Wisconsin Guard ROTC cadets take part in virtual training exercise

Twenty-seven young Soldiers completed their pre-combat checks and inspections as they awaited the command to move out toward their objective. The order came in short, terse statements.

"Alpha is on my left, Bravo is on my right," the squad leader said. "Move in a wedge formation - movement to contact, people. Are we ready? Let's go."

"Roger that, roger that, roger that," a team leader replied.

"Bravo, you move through first - Alpha has security," the squad leader directed. "Heads on a swivel here, let's go - it's an open area."

Even though the Soldiers were advancing through terrain at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State, in reality they were seated somewhat comfortably in two rooms on the second floor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's University Center building. The Reserve Officers' Training Corps students - which include many Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to Company A, 257th Brigade Support Battalion in Whitewater - were among a handful of ROTC cadets nationwide to engage in the Virtual Battlespace 2 training program. The realistic virtual environment includes such ambience touches as buzzing mosquitoes and the sound of helicopters approaching or departing.

"We've coordinated with the Army's Virtual Battlespace team at Fort McCoy to simulate the squad and platoon [situational training exercise] ROTC cadets go through out at Fort Lewis, Wash., at LDAC (Leadership Development and Assessment Course) each summer," explained Lt. Col. Carl Meredith, military science professor at UW-Whitewater and head of the ROTC program there. "What we've done is set up a training program for our candidates and worked with these guys, take those operation orders and the Fort Lewis terrain map model and gave it to the VBS2 guys to recreate these scenarios in a virtual context so that we could actually train when the weather is inclement and we can't get outside and train."

The VBS2 program allows cadets to develop critical leadership skills in tactical environments during the winter months, without the expense of traveling to Fort McCoy. The four 90-minute training scenarios were designed to mirror those that third-year ROTC cadets will face at Lewis-McChord this summer, right down to the same map coordinates.

"The scenarios they're using right now are really the scenarios they used last year, so they're relatively fresh," said Charlie Fischer, military science instructor at UW-Whitewater. "I had maps from last year's training area that we sent up to [the VBS2] crew, and they took the maps and built the [virtual] terrain area."

Danielle Sternberg of Green Bay, a fourth-year ROTC cadet who monitored the exercise as an observer-controller, said this type of training would have been valuable last year before she took part in LDAC.

"Overall, it's just a great learning tool, something that ROTC programs across the country haven't had the opportunity to use yet," the Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldier said. "I think it's a great alternative to being out in the snow for six hours, crawling around and everybody freezing and hungry. [Cadets] can focus more on their leadership ability while indoors in a controlled environment, and be able to see it on a screen."

One key benefit to the VBS2 program is the ability to replay the exercise to allow participants to see how they performed.

Third-year ROTC cadet Cody Rubiego of Delafield, Wis., also a Wisconsin National Guard Soldier, served as a team leader in the first scenario and was preparing to take on the role of squad leader.

"It's pretty good," he said of the virtual training. "It makes you use everything you would do in a real scenario.

"The first one was kind of a rough run because we were still getting used to the controls and everything," he continued. "I think you learn a lot from people going before you, the squad leaders, what they did and what they didn't do."

Fellow Wisconsin National Guardsman Spencer Burns, also a third-year ROTC cadet, led two teams as a squad leader in the first virtual training exercise.

"It was pretty good training," Burns said. "I don't really play video games, but from what I saw, everything was pretty real-life. We can do all of the movements - the arm and hand signals - [and] we can communicate with our headsets. It was pretty spot-on. Being the first squad to go through, we really didn't know what to expect with the equipment itself. I think as we get more fluent with it, the lanes will run more smoothly."