The Field Hunter Regiment 3 is conducting a training exercise with 350 soldiers from Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, and Thüringen in Ohrdruf, near Erfurt. The primary focus of the first drill, codenamed Orange Road 2023, is on exploring and operating a traffic control network and ensuring the robust protection of critical infrastructure.
During the exercise, soldiers are seen monitoring critical infrastructure to maintain oversight and readiness. These scenarios demonstrate the Field Hunter troops’ flexibility and efficacy as reliable enablers, particularly in challenging situations.
Orange Road is a full-scale exercise involving the Field Hunter units. The participating troops are operating both in military and civilian environments, making their activities visible to the public. Conducted twice a year, the training is organized by Field Hunter Regiment 3. Each exercise allows the battalion’s operational units to practice national and alliance defense strategies. The locations for these drills vary to offer the troops fresh challenges continually.
For 2023, the exercise takes place in Ohrdruf, Thüringen, and later in autumn, it will be held in Amberg, Bayern. Participating units, including Field Hunter companies from Veitshöchheim, München, and Roding, will sequentially move to the Ohrdruf training grounds. During this phase, each unit will undertake a demanding 72-hour exercise, focusing on exploring and operating a traffic control network within a 50-kilometer radius around the Ohrdruf site, alongside ensuring the robust protection of critical infrastructure, forming the core of Orange Road.
Understanding the Traffic Control Network To ensure combat units arrive at the right place and time, coordination and management are crucial. In military terms, this translates to establishing and operating a traffic control network. The Field Hunters of the Bundeswehr, the German military police, are responsible for ensuring this traffic control network for the armed forces. It is tailored and operated according to the specific situation at hand. Their responsibilities range from supporting the movement of national and international troops during transit through Germany to national and alliance defense, including associated troop movements. In addition to the Field Hunters, other capability areas within the Streitkräftebasis (Armed Forces Base) play a central role in the Bundeswehr’s defense capability.
Infrastructure and Field Hunters – A Strategic Fit In this context, infrastructure, especially critical infrastructure, encompasses everything essential for civilian well-being, including electricity, water, and fuel. Availability of these resources significantly impacts daily life and the economy. The conflict in Ukraine demonstrated that infrastructure, especially during warfare, is considered a lucrative target. Consequently, the protection of such facilities has taken on new significance. The safeguarding of critical infrastructure (KRITIS) is a joint responsibility of various authorities. The Field Hunters, as rapidly deployable and widespread military police, play a role in fulfilling this responsibility, making training essential.
Practice Makes Perfect: The Importance of Exercises Free-running exercises, conducted in public spaces, are labor-intensive to prepare and coordinate. Consequently, they are planned months in advance. Orange Road aims to feel as realistic as possible for the participating troops. A scenario framework, similar to a script, is created, outlining a lifelike operational scenario for the exercise participants. To ensure effective communication and realistic demonstrations, soldiers in performing roles (Soldatinnen und Soldaten in darstellender Funktion) are involved. Orange Road involves 350 soldiers and personnel from various authorities and civilian supply organizations. The exercise includes 62 distinct scenarios of varying complexities and challenges, all managed and directed by a central authority.
Command Post and Exercise Control In addition to the Field Hunter operational companies, each regiment has a unit responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly: the “Erste” (First) – in this case, the 1st Company of Field Hunter Regiment 3 – serves as the logistical support company for the battalion. Their tasks encompass providing food, accommodations, and maintenance services. Additionally, they handle the command post unit, which sets up and operates the central control hub of the exercise – the “Gefechtsstand.” The command post acts as the brain and nerve center of the exercise, receiving instructions for referees, monitoring radio communication, and orchestrating and evaluating all scenarios.
Within the command post, various soldiers work to transform theories and extensive planning into a challenging exercise. The command post unit, resembling a beehive consisting of four converted communication cabins mounted on trucks and hidden beneath a massive camouflage net, capitalizes on exercises like Orange Road to develop and refine their concepts.
The effort put into these exercises serves a straightforward purpose: only through practice, error recognition, and future avoidance can performance be enhanced. Thus, exercises remain indispensable to ensure that the Field Hunters maintain their status as professional, effective, and robust enablers they are known to be.