Bangladesh Army undergoes disaster relief exercise using MASA SWORD

Over July and August, the Bangladesh Army successfully led a major disaster relief exercise, involving 24 military and civilian agencies[i] on post-earthquake management at its Army War Game Center (AWGC), using MASA’s SWORD simulation software.

Three years ago, the Bangladesh Armyadapted MASA SWORD, a complete war-gaming solution for armies around theworld, and the Army’s AWGC, part of the Army Training and Doctrine Command(ARTDOC) has been using it extensively to plan, execute and analyze a widevariety of training missions. In addition to war-gaming, the Bangladeshi Armyis using SWORD for an increasing number of risk management exercises, includingseveral non-war crisis management exercises for military units.

This exercise, on a much larger scaleand involving many more parties, was organized by the Army, who had a thoroughunderstanding of the technology to implement a detailed and technical exercise.

As well as ensuring nationalsecurity, the Army has a history of supporting the United Nations andproviding aid to the civil authorities in the wake of natural disasters and hastopped the league for the leading troop contributor, providing around 120,000troops over 28 years. The customized version of SWORD trains the command staffto retain these core responsibilities and skills.

Among many other disasters, an earthquakeis also a probability. Bangladesh has experienced a wide range of naturaldisasters. Fault lines locatedinside Bangladesh could cause devastating earthquakes, which have beenidentified as a serious future risk.

The exercise was designed to:identify gaps and challenges in disaster preparedness and response planning, enhanceknowledge on laid down procedures, improve ability to respond to emergency, developcohesive team work, and enable efficient perception management.

Planning for the exercise began inJuly. MASA experts worked with the Army to create relevant missions for thenatural disaster. The Army also worked with participating organizations toensure up-to-date data, equipment, mapping and resources were integrated intoSWORD.

The evolution of SWORD over time hasenabled it to be adapted for many different aspects of soldiers’ missions from the classicsymmetrical warfare to the management of internal enemies, whether they areterrorists or natural calamities. The Bangladesh Army, who regularly usesSWORD, has used its technical expertise to maximize on the variety of uses thesoftware can provide, and have been able to manipulate it to work for civilian,military and multi-organizational exercises. For this exercise, they also integratedother dimensions into the training, including live demonstrations ofengineering units when they have had to search for victims in building debris,taking the functionality of SWORD beyond what was provided to them.

The exercise took place on 5-9thAugust. MASA was on-hand throughout the exercise to provide technical support.The After-Action Review ensured that lessons learned were understood by allthose who participated in the exercise.

Brigadier General Md Tofayel Ahmed, psc, director AWGC, said:“Bangladesh sits in a very sensitive spot geographically and is exposed to a range of weather-related natural disasters. We are particularly concerned about how the country would deal with a large earthquake. We needed to learn how all the different agencies could work together effectively should this occur, and what likely difficulties and obstacles we might face. Using SWORD, we were able to identify the risks and begin to work together as a larger team to overcome what would be a country-wide disaster.

“The preparedness for such disaster is key to saving lives. Some events cannot be avoided, so we must be prepared to face them. In such situations military and the civilians should work together.”

MASA will continue to support the AWGC with maintenance and development of its customized version of SWORD, the Army War Game Simulation System (AWGSS), as well as during further exercises that the Army conducts. MASA recently announced the renewal of its contract with the Army for a further five years.

[i] About the Exercise
Participation from the following organisations:

Ministry of DisasterManagement and Relief; Ministry of Home Affairs; Armed Force Division (AFD); BangladeshArmy; Bangladesh Navy; Bangladesh Air Force; Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB); FireService and Civil Defence (FSCD);Ansar and VDP; Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC); Bangladesh Scouts;Department of Disaster Management (DDM); Department of Public Health; PublicWorks Department (PWD); Roads and Highway Department; Bangladesh Roads andTransport Corporation; Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission; DCOffice, Dhaka; Civil Surgeon’s Office, Dhaka; Rajdhani Unnayon Kortipokkho(RAJUK); Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC); Water Supply and SewerageAuthority (WASA); Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA); Dhaka Electric SupplyCompany Limited (DESCO); Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution CompanyLimited (TGTDCL); Red Crescent, Bangladesh; Anjuman Mofidul Islam.