OPFOR Role Player - Military Training Support

OPTML; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

OPTML at Joint Base San Antonio–Lackland is seeking personnel to serve as adversaries for PACER FORGE training. You will operate on-site in San Antonio, performing role-play over 57-hour exercise runs twice weekly, coordinating with trainees and leadership to deliver realistic, scripted scenarios within base defense tasks.

The role requires prior military or sworn law enforcement experience, US citizenship, and the ability to endure outdoor shifts in hot conditions, while maintaining discipline

Qualifications

• Prior military or sworn law enforcement experience.
• U.S. citizenship required and ability to pass background check.
• Physically able to work full outdoor shifts in San Antonio heat.
• Able to take direction from active-duty leadership without friction.

Responsibilities

• Plan and rehearse your assigned positions, routes, and engagement criteria before trainees arrive.
• Execute engagements using government-issued simulated weapons, marking systems, and pyrotechnics under safety rules.
• Work the radio: coordinate attacks and execute scripted attacks.
• Account for every piece of issued equipment at the start and end of every shift.
• Reset positions and training aids between engagements and between weekly iterations.
• Give short factual observations after each engagement to support the after-action review.

Skills

Military experience

Law enforcement

US citizenship

Physical stamina

Following directions

Tools

Simulated weapons

Range equipment

Job description

Location: Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland, Texas. On site, not remote.

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 40 hours per week. Shift times vary with the training schedule inside a 0430 to 2100 window.

Salary range 65-70K annually

About the work

OPTML supports Air Force Basic Military Training at JBSA‑Lackland. During PACER FORGE, the culminating field exercise every trainee must complete, we provide the opposing force.

You play the adversary. Over a 57-hour exercise run twice a week, you occupy positions, initiate contact, generate scripted casualties, and pressure trainees through base defense, airfield defense, and other mission tasks.

What you will do

• Plan and rehearse your assigned positions, routes, and engagement criteria before trainees arrive.
• Execute engagements using government‑issued simulated weapons, marking systems, and authorized pyrotechnics, under range regulations and the daily safety brief.
• Work the radio: coordinate attacks and execute scripted attacks.
• Account for every piece of issued equipment at the start and end of every shift.
• Reset positions and training aids between engagements and between weekly iterations.
• Give short factual observations after each engagement to support the after‑action review.

What you will not do

You do not coach, correct, or mentor trainees. You do not brief the scenario. You do not change the plan on your own. Cadre owns all of that. You stay in role and deliver the pressure.

What we are looking for

• Prior military or sworn law enforcement experience.
• U.S. citizenship, and the ability to pass a criminal history background check and obtain base access.
• Physically able to work full outdoor shifts in San Antonio heat.
• Able to take direction from active‑duty leadership without friction.

The one thing that matters most

Discipline in role and scenario integrity. You stay in character, you never tip what is coming next. This provides each trainee with the most realistic exposure of deployed operations. Plenty of people can play the bad guy. We need people who can play the bad guy exactly as scripted, every single time, for the safety of nine hundred trainees a week.