Ex VIGILANT RAM tests 1 CMBG’s battle space adaptability
February 22, 2024 - Lt(N) Josh Ehnisz, Public Affairs Officer, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
This year's Exercise VIGILANT RAM is a bit different.
From Feb. 12 to 16, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1 CMBG) took a decentralized approach, meaning units throughout Western Canada participated in the exercise.
"Earlier in the year, we conducted Ex MERCURY WANDERER, which changed how we deploy our command posts,” explained Colonel Phil Bourque, Commander 1 CMBG. “It proved our communications could work and ensured our staff could operate at different locations throughout Alberta while still being able to communicate in real time effectively."
Ex VIGILANT RAM is meant to go one step further and collectively exercise the brigade and unit headquarters when operating in a battle space.
Each unit has its headquarters and operates with the 1 CMBG headquarters in an overarching simulation. This enables command teams to plan operations, and an algorithm simulates the effectiveness of a plan and determines whether the enemy force will be defeated.
"They have to look at the task they're given, reflect, and think about various options for delivering on that task," Col Bourque explained.
Caption
Colonel Phil Bourque, Commander 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, receives a Course of Action (COA) brief from the G5 (Planning department) during Exercise VIGILANT RAM at 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton on Feb. 14.
A COA brief presents options to the Commander when planning a military operation in a battlespace. Once a plan is adopted, it is communicated to units and they conduct backbriefs to the Commander to ensure their tactical plans mesh with the brigade plan.
Photo by Lt(N) Josh Ehnisz, Public Affairs Officer, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group
The exercise also ensures solid communication between the various headquarters.
Col Bourque said two-way conversations during unit backbriefs are a "dynamic way of tackling a problem together."
The training considers tactics and 'lessons learned' from conflicts worldwide to offer a cohesive training experience, which is essential as 1 CMBG transitions into a committed year. Brigade build-up aims to be completed in 2025 with a significant increase in Canadian and multinational armed forces soldiers persistently deployed on the ground in Latvia, with additional forces assigned to reinforce Latvia at high readiness from their home country.
"Many of our units will be deployed overseas to Europe over the next 12 months,” Col Bourque said. “Currently, 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI), Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), and 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery are preparing for operations overseas as the Lead Mounting Units. [Third Battalion, PPCLI] is training in Alaska to better prepare for their role as the Global Response Task Force (GRTF) this summer."
Units from 1 CMBG will be primarily responsible for having troops in Latvia as part of the enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group, which is transitioning towards a Canada-led enhanced Forward Presence Brigade. The GRTF is a Very High Readiness Light Infantry Battalion capable of rapid, global, strategic force projection in lower-intensity conflict, force projection and response in the Arctic, or as part of a more significant allied force in major operations.
"With upcoming deployments, it is essential that our training considers everything we observe in conflicts occurring throughout the world so we can be better equipped for present and future conflicts," Col Bourque added.
While it is impossible to predict the future with perfect accuracy, Ex VIGILANT RAM is the Canadian Armed Forces' estimate of future conflicts and how they will play out. Testing command teams through exercises like Ex VIGILANT RAM is critical to ensuring command teams maintain the mindset of looking forward to what could be coming.
"This is really the most efficient way to train,” Col Bourque said. “We can consider a scenario, develop a plan, and see how we did. Since we are not physically moving troops, we can do this again and again."