British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) and NTC Ft Irwin

[Sherwood4459]

I don't know much about the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) but it sound like the US's National Training Center at Ft Irwin.  Can anyone compare the two?

 

[Gunner98]

Try Google:

Ft Irwin over 1000 square miles (2590 km²) for maneuver and ranges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Irwin_Military_Reservation

CFB Suffield - The Base spans over 2690 square kilometers and is one of the largest live fire training areas in the western world.

http://www.army.dnd.ca/cfb_suffield/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army_Training_Unit_Suffield

UK site: http://www.army.mod.uk/aroundtheworld/can/index.htm

 

[Dean Thompson]

BATUS is used by the Brits for armoured training, as they don't have a training area where they can practice the tactics that the large area at Suffield provides. NTC is a desert Warfare area that has it's own in-house enemy force (OPFOR) unit with vehicles, helicopters etc, and cycles different units through training scenarios before they deploy. Canadian units occasionally get to cycle through there, sometimes as enemy force (I did back in '92 with A Coy 2PPCLI).

 

[Sherwood4459]

The OPFOR at the NTC has VISMOD (visually modified)vehicles to simulate enemy.  Do they do the same thing at BATUS?

 

[BernDawg]

When I went in 86 it was all live fire no blanks no BFA's allowed.  There is no OPFOR except for auto targets. (and a Brit FV432 that got in the way of a Chieftan)

 

[The_Falcon]

When I went in 86 it was all live fire no blanks no BFA's allowed.  There is no OPFOR except for auto targets. (and a Brit FV432 that got in the way of a Chieftan)

http://www.army.mod.uk/aroundtheworld/can/index.htm

Each year a Regiment is sent there for six months to take the part of the 'enemy' for the other Regiments that are there to train each year.

Sounds like there is an OPFOR there to me.

*Note gotta love the video on the link, with the Davy Jones theme from Pirates of the Caribbean at the end.

 

[BernDawg]

Hence I specified that I was there in 86.  And to further clarify there WAS no OPFOR then.  Things can change in 22 yrs eh?

 

[The_Falcon]

Hence I specified that I was there in 86.  And to further clarify there WAS no OPFOR then.  Things can change in 22 yrs eh?

See the difference proper grammar and tense makes 

 

[Wookilar]

Ft Irwin is the most bad@ss game of laser tag that you ever did see. Everything, and I do mean everything, has MLES (or whatever the heck they call it) gear on it. Had an awesome time down there a few years ago. Darn hot in the middle of the Mojave though (and the snakes you find out in the training area, they don't rattle...so don't agravate them to try and make them  :).The one component that they do differently is their use of camera teams and referee's. Every aspect of the battle that can be flimed, is. Their command center for debriefing is spectacular. We just don't have that kind of capability, and neither do the Brits in Suffield or Wainwright (as far as I know, at least).
BATUS and FT Irwin do have similar missions I suppose, but Suffield is used more for training purposes whereas Ft Irwin is used more for confirmation of training.

Now, my info is dated pre-9/11, so their systems may have changed a bit. Anyone been down there lately?

 

[RA OPA073]

The training in BATUS is for Armored Battle Group training , 3 weeks live firing & 1 week OPFOR ( TES ) the Canadian army call it ( WES ) if you go to You Tube  type in BATUS  and you will see what i mean ok. Last time i was there, was in 1997 .

 

[Red 6]

Fort Irwin runs both force-on-force and live fire training. The OPFOR comes from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Maneuver brigades rotate through Fort Irwin. Currently, the NTC is doing pre-deployment training for units slated for Iraq and Afghanistan. I was just down there in January to visit my best buddy, who's the Regimental Sergeant Major for the 11th ACR.

Cheers, Mark

 

[RA OPA073]

Hi Red 6 where is Fort Irwin and is it all arms training  there  like BATUS i.e Inf,Amrd,Engr,Arty and Loc. It's a hard exercise, but it's fun >, becouse you can see how a Battle Group works together ok .

 

[Gunner98]

Ft Irwin is located in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California.  The mission of the National Training Center is to provide tough, realistic, joint and combined arms training in multi-national venues across the full spectrum of conflict set in a contemporary operating environment to assist Commanders in developing trained, competent leaders and Soldiers by presenting them with current problem sets to improve the force and prepare for success in the Global War on Terrorism and future joint battlefields. 


See link alreay provided or http://www.irwin.army.mil/channels

 

[RA OPA073]

Thanks for that Frostnipped Elf, so it's the same as BATUS and have you been too both training areas.

 

[Red 6]

Ft Irwin is about 2 & 1/2 hours driving time west of Las Vegas on I-15.