Using Realistic Weather to Add Realism to Exercises

Historically, military training exercises haven’t integrated weather very well. Generally, exercises use weather to control pace. If Blue Forces seem to be winning too quickly, exercise controllers “crank up” the bad weather. Occasionally, controllers use weather to cause an effect such as placing a thunderstorm over a base to preclude takeoffs. In both cases, exercise weather may not be realistic or consistent. In other words, real weather generally doesn’t change suddenly without some indication giving planners/trainees something to consider while planning. Granted, in real life, weather may not resolve exactly as forecasters predict, but at least planners/trainees understand the possibilities and can formulate ways to mitigate or exploit weather effects. The Department of Defense (DoD) Air and Space Natural Environment (ASNE) Modeling and Simulation Executive Agent (MSEA) recently integrated new processes and technology to increase weather realism in AUSTERE CHALLENGE 06 (AC06), an operational level evaluation that incorporated live, virtual, and constructive elements into the federation. In AC06, exercise objectives drove the weather scenario, which complemented training instead of dictating specific responses. This paradigm can be integrated into other DoD exercises to augment training while enhancing realism. This paper describes the process and technologies used in AC06 as well as future enhancements to make weather more realistic in exercises.