Military Review English Edition January-February 2014 | Page 23

DO WE TRAIN TO FAIL?

We do not want them building the “Las Vegas perversion” of Venice, rather to build smaller aspects
of Venice within the training environment. This
requires critical and creative thinking to recognize
and then replace decidedly Western methodologies
with appropriate rival ones for training. It requires
an institutional change generated from the top of the
military hierarchy, systemically applied across our
entire training program. This also requires a highly
professional, experienced training force instead of
one featuring first-term recruits.
The following examples demonstrate several
options where the U.S. Army’s training philosophy could adapt an anti-simulacra approach for
execution in national training centers, staff training events, simulations, home-station training, and
professional military education at all levels.
● Opposing forces avoid the military decisionmaking process in favor of a methodology that the
simulated rival prefers. Instead of merely using
buzzwords in our own planning styles, they would
adapt the foreign approach.
● Terrorist simulation operates independent of
the conventional enemy force in all respects versus
the traditional military command structure controlling all simulated actors.
● Criminal actors treat illegal commodity as a
simulation—they are rewarded by successfully
producing and smuggling it in training scenarios.
● Missions, objectives, and decision making of
rivals with eschatological worldviews reflect this
rather than extending Western methodologies into
simulacra. The actors view the world differently
and frame their decisions to match this. This takes
mature, experienced professionals—not raw recruits.
● Scenarios with multiple rivals feature competition, cooperation, and distinct command and control
functions to emphasize reality versus simulacra.
● OPFOR personnel undergo extensive preparatory training designed to deemphasize institutional
preferences of the Western military and introduce
rival concepts, language, methodologies, and symbols that break with how we operate as a force.
● Shift large-scale training events away from a
highly centralized, top-down simulacrum toward a
decentralized, adaptive simulation with competitive,
nonaligned rival actors. To become more realistic,
we must abdicate more control. This violates our
military culture.
MILITARY REVIEW

January-February 2014

● All professional military education venues
frame the Western approach, and commit class
time and instruction on non-Western approaches in
a fair, balanced pr