RELEASE NUMBER: 130328-01
DATE POSTED: MARCH 28, 2013
Silent Quest: A plan for future warfare
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC Public Affairs, March 28, 2013) - The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) held an exercise recently to help determine the command's Future Operating Concept. The exercise or Wargame, known as Silent Quest, is part of a series of exercises and events that will test concepts within the command.
Silent Quest is a learning opportunity that falls within the framework of Army Special Operations Force (ARSOF) 2022's Campaign of Learning. ARSOF 2022 is the commander's strategic vision for change.
According to Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, USASOC commander, "ARSOF 2022 describes precepts and imperatives that will enable ARSOF to thrive in a future operating environment that is characterized by uncertainties."
USASOC's Campaign of Learning will consist of learning demands that will serve to better inform ARSOF concepts, and these concepts will be validated through robust experimentation via the Silent Quest series.
Silent Quest 13-1 was the inaugural exercise and served as a venue where component concepts were tested in a future operating environment. Col. Ernesto Sirvas, Director for USASOC's Concepts, Experimentation and Analysis or G-9, said the Silent Quest venue will test the command's concepts for sufficiency and include participation from all USASOC components and other interagency and DoD partners.
"Silent Quest 13-1 is the main experimentation effort for this command," added Sirvas. It will provide future senior decision makers with innovative ideas and viable options to better operate in future environments.”
Each war game scenario is designed for USASOC's Command Support Commands (CSC) and Command Subordinate Units (CSU) to develop and practice strategies that shape synchronized operations integrated into the strategies of unconventional warfare.
Col. Robert Warburg, commander, Military Information Support Operations Command, Fort Bragg and exercise director for Silent Quest 13-1 explains the direction for this Silent Quest exercise.
"The Silent Quest exercise series is nested with the Army's Unified Quest and the USSCOM's Shadow Warrior project. USASOC has taken the first step in USSCOM's family of subordinate commands by scheduling and executing a major exercise," said Warburg. "And certainly what we are doing with 13-1 will not only support USASOC's Silent Quest 13-2, but will also inform the Army's next Unified Quest exercise as well as ongoing USSOCOM programs the role that special operations forces can provide."
Silent Quest is an ongoing venue with the next exercise scheduled in the fall of 2013.