Western trainers are trying to recreate Ukraine’s battlefields on NATO soil to provide training to his soldiers as realistic as possible. Ukrainian troops are crucial in helping them get it right.
Western armies are training Ukrainian soldiers at a purpose-built facility in Poland as part of the Norwegian-led Operation Legio. The firing ranges, trench networks, tank fields and urban and rural fighting positions were designed accordingly mirror the battlefieldwith and against the kind of war equipment they face in battle.
Major John, the S3 Operations Officer responsible for synchronizing the overall training operation, told Business Insider at the camp that the goal is to simulate the terrain in Ukraine, the types and tactics. equipment that Russia usesand the way both sides fight.
Ukraine’s needs and battlefield experience shaped the training from the start, with Ukrainian officials emphasizing realism during initial meetings, John said. For security reasons, he asked to be identified only by his first name.
One of the last things that took place before the first training rotation began last year was a meeting “to see how we can do this training as realistically as possible,” he said. The Ukrainian assessment of the training was: “This is not good enough.”
“We had to review and change the training program and then adapt it to their current operational needs,” John said.
The location of the camp ensures that the feedback loop remains short. It is about a two-hour drive from the Ukrainian border, which allows them to have “a very direct dialogue with our Ukrainian partners,” John said.
Operation Legio tries to make urban combat, trench warfare and other types of training as realistic as possible. Sinead Baker
The Ukrainian experience on the battlefield is at the heart of the operation. John described it as a “Ukrainian training center.” Ukraine determines what its troops need, Ukrainian instructors teach alongside Western trainers, and experienced soldiers incorporate lessons from the war directly into the curriculum.
That setup, he said, means the Ukrainians “can hold us accountable for the quality and delivery of that realistic training.”
Trenches, tanks and tactics
Trenches have been dug deep in the Polish landscape, modeled on those in Ukraine. The trenches were “built by the Ukrainians, or they told us how to build them” to resemble the real ones as much as possible, Brigadier General Atle Molde, the commander of Task Force Legio, told Business Insider.
The trench network has “already changed a few times and we have only been active for less than a year,” he added.
Trenches at Jomsborg camp are created with Ukrainian expertise on what the battlefield looks like, and are updated as the war develops. Torbjørn Kjosvold / Forsvaret
The leaders want to keep the camp up to date with the rapidly changing battle. Ukrainian commanders and instructors are embedded there, and new ones arrive every training rotation, providing examples of what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change.
Part of “trying to resemble reality on the front lines” is ensuring that soldiers train with the same equipment they would use on the battlefield.
“We have a very close dialogue with our Ukrainian counterparts about what kind equipment that the individual soldier hasfrom assault rifles to night vision goggles to thermal sights,” John said. “We try to look at equipment the same way we do every other variable down here.”
Drones are frequently used for training. Western armies are Don’t educate Ukrainians to govern them, since Ukraine The military is already very capable at that. But without them the training field would not be realistic.
Drones are so ubiquitous in Ukraine and have reshaped so much of the fight that they need to be embedded in the planning and execution of training exercises in Poland.
The training also uses ground robotswhat is Ukraine used in increasing numbers and shaping its doctrine. In this case, Molde said, it is the Ukrainians who are “teaching us.”
Western soldiers also use tanksarmored vehicles and motorcycles in training, acting as a designated opposition force designed to “resemble how the enemy fights on the front lines,” John said. The idea is to ensure that Ukrainians “are exposed to the same scenarios they will encounter when they return.”
The trainers also try to reproduce the sensations of combat. Laser simulation systems record hits, while small explosive charges simulate incoming attacks.
“If a drone has an impact, we also have a demolition charge in the ground so it actually explodes,” John said. At the site, “we have a very practical assessment and approach to risks. So risk is not a theoretical thing. It is real.”
A training location can never truly recreate the chaos, risk and fear of a real battlefield, but the goal is to get as close as possible.
Camp Jomsborg has several types of trenches that resemble what the Ukrainians experienced during the war. Sinead Baker
Jørgen, a Norwegian army instructor for the operation’s platoon leader course, told Business Insider that the Ukrainians are sharing stories “to help us understand what it actually looks like and how it really works.”
The goal isn’t necessarily to recreate everything perfectly, “but we should try to provide realistic experiences that can actually bring everyone on the course back to the war.”
The efforts to achieve realism also extend beyond terrain and equipment to the way Ukrainian units actually operate. John said that when the Western trainers first designed the platoon leader course, “it was based on the Norwegian platoon leader.” But Ukraine organizes and deploys its armed forces differently.
The course was changed to combine Western best practices with the realities of Ukrainian operations. John said they made “minor adjustments to make it as realistic and designed for the Ukrainian context as possible.”
The training program ensures that the proven experience of Ukrainian soldiers and commanders is not discarded. In some areas of warfare, the trainers acknowledge, Ukraine now has more experience than the trainers. Norway, in turn, gives lessons in tactics and equipment back to its own army.
The goal, John said, is to give soldiers Western best practices, combined with their own knowledge, to increase their “lethality and survivability,” allowing Ukraine to continue the fight or ultimately negotiate on its own terms.
