Mission
OPFOR stands for Opposing Forces, a military unit that simulates an enemy during training exercises and war games. OPFOR is used to develop and train U.S. forces without a specific adversary.
Description
An opposing force (alternatively enemy force, abbreviated OPFOR or OpFor) is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios. The related concept of aggressor squadron is used by some air forces.
At a basic level, a unit might serve as an opposing force for a single scenario, differing from its 'opponents' only in the objectives it is given. However, major armies commonly maintain specialized groups trained to accurately replicate real-life enemies, to provide a more realistic experience for their training opponents. (To avoid the diplomatic ramifications of naming a real nation as a likely enemy, training scenarios often use fictionalized versions with different names but similar military characteristics to the expected real-world foes.)
There are three major training centers that utilize home-based OPFOR units for the US Army:
The National Training Center or NTC at Fort Irwin, California—home unit is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (the Blackhorse)
The Joint Readiness Training Center or JRTC at Fort Johnson, Louisiana—home unit is the 1st Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment (the Geronimos)
The Joint Multinational Readiness Center or JMRC (formerly known as the Combat Maneuver Training Center or CMTC) at Hohenfels, Germany—home unit is the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment (Separate) (the Warriors)
Various US military installations or major units have their own local versions of opposing force used for training exercises. The joint Australian–US military exercise "Crocodile '03" featured an Australian-led opposing force in which soldiers from a range of Australian units worked together with a US Marine Corps contingent.
System Interdependencies
Foreign Military Sales
None