course of two weeks.

Bold Alligator is designed to get the Marines back to their amphibious roots after a decade at war in landlocked countries. The Navy Warfare Development Command helped simulate news reports, the mining of harbors, the establishment of coastal missile sites and small attack craft, among other things, to keep their commanders on their toes as they evacuated hundreds of civilians and prepared to land a force from the sea.

"To me, the most valuable piece is having a thinking, agile enemy. You don't want to go against the Washington Generals like the Globetrotters do. You need a real enemy there, a red team if you will, who is making other moves in reaction to your moves," Kraft said.

Kraft's team also simulated a landing involving a much larger force of Marines than was present to see how his commanders would handle the logistics of it all, one of the primary challenges of operating from a sea base. After the landing of Marines on Monday, the training focus shifted to ensuring U.S. forces on the ground were supplied and that the ships still in the area were secure.

Because it has been such a long time since the Navy and Marines have conducted an exercise of this kind, the lessons they learn from Bold Alligator are expected to make their way into Navy doctrine.

Although Navy officials said the timing of the exercise, ending before the administration releases its budget proposal on Monday, is coincidental, military officials are quick to point out they're trying to reduce costs while providing reminders that they need the resources to do their jobs.

Several lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon of California, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, visited the exercise's command ship while it was under way.

"As they've seen the size and scope of this, they realize that this just can't be a pickup game, that it has to be a conscious investment in this capability. So that's one of the really important things we wanted to pass along, not only to them, but to the American people as well," said Rear Adm. Kevin Scott, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 2.