The Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G2) for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) recently determined that ‘Unwelcome Guest,’ the practical exercise designed and developed by Titania for the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE), is fully compliant with the requirements of the Army’s Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE). In determining DATE compliance, the TRADOC G2 carefully evaluated all the threat models used (spanning criminal groups, foreign intelligence entities, special forces, insurgent groups, cyber and conventional forces), as well as the operational domains encompassed by the exercise (air, sea, land, cyber, and space). DATE compliance means that Unwelcome Guest met all TRADOC G2 standards for training in these areas and that the exercise is fully integrated within the common operating framework used for training activities across the Army.
DATE compliance is a significant milestone for ensuring intelligence specific concerns and training needs are properly reflected across Army training. Specifically, Unwelcome Guest has been tailored to foster a practical application of the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), Intelligence Preparation of the Battle Space (IPB), Information Collection (IC), and Targeting. Developed initially for the Warrant Officer’s Training Branch (WOTB) in 2013/14, the exercise is now integrated throughout the Program of Instruction (POI) for virtually all courses across the 111th MI Brigade. Exemplifying the growth of the exercise across the brigade is the fact that it now covers approximately 560 hours of hands-on classroom activities, a substantial change from the original 40-hour block delivered in early 2014.
Titania continues expanding the exercise to meet the needs of individual courses and their respective student outcomes at Fort Huachuca. To date, more than 1,500 Army intelligence students have been trained using Unwelcome Guest. Feedback from both cadre and students over the past three and a half years has been extremely positive. The team has presented the scenario to senior DoD leadership as well as visitors from other Army Centers of Excellence. The other Army Centers of Excellence are excited about the possibility of integrating this type of scenario into their POI. DATE compliance will aid in such sharing by allowing Unwelcome Guest to be used throughout the Army.