Field Exercises
2015 was the first year that WWIIHA administered the event. Structured as a 501c3 non-profit, which mandates an educational purpose, WWIIHA met during the summer of 2014 at the U.S. Army War College's AHEC facility to focus exclusively on improving the authenticity of the field exercise as one way to provide education and a better experience for the participants.
The meeting focused on:
1) Adaptation of the U.S. Army's 1944 Umpire Manual as the basis for judging the event
2) Review of the doctrine and tactics of both U.S. and German forces and ways to adapt those to a re-enacted field exercise
3) Evolving the authenticity of the field exercise in 2015 and coming years to better match the scenarios chosen to represent the scale of terrain and forces available at the event. In 2015, for example, we focused on the town of Foy and the battle between 2. Panzer and Team DeSobry.
While the garrison displays and activities are important to the World War II Historical Association's educational and historical preservation mission, that mission literally comes to life in the form of the Battle of the Bulge Field Exercise, aka "the tactical" in re-enactor parlance.
Living historians learn how to operate as the armies of WWII did by practicing it in the field. The best classroom for the machinery of war vehicles, equipment and weaponry is the field. The best classroom to learn the tactics and skills of the average soldier, his NCO's and Officers is the field.
Since 2015, WWIIHA's senior field leadership, both Allied and Axis, spend weeks developing a scenario based on a part of the actual battle. We look for something that is relatively close to the scale of terrain and forces available to us. The intention is to encourage re-enactors to learn more about the actual battle and in the process become more proficient at the tactics of the respective belligerents-- from squad level to command and coordination between multiple battle groups.
The field exercise is also judged by a staff of umpires adapting the original 1944 U.S. Army war game rules
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2015 and 2016: "Bastogne: 2. Panzer at Foy"
2017: "1. SS Pz Drive to Liege (Friday) & "Abram's Relief of Bastogne" (Saturday)
2018: "St. Vith: Führer Begleit Brigade Attack at Rodt"
Tactical Resources
Event Photographs Over the Years
The meeting focused on:
1) Adaptation of the U.S. Army's 1944 Umpire Manual as the basis for judging the event
2) Review of the doctrine and tactics of both U.S. and German forces and ways to adapt those to a re-enacted field exercise
3) Evolving the authenticity of the field exercise in 2015 and coming years to better match the scenarios chosen to represent the scale of terrain and forces available at the event. In 2015, for example, we focused on the town of Foy and the battle between 2. Panzer and Team DeSobry.
While the garrison displays and activities are important to the World War II Historical Association's educational and historical preservation mission, that mission literally comes to life in the form of the Battle of the Bulge Field Exercise, aka "the tactical" in re-enactor parlance.
Living historians learn how to operate as the armies of WWII did by practicing it in the field. The best classroom for the machinery of war vehicles, equipment and weaponry is the field. The best classroom to learn the tactics and skills of the average soldier, his NCO's and Officers is the field.
Since 2015, WWIIHA's senior field leadership, both Allied and Axis, spend weeks developing a scenario based on a part of the actual battle. We look for something that is relatively close to the scale of terrain and forces available to us. The intention is to encourage re-enactors to learn more about the actual battle and in the process become more proficient at the tactics of the respective belligerents-- from squad level to command and coordination between multiple battle groups.
The field exercise is also judged by a staff of umpires adapting the original 1944 U.S. Army war game rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 and 2016: "Bastogne: 2. Panzer at Foy"
2017: "1. SS Pz Drive to Liege (Friday) & "Abram's Relief of Bastogne" (Saturday)
2018: "St. Vith: Führer Begleit Brigade Attack at Rodt"
Tactical Resources
Event Photographs Over the Years
The Battle As Planned .....
And As It Happened:
