Robert Lacey, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, 2902 Newmark Dr., Champaign, IL 61826-9005
The nature of future military conflict is changing as can be seen by recent history. Urban areas are becoming geographical sites for conflict. This will tend to increase as the World populations increased to 60% urban by 2030. To be prepared for this conflict the U.S. Army will need to replicate urban facilities on which to train soldiers. For effective training they must be realistic. Placing more urban structures on military range and training lands is likely to generate new complexities in managing the natural infrastructure of those lands. Complexities will multiply with requirements to make these training facilities flexible and reconfigurable for different training scenarios. New issues involving representation of cultural realism, low and high tech structures, live-fire safety fans, and power requirements will be inherent in providing these training environments. The land manager must become a part of a joint team to meet the requirements of the training community and fulfill requirements for land and natural resource stewardship. This paper examines the strategic future of urban training on the Army's 15 million acres and knowledge that will be needed by the military land manager in support of this new training environment. It will stress the coordination between facilities and land management needs to support urban operations training.
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