WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (AFP) - The Pentagon has denied it rigged a massive military exercise designed to test new strategies and equipment for US troops to ensure success.

"I actually believe that it was not rigged," Marine Corps General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday.

"If some people in a particular part of the experiment felt like their life was being controlled more than they would like it to be, that wouldn't surprise me. That happens in every exercise because somebody has to be the object of the other person's experiment."

The massive, three-week Millennium Challenge 2002 exercise involving more than 13,500 US troops, has generated controversy since the retired Marine general who commanded the imaginary opposing force went public with his complaints.

Retired general Paul Van Riper told the Army Times newspaper the exercise was "almost entirely scripted to ensure a 'win'." He said he had quit before the scheduled end of the exercise Thursday.

Analysis of the exercise, which involved both computer simulations and live war games, is expected to be completed this fall, the US Joint Forces Command said.

The controversy comes as President George W. Bush is scheduled to meet with top national security aides Wednesday at his Texas ranch to assess the lessons of the ongoing war on terrorism and discuss US military reform.

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