Observations on the Centurion Shield 90 Exercise

Given the end of the Cold War, the necessity of continued military exercises in Central Europe has been questioned. Large-scale field exercises are economically and politically costly, causing, among other things, damage to civilian crops and property as units maneuver over private and public property during training. This Note presents recommendations on issues emerging from observations of Centurion Shield 90, a field training exercise conducted January 15-26, 1990, combining live and simulated units in a single exercise. The authors' focus is on the simulation interfaces, including simulations linked with each other and with units on the ground. The most important issues involve exercise design, exercise manning, scenario-related issues, threat representation, and simulation calibration. Preliminary results indicate that using simulations probably improves the quality of training in several functional areas, but this improvement is difficult to measure. There are reduced operational and maneuver damage costs, but increased costs of simulation support.