{"id":3350,"date":"2014-11-16T12:27:52","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T12:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=3350"},"modified":"2014-11-16T12:27:52","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T12:27:52","slug":"eight-year-of-senior-leader-professional-development-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2014\/11\/16\/eight-year-of-senior-leader-professional-development-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight Year of Senior Leader Professional Development Events"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Map<\/a>
Map of "Four Corners" used for this training event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This past Thursday, a group of the HAWKs took time off work, retirement, and\/or daily activities to travel to western Maryland to a professional development event for the 114th Signal Battalion. \u00a0This is the eighth such event that we have helped run. \u00a0Each year gets more and more sophisticated. \u00a0This year Sam Fuson orchestrated an event for 54 officers, NCOs, and civilian staff. \u00a0We couldn’t think of a historical battle for which we had enough troops that would get 54 players into the action, so we hit on the idea of running the same battle six times. \u00a0We still didn’t have enough troops, so we decided to run the same battle in six historical periods and make the technology differences and how those impacted tactics part of the learning objectives. \u00a0I was pushing for Lake Trasimene (Romans vs. Carthaginians), but Sam suggested Quatre Bras. \u00a0While the tactical situation is quite interesting, I was a little worried about some players sitting around for a couple of hours waiting for their troops to come onto the table. \u00a0We set up a greatly accelerated arrival schedule for both sides. \u00a0(Above is the stylized map we used for this event.)<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>
Dave setting up the (Napoleonic) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We felt it was important to disguise the battle. \u00a0We didn’t tell anyone this was based on Quatre Bras. \u00a0We called it “Four Corners.” \u00a0We did this, because one of the learning objectives was tactical problem solving. \u00a0We felt that if the players knew the battle, they might research it and come into the game with pre-conceived notions and plans. \u00a0Even for the Napoleonic version (game mastered by Dave Wood, USMA 1984, using Fate of Battle: Look, Sarge, No Charts: Napoleonic Wars<\/em>), we substituted Austrians for the British to help disguise the battle.<\/p>\n

\"Ed,<\/a>
Ed, Geoff, and Ed setting up the (Civil War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eric Schlegel ran “Four Corners” with Union troops substituted for the French and the Confederate troops substituted for the British. \u00a0As Eric pointed out, with the accelerated reinforcement schedule, this was a very hard scenario for the attackers (the French in the original battle). \u00a0For the Civil War version, we used A Union So Tested: Look, Sarge, No Charts: American Civil War<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Duncan<\/a>
Duncan setting up the (WWI) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Duncan Adams ran Four Corners as an early WWI battle with the French as the attackers and the Germans as the defenders. \u00a0For this battle, Duncan used his mashup of Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII<\/em> and A Union So Tested<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Kurt<\/a>
Kurt providing instruction during the (73 War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kurt Schlegel setting up his 73 Arab-Israeli War version of the scenario using Look, Sarge, No Charts: \u00a0WWII<\/em>. \u00a0The large patch of woods on the table was converted to an orchard that didn’t slow movement as much as it did on the other tables. \u00a0He also replaced the stream with the ditch you can see running down the middle of the table. \u00a0The French at Quatre Bras were replaced by Syrians, with Israelis substituting for the British.<\/p>\n

\"Duncan<\/a>
Duncan providing instruction to the players in the (WWI) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I floated from table to table, taking notes, providing some hints to the players, making sure that all the games were run consistently. \u00a0As usual, the players generally caught onto the rules with little difficulty. \u00a0Very few of the players had ever played war-games before — except for those who participated in these yearly events. \u00a0There were a few who still needed hand holding by the end of the game, but by and large, they managed to become self supporting after a few turns.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a>
Chris setting up the (War of the Rose) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Palmer ran Four Corners as a battle during the War of the Roses using Bear Yourselves Valiantly: Look, Sarge, No Charts: Fantasy, Ancient, and Mediaeval<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Eric<\/a>
Eric setting up the (Civil War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eric Schlegel and Ed Duffy ran the Civil War version of Four Corners with A Union So Tested<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/a>
Ed Duffy setting up the (Civil War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In each scenario, there were five victory points. \u00a0Victory went to the side that controlled 3 or more points by the end of the game. \u00a0These victory points were represented by flags on the table that Sam made for all the tables. \u00a0Initially four flags were in possession of the defender. \u00a0One was placed in Quatre Bras, one was placed in the small woods near Quatre Bras just west of the north-south road. \u00a0The third was placed on the small hill along the east-west road, just east of Quatre Bras. \u00a0The fourth was placed on the large hill south of Quatre Bras. \u00a0The fifth victory point was based on casualties; the side that lost the fewest bases during the battle was awarded the fifth point. \u00a0Initially the four on-table flags were those of the defenders’ countries. \u00a0When captured by the attackers, the flags were changed to that of the attackers’ countries. \u00a0This provided a visual indication of how the battle was developing.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of the (WWI) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was a pretty easy fight or the defenders, so the defenders’ commanders had pretty simple schemes of maneuver. \u00a0Still, only about half of them planned for a reserve. \u00a0Most just shoved reinforcements into the fight near where they arrived.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of the (Napoleonic) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was interesting to see how each of the attackers had somewhat different schemes of maneuver. \u00a0In some cases their main effort was to push up the center where most of the victory points were placed on the map — but where the defender was strongest. \u00a0In other cases, they planned to push through the large woods to accrue the benefits of cover and concealment. \u00a0The slow movement through the woods — particularly in the earlier historical periods — made this a difficult maneuver to execute. \u00a0In the WWI game, which had the least mobile forces, the attacker wanted to try a double envelopment around both flanks! \u00a0Finally, some decided to move around their right where the enemy was weakest in an attempt to take Quatre Bras from behind.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of the (Civil War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the players shouted “Whoever designed this game should be shot!” half way through the event. \u00a0He was expressing frustration at the fact that he could see the whole battlefield but his units couldn’t spot the enemy and didn’t always do what he wanted. \u00a0I think by the end, he saw the realism of the game’s mechanics.<\/p>\n

\"Serious<\/a>
Serious planning during the (War of the Roses) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the War of the Roses table, the attacking commander impressed us toward the end of the fight. \u00a0His left was crumbling, but he decided to focus on the objective, Quatre Bras, and have the remnants of his left flank conduct a delaying action without reinforcements. \u00a0He sent his reinforcements (mounted knights) up the center. \u00a0Unfortunately his knights got bogged down pushing up the large hill (friction inflicted on him by the game’s activation mechanics), so he didn’t have the success he deserved. \u00a0I’ve see a lot of long-time gamers make the mistakes of reinforcing failure or losing focus the objective. \u00a0It was neat to see a professional military officer do it right.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>
Dave instructing some soldiers during the (Napoleonic) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I just retired from the Army after 28.5 years plus four years as a cadet. \u00a0There are days when I miss the camaraderie of soldiers. \u00a0These annual events are fun for me to be around soldiers, their friendly trash talk and banter, and their general attitudes.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The German left late in the (WWII) battle as the Germans work their way around the French right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sam Fuson and Geoff Graff ran the WWII version of the battle with Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII<\/em>. \u00a0The Germans took the role of the French at Quatre Bras, and the French took the role of the British.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Israeli right flank during the (73 War) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final scorecard: \u00a0The attackers won 3:2 on the WWII and Arab-Israeli War tables. \u00a0The attackers lost on all the other tables. \u00a0I think the scenario, while still hard, was easier for attackers with modern maneuver capabilities. \u00a0Despite Israeli air support, the Syrians maneuvered through the orchard. \u00a0They captured the two flags on the hills south and east of town, had maneuvered north of Quatre Bras, and with more time might have taken the town from the Israelis.<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/a>
Chris and one of the NCOs climbing on the table to access some troops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the standpoint of executing the event, we forgot that the VFW where we played has 8-foot long tables. \u00a0The standard gaming table is only six feet across to allow easy access to move troops in the center of the table. \u00a0We made the decision to use 8×10 tables and leave some “white space” on the sides. \u00a0This made it very hard to reach troops in the center of the table — where most of the action was occurring. \u00a0Next year, I think we should find a historical battle that we can play on a table five feet deep and 16 feet across. \u00a0This will allow each reach to the center of the table and provide lots of lateral maneuver room.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The French right late in the (Napoleonic) battle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"War<\/a>
War of the Roses battle in full swing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A chubby old Army retiree conducting the after action review<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the battles were over, I conducted an after action review where I tried to tease out some lessons. \u00a0We reviewed the principles of war (mass, objective, offensive, surprise, economy of force, maneuver, unity of command, security, and simplicity) and how to apply them on the tabletop. \u00a0I pointed out good and bad examples of many of these principles that I saw during the battles. \u00a0I also tried to emphasize that the defender must still have a scheme of maneuver and cannot be just passive. \u00a0Next year, I think we should find a battle in which the attacker has the advantage and the defender has to be aggressive to win.<\/p>\n

Feedback from the participants was good. \u00a0I think this was a very successful event. \u00a0The HAWKs, including three new participants (Duncan, Kurt, and Geoff) had a good time. \u00a0We must be doing something good, because they keep inviting us back!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past Thursday, a group of the HAWKs took time off work, retirement, and\/or daily activities to travel to western Maryland to a professional development event for the 114th Signal Battalion. \u00a0This is the eighth such event that we have helped run. \u00a0Each year gets more and more sophisticated. \u00a0This year Sam Fuson orchestrated an … Continue reading Eight Year of Senior Leader Professional Development Events<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}