Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 66

developed training plans and exercises were delivered to deploying units, resulted in atrophy of the
skills of Army training managers in both command
and staff roles. An entire generation of soldiers has
had little experience with the exercise design process
at brigade level and below. The Army has needed a
tool to automate the exercise design process, empowering units to spend more time conducting training
than developing training. Although the TBR-EDT
does not teach the design process, it does provide a
repeatable and intuitive approach for users to learn
the design process.

The Scope of the Challenge
Training developers, in the past, typically have
spent an excessive amount of time searching for
relevant and realistic data from past operational environments or previous training exercises to develop
training events that would meet the commander’s
objectives. The data may have included unit-specific
training tasks, storylines and events, master scenario
event lists, tables of organization and equipment,
maps, terrain data, and mission command information system requirements.
The methodical, time-consuming process of
finding data comes at the expense of time for developing unit leaders and staff for a training exercise.
Today’s combat-proven soldiers and leaders have
grown accustomed to the fast pace and complexities
of ever-changing operational environments. Their
planning tools should allow them to design and manage training quickly and expertly.
As the Army transitions to an Army of preparation, it must provide high-quality training experiences that replicate real-world o