The Ultimate VISMODS?

It is 0500 hours on a damp, foggy morning at the Hohenfels Training Area, NATO’s largest maneuver area in Germany. A 72-hour battalion ARTEP has just begun. The Blue Force commander has sent an armored scout platoon to reconnoiter into “enemy” territory. As the platoon leader surveys the horizon through his thermal sights, he spots a tank platoon unlike any he has seen before: the tanks are too small to be Mls and the thermal signatures are much fainter. There is no doubt he has found the enemy. The “enemy” is the USAREUR Opposing Force (OPFOR) whose primary mission is to support maneuver exercises with its Warsaw Pact vehicles. The OPFOR objective: realistic and interesting training. Thirty-two U. S. soldiers and 13 Warsaw Pact tracked and wheeled combat vehicles make up the OPFOR, which is organized into two “combined arms” teams made up of infantry, armor, and artillery soldiers and a small, active maintenance team of U. S. soldiers and German civilians. The Warsaw Pact vehicles, which include the only BMP Infantry Fighting Vehicle in active use in the Army’s OPFOR program, are all operational and kept running through a great deal of hard work, creativity, and - sometimes In its infancy, the OPFOR used the vehicles as static training aids. Today, because of an intensive maintenance program, which includes an extensive engine replacement effort, the OPFOR is able to play an active role in USAREUR maneuver training. Exposing soldiers to actual Warsaw Pact equipment, as opposed to visually-modified U. S. vehicles (VISMODs), significantly enhances training realism and, therefore, combat readiness. The OPFOR uses its equipment to support training in a variety of ways: To augment a unit’s “enemy” force during offensive and defensive maneuvers. Because the OPFORs vehicles are not as mobile or as fast as modem US. combat vehicles, the augmentation usually occurs near and just prior to an offensive or defensive operation. To conduct reconnaissance or probe missions (making intentional contact with scouts or -luck. b A T-62A k as it rumblc the Hohen‘ The Hoher includes tb ous light t a At lower communicl ports OPF4 a rear area. A t left, OPFOR’s t Blue Force: J 26 a.! d.” r kicks up dust icross afield at;Training Area. 1s OPFOR also ’T-76 amphibi-, seen at right.

t. a BTR-152 msvehicle sup-maneuvers in e Hohenfels P closes in on The Ultimate VISMODS? Thirteen of the Opposing Force vehicles at the Hohenfels Training Area are the real things, actually manufactured behind the Iron Curtain. The fleet includes the only operating BMP in the Army’s OPFOR Program. By First Lieutenant William P. Veillette Photos by Specialist Fourth Class Rex Burger reconnaissance teams to test their immediate actions). To serve as objectives in ground and aerial reconnaissance (i.e., to test SALUTE reporting). To provide realistic audio signals for ground surveillance radar operator training. To serve as realistic visual aids in training gunners to identify “friend” and “foe” vehicles through thermal imaging systems. USAREUR units have been taking full advantage of the training the OPFOR has to offer. The OPFOR assists in the training of approximately 35,000 soldiers each year. Because of the limited number of Warsaw Pact vehicles and a full schedule, many requests for OPFOR training either cannot be satisfied or can only be partially supported. Commanders are encouraged to expose as many soldiers as possible to the Warsaw Pact vehicles during field exercises and to arrange for post-exercise static displays to give soldiers an opportunity to examine the vehicles closely and receive briefings by OPFOR cadre. ILT WILLIAM P. VEILLETTE, a 1982 graduate of Cornell University and a graduate of the Officer Basic Tactical Intelligence Course is currently assigned to HQ Seventh Army Training Command. Grafenwoehr. FRG, as the Chief, Opposing Force Branch. 27