Military Training International April 2016

Military training, modeling and simulation solutions with a global perspective

Colonel Bradley M. “Critter” Crites

Commander, Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation

Q&A With

Virtues of Live TrainingPAge 13

Military Mobile Training AppsPAge 16

Army Modeling and Simulation ForumPAge 19

Virtual WorldsPAge 20

UAS TrainingPAge 24

InSIde ThIS

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International Vector:Lieutenant Colonel

Vahur MurulaidChief of the Training

Department, Estonian Defence Forces Headquarters

April 2016 • Volume 21 • Issue 2

THELAND & AIRLAND

SOLUTION

D E F E N C E & S E C U R I T Y I N T E R N A T I O N A L E X H I B I T I O N

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Is It LIve, or Is It….While virtual training has taken its rightful place in many areas of military training, for a variety of reasons, including cost cutting and throughput considerations, live training has not and cannot be completely displaced.By Peter Buxbaum

MILItary MobILe traInIng appsWhereas those in the armed forces once obtained training by attending sessions and reading manuals, today training delivered via apps and smart devices has become the norm. By using this technology, armed forces personnel can obtain their training anytime, anywhere and at their own pace. By Karen E. Thuermer

the arMy ModeLIng and sIMuLatIon ForuMThe Army Modeling and Simulations Office (AMSO) completed its inaugural Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Forum February 2016, at Fort Belvoir, Va. AMSO, the executing office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G8 as the Army M&S Proponent, used the M&S Forum to conduct a detailed analysis of previously identified M&S issues or “gaps” with the six communities that represent the Army M&S Enterprise.By Colonel Joseph M. Nolan

vIrtuaL WorLdsJust as it has reshaped the way that training is delivered to warfighters and small units operating in the field, virtual technology is changing how their commanders and headquarters staffs learn to improve their decision-making and ability to direct forces over large areas.By Harrison Donnelly

traInIng surgeTraining programs are being challenged to keep up with the surging demand for unmanned aerial systems’ operators. While pronounced in the U.S., the problem is global.By Andrew Drwiega

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Cover Q&A withColonel Bradley M.

“Critter” CritesCommander

Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation

April 2016 • Volume 21 issue 2

Lieutenant Colonel Vahur MurulaidChief of the Training DepartmentEstonian Defence Forces Headquarters

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ah-64d/e Longbow apache Modernized target acquisition designation sight selected task trainer

Students have a new learning tool at their disposal with the addition of an AH-64D/E Longbow Apache Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight Selected Task Trainer to Fort Rucker’s Aviation Learning Center (ALC).

“One of the ALC training instructors, George Snyder, and I have been working with (the Directorate of Training and Doctrine) and the Apache Program Office to obtain an AH-64D/E Longbow Apache Modernized Tads Selected Task Trainer (M-TSTT),” said Beata Moore, Aviation Technical Library and ALC chief. “The previous chief of the ATL and ALC started the process to procure the M-TSTT. With the help of our command, G3, we were finally able to obtain one.”

The trainer is kept in a locked room and can only be accessed with the aid of the ALC staff, according to Moore. However, that access is readily available and walk-ins are welcome.

“The ALC is here for students to use for self-study and remedial training,” she said. “Instructors can send their students here for remedial training. There is always a training instructor available to help students. By using a cockpit trainer, students can familiarize them-selves with the cockpit before they actually set foot in the real cockpit.

“We are in the same building and we are both part of G3, but we have different func-tions,” Moore said. “The ATL offers research and reference services to the (U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence) community in support of training and professional development. The ALC provides subject matter expertise and training aids for students in all phases of FSXXI and graduate flight training programs.”

As reported by Jeremy Henderson

royal Malaysian navy radar simulation software

Cambridge Pixel, a developer of radar display, tracking and simulation subsystems, has supplied radar simulator software to OSI

Maritime Systems, a provider of integrated navigation and tactical solutions for the naval market.

OSI is supplying an integrated bridge system to the Royal Malaysian Navy for use in the soon-to-be commissioned littoral combat ship. The fully-functioning radar simulator supports OSI’s need to perform integration activities in advance of installation and commissioning on the vessel, and includes comprehensive soft-ware emulation of the radar control interface.

The emulator is based upon Cambridge Pixel’s established SPx Radar Simulator. The simulator includes powerful multi-channel radar video generation with full modeling for realistic terrain and clutter returns. Multiple targets may be defined, each either located in a fixed posi-tion (such as a buoy or lighthouse) or moving along motion profiles defined as part of the simulator’s scenario or under remote control from an external source.

Commenting for OSI, Ken Kirkpatrick, presi-dent and CEO, said, “We selected Cambridge Pixel because of their existing highly flexible and powerful radar simulation capability and their experience with the Kelvin Hughes SharpEye radar.”

Cambridge Pixel’s technology is used in naval, air traffic control, vessel traffic, commer-cial shipping, security, surveillance and airborne radar applications.

taiwan F-16a/b block 20 Mission training Center

L-3 Communications Corp., Link Simulation Training Division, Arlington, Texas, has been awarded a $36.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for an F-16A/B Block 20 mission training center (MTC). L-3 will provide MTC hardware, spares and initial software development. Work is expected to be complete by November 1, 2016. This contract is 100 percent foreign military sales to Taiwan.

ready relevant Learning

The U.S. Navy’s Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) has conducted strategic rating

reviews for their eight enlisted ratings in support of the Ready Relevant Learning initiative; “Right Training, Right Time, Right Place.”

The goals of the reviews were to assess health of training, identify where in their career sailors may better learn and understand mate-rial provided after they have gained experience and identify where new learning technologies could be implemented to make training more effective and accessible to the fleet.

CSCS is currently working with Surface Warfare Division via the Surface and Expeditionary Warfare Training Committee on three pillars of training technology that have been identified to facilitate a continuum of learning. These technology enablers will support high velocity learning and efforts are being led by Navy Education and Training Command and Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division.

“Onboard individual learning systems, distributed training technology and high fidelity shore based trainers in fleet concentration areas will radically change the way the Navy executes combat systems training,” said Captain Bill McKinley, CSCS commanding officer.

Onboard Individual Learning Systems will make training available to sailors onboard ship to preclude the need to go to a schoolhouse to receive training. The submarine community already uses an approach of this type called the Submarine On Board Training System.

The learning content will feature a variety of technologies such as virtual worlds, gaming and instructional how to videos such as those found on YouTube. SLCS will not only make training more effective and accessible, but also improve quality of life as it will preclude the need for sailors to be away from their duty station.

Distributed training technology, such as virtual schoolhouse (vSchool), will enable students to be trained at multiple shore sites in a common virtual environment.

High fidelity shore-based trainers enable accomplishment of training objectives ashore that are not effectively supported by ship systems and/or the objectives are not practical to accomplish onboard ship. An example is the Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility San Diego which employs high fidelity training systems ashore that enable accomplishment of the Train to Qualify and Train to Certify requirements.

“The small crew size of LCS and lack of embedded systems on the ships mandate the use of high fidelity training systems ashore to achieve crew training and readiness objectives,” explained Joe Shifflett, LCS Training Facility program manager.

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The Aegis Ashore Team Trainer (AATT) in Gallery Hall onboard Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex serves a similar role in training and certifying rotational ballistic missile defense crews to serve at the Aegis Ashore site in Romania today and eventually the site in Poland in 2018.

“AATT allows us to train, qualify, and certify our sailors so when they arrive in Romania they are immediately prepared to stand their watch,” said Larry Sharp, director, AATT.

Article by Brian Deters and Kimberly Lansdale

Iraqi pilot training

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $32 million modifica-tion to a previously awarded contract for a one-year extension of Iraq pilot training. Work will be performed at Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be complete by February 28, 2017. This contract is 100 percent foreign military sales to Iraq.

u.s. air Force War College delegation visits rwanda defence Force

A delegation of 11 students and three staff members from the United States Air War College who were in Rwanda on Regional Cultural Studies visited Rwanda Defence Force on 29 February. At RDF headquarters, the Air War College delegation was received by Rwanda Air Force Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Charles Karamba.

The students and staff exchanged with the RDF officers on Rwanda’s liberation struggle, RDF status, and contribution to domestic and international security. They also discussed RDF-U.S. Army cooperation.

After the visit at RDF headquarters, one of the students, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Humphrey noted that the main purpose of their visit was to understand more about their stra-tegic partners, sharing information and culture for better cooperation.

“The main purpose of the visit is to under-stand more about our strategic partners and how we can work better with our partners, sharing information and culture with our friends,” he said before adding that he was very excited on the provision of health services to the local population. “I was very excited that the military has an integrated network to provide health services,

The Air War College students were also scheduled to visit the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College to exchange with students and staff college faculty in Musanze.

south Korean naval education & training Command Commander visits u.s.

Rear Admiral Stephen C. Evans, commander, U.S. Naval Service Training Command hosted the Republic of Korea Navy’s commander of Naval Education and Training on a tour of Recruit Training Command (RTC), February 29.

During the visit, Vice Admiral Jin-Sup Jung observed recruit training at many of the facili-ties at the U.S. Navy’s only boot camp.

“All the staff and faculties working at this command seemed very professional in their field of expertise,” Jung said. “It was very impressive to see how professional the instructors, facilita-tors and recruits were at the command.”

The visit began with a tour at RTC’s premier training facility, USS Trayer, the 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator, the Navy’s largest, where recruits go through Battle Stations, a grueling 12-hour culmination of basic training and the last evolution recruits accom-plish before they graduate.

Jung and his staff said they were amazed by the sights, sounds and even smells presented by Trayer using the latest in simulation tech-nology with video screens, piped-in smells, large stereo woofer-created vibrations and shipboard sound effects, from helicopters to missile hits.

Captain Douglas Pfeifle, RTC’s commanding officer, also joined the group during their tour around RTC. Pfeifle was pleased to showcase “The Quarterdeck of the Navy” and highlight the importance of sharing how the Navy trains its recruits at boot camp with foreign military allies.

“By sharing our training curriculum we not only get the chance to compare and learn from one another, we get the opportunity to create best practices as we move forward,” Pfeifle said. “It’s a win all the way around.

Along with the tour of Trayer and Battle Stations, the group also toured the USS Chief Firefighting and Damage Control Training building. They also observed how recruits move from classroom training to hands-on training and fight a controlled shipboard compartment fire to prepare them for service in the fleet.

“The tour of the damage control facility and the connectivity between the recruits, their instructors and equipment was also very impressive,” Jung said. “I hope to be able to

take some of that back to Korea to use in our training.”

argentine students at school of airborne troops and special operations

During the month of February, cadets from the Argentine Military School of the Nation participated in an air assault course, conducted by the School of Airborne Troops and Special Operations.

The training was organized and delivered by the 601 Air Assault Regiment and involved four distinct phases: the first, combat air assault, where trainees learned the specifics of the use of modern combat helicopters.

In the second, the use of external loads, they could acquire the skills that enable them to support and supply equipment slung from helicopters.

In the descent stage with ropes, they were trained to be inserted in different places using ropes and a fast rope rappel technique.

Finally, during the last phase, they applied their lessons during an exercise, which consisted of a tactical situation with the heli-copter teams.

“During this training, the students expressed the perseverance and sacrifice necessary to cope with the demands of forming a homo-geneous team to partner with the helicopter units,” said a 601 Air Assault Regiment spokes-person.

Joint Multinational training group-ukraine

Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine (JMTG-U) is in its second rotation training Ukrainian Ministry of Defense forces at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in western Ukraine.

The JMTG-U mission is part of ongoing efforts to contribute to Ukraine’s long-term military reform and professionalism and to help improve the country’s internal defense capabili-ties and training capacity.

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JMTG-U is uniquely built with key players that include the U.S. National Guard and active duty soldiers, U.S. Army civilians, and represen-tatives from Canada, Estonia, Lithuania and United Kingdom.

The Joint Multinational Training Command (JMTC) plays a crucial role in the mission as they help develop a combat training center much like Grafenwoehr Training Area, U.S. Army Europe’s elite training ground.

“This is a partnership with the Ukrainian Army to build a capability here that enables them to train their formations to a better standard than what they do right now, utilizing what we have learned to run combat training centers,” said JMTG-U Deputy, Adam Loveless.

The line of effort will include JMTC capa-bilities from the Joint Multinational Simulation Center, Joint Multinational Readiness Center and Training Support Activity Europe.

“Right now, we’re doing the initial portions of that in conjunction with Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine in developing the training cadre. As they build that force, we are working

with the 3-15th to build a training cadre to serve as the observer coach/trainers like at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. JMTC is going to continue a partnership with the Ukrainian Armed forces to further develop them to a level to become NATO interoperable by 2020,” said Loveless.

Loveless said these efforts are not only a necessity for the Ukrainian Army, but are stra-tegically important to Europe.

“Ukraine is a country that absolutely wants to fight for its own sovereignty here. They’ve asked for our help, they’ve asked for the help of the allies in NATO and we owe it to them to give them an opportunity to succeed.”

As reported by Sarah Tate

new Weapons Integration for squad Immersive training environment simulation system

On February 29, Cubic Global Defense (CGD), a business unit of Cubic Corporation, announced

it had received contracts totaling $3.7 million to integrate new weapons into the U.S. Marine Corps’ Squad Immersive Training Environment (SITE) simulation system. SITE is interoper-able with Instrumented-Tactical Engagement Simulation System (I-TESS II) and uses the instrumentation as its backbone. With these contracts, the U.S. Marine Corps is CGD’s first customer to field geo-pairing technology for non-line-of-sight weapons. Geo-pairing tech-nology, which provides the relative position between a shooter and a target, allows the ability to pair with a target without the use of lasers.

Cubic will provide new simulator weapons, such as the surrogate tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank guided missiles and the MK-19 grenade launchers, for use during live training exercises. Cubic will also support the design, development and integration of SITE-specific capability enhancements to the I-TESS II training system in addition to evaluating ruggedized prototype, testing and effective-ness. These enhancements address training

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Brigadier General Paul H. Guemmer, commander, Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., has been assigned as the military deputy for total force-continuum; and deputy chief of staff strategic plans and programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Brigadier General John J. Elam, U.S. Army Reserve,

commanding general (Troop Program Unit), 102d Training Division (Maneuver Support); and deputy commanding general for Mobilization and Training (Individual Mobilization Augmentee), U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., has been assigned as deputy commander (Troop Program Unit), 416th Theater Engineer Command, Darien, Ill.

Brigadier General Trent H. Edwards, commander,

37th Training Wing, Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, has been assigned as director of financial management and comp-troller, Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

Major General William K. Gayler, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Europe, Germany, has been assigned as commanding general,

Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, Fort Rucker, Ala.

Brigadier General Gary M. Brito, deputy commanding general (operations), 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, has been assigned as commanding general, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Fort Polk, La.

Brigadier General Alberto C. Rosende,

U.S. Army Reserve, commander (Troop Program Unit), Atlantic Training Division, 75th Training Command, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., has been assigned as commander (Troop Program Unit), 1st Mission Support Command, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico.

Brigadier General Timothy P. McGuire, commanding general, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk,

people


proficiency and readiness gaps at the squad level and support both direct force-on-force and force-on-target tactical engagement training.

“As we continue to bring cutting-edge training capabilities such as the geo-pairing technology for non-line-of-sight weapons to live training battlefields, we are overcoming the limitations of laser and providing a complement to laser-based engagement,” said Bill Toti, presi-dent of Cubic Global Defense.

afghanistan national defense university graduates

On March 7, 549 Army officers graduated from the Afghan National Defense University and were commissioned to the country’s national army.

At the graduation ceremony, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said, “We witness another historic day, I congratulate your success and victory, and that all Afghans will be proud of you, they will be proud of your determination.”

“You have the responsibility to serve your nation. You are from different ethnics, from different areas of Afghanistan, but you have a unified goal to defend the country and serve this nation,” the Afghan president said.

Nearly 1,000 cadets have been receiving training at Marshal Fahim National Defense University. The latest graduates brought the number of profes-sional officers to nearly 1,400, who have graduated from the country’s top military university since 2012, according to military officials.

uK royal Marines training in the arctic

The crack of rifle fire and the roar of motor engines rebounded off the snow-covered fjords of northern Norway as Royal Marines prepared for NATO’s biggest winter war games.

Fast raiding craft and hovercraft had been tearing up and down the inlets around the port Harstad—more than 150 miles inside the Arctic Circle—as the men of 539 Assault Squadron became used to freezing conditions.

More than 50 commandos from the squadron, based at RM Tamar in Devonport Naval Base, deployed to northern Norway with their ORC offshore raiding craft and Landing Craft (Air Cushioned).

The eight weeks of training opened with the boat crews learning how to survive and operate as Marines in the harsh Arctic conditions at Åsegarden camp outside Harstad.

“The snow and ice make things very chal-lenging, very different from the conditions which were used to working in,” said Marine Alex Foster, a landing craft coxswain.

Once acclimatized, the Marines could move on to the business of amphibious operations; the squadron is expected to put Royal Marines ashore by landing or raiding craft whatever the climate.

“One of the toughest parts of operating in these conditions is the cold; you don’t really realize how cold it is until you get out here—and when you add the wind chill factor from travel-ling at 35 knots on the fjords, you really can feel it,” said hovercraft coxswain Marine ‘Tommo’ Thompson.

Fort Polk, La., has been assigned as deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Europe, Germany.

Brigadier General Miyako N. Schanely, U.S. Army Reserve, deputy commander (Troop Program Unit), 412th Engineer Command, Vicksburg, Miss., has been assigned as commanding general (Troop Program Unit), 102d Training Division (Maneuver Support); and

deputy commanding general for Mobilization and Training (Individual Mobilization Augmentee), U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Major General Mark Anthony Brown, commander, 2nd Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., has been assigned as vice commander, Headquarters Air

Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.

Brigadier General Robert I. Miller, director, educa-tion and training, Defense Health Agency; and commandant, Medical Education and Training Campus, Defense Health Agency, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, has been assigned as commander, Air Force Medical

Operations Agency, Office of the Surgeon General, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

Colonel James H. Dienst, who has been selected for the grade of briga-dier general, command surgeon, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., has been assigned as director, education and training, Defense Health Agency; and comman-dant, Medical Education

and Training Campus, Defense Health Agency, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

On March 1, Lynn A. Dugle was named Engility’s CEO, effective March 21. She has been a director of the board, serving as chair for the Engility special activities committee and a member of the audit committee, since February 2015.

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program HIgHlIgHtsFoster added: “The snow and ice make

things very challenging, very different from the conditions which were used to working in.”

USS Carl Vinson’s New Carrier ATC Simulator (photo in folder)

On March 22, USS Carl Vinson unveiled a new air traffic control simulator, the first of its kind installed in a Navy aircraft carrier, in the ship's carrier air traffic control center (CATCC).

The new simulator program affords Carl Vinson air traffic controllers the capability to immerse themselves in real CATCC flight opera-tions scenarios without the necessity of actual flight operations.

"Normally we don't have any flight opera-tions we can simulate while we're in port," said CATCC Leading Chief Petty Officer Chief Air Traffic Controller Keith Thompson. "Now that we have this simulator, we can come here and simulate flight operations any given day."

The new software was installed recently during Carl Vinson's chief of naval operations planned incremental availability period and provides the embarked air traffic controllers a mission-ready edge over others in the fleet.

"Right now, with this new simulator, I can sit a new air traffic controller in front of the system and he can run simulators," said Thompson. "That way, when we experience live [air] traffic, he'll be proficient because he's seen it, he's done it, and he's familiar with the phrase-ology we use during the real thing."

With the simulator at their disposal, the CATCC crew has the necessary tools to enhance air traffic control readiness, further preparing the crew for upcoming flight operations certi-fications.

"This is one of the most impactful improve-ments in carrier air traffic control in a long time," said Thompson. "Once this rolls out to the rest of the fleet, it will increase the amount of training, experience, and flexibility available to each of the Navy's carrier air traffic control teams."

As reported by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Matthew Carlyle

training systems upgrades, Fort greely

The 413th Contracting Support Brigade, Regional Contracting Office Fort Wainwright Alaska, is seeking information on sources for the purchase, shipment, delivery and installa-tion for the upgrade and replacement of existing Theissen Training Systems targets and software at Donnelly Training Area, Fort Greely, Alaska.

The target parts and software packages are particular items that are manufactured and distributed by Theissen Training Systems.

Lithuanian-polish-ukrainian brigade battle staff training

Officers and non-commissioned officers of Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade are conducting a new challenging battle staff training to exercise ability to plan and perform stability operations.

This is a two-month long training which aims at synchronizing procedures and devel-oping interoperability of Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian components of the Brigade, while executing Stability Operation. Following the scenario, LITPOLUKRBRIG was called by the international community to reinforce NATO contingent in a country in the Middle East. The decision of three governments of the contributing countries was made and staff offi-cers from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine began gathering as much information as possible and analyzing the mission.

“The training is our comprehensive approach to exercise LITPOLUKRBRIG Command personnel ability to follow NATO military decision making process steps and procedures,” said Brigadier General Adam Joks, commander LITPOLUKRBRIG. “We learn operating in the multinational environ-ment, support each other and demonstrate the cohesion of Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian soldiers. By the way, the training becomes our next step on the path to achieving full operational capability and executing the real-life operations wherever we are going to be called to conduct crisis response operations.”

training pistols

Rings Manufacturing has introduced the Springfield Armory XD Mod. 2 Sub-Compact 9mm and XD Mod.2 Extended Magazine caliber training pistol replicas. The XD Mod. 2 9mm training pistols are molded from solid blue polyurethane to differentiate then from live weapons.

On the weapon, the new XD Mod. 2 Sub-Compact pistol is updated from its prede-cessor, the original XD Sub-Compact, with several enhancements for improved conceal-ability, ergonomics and performance. The newborn Mod. 2 sets out to improve grip with GripZone. Three different textures are molded into specific parts of the grip where slip-resistance is most critical. The resulting ergo-nomic improvement gives users more traction on the grip surface while applying less force on the frame.

While many dimensional changes were applied to the new design, the XD Mod. 2 Sub-Compact maintains compatibility with original XD magazines and holsters. The extended magazine model sports 16 round capacity.

navy Medicine operational training Center Launches new eCampus

Navy Medicine Operational Training Center announced March 23 the launch of its eCampus and eLibrary that could eventually impact every naval aviator, Navy aircrew member and Navy operational medicine student.

Commander Steven Parks, NMOTC's Directorate of Training said through months of research, surveys and collaboration between NMOTC's Directorate for Information Technology (DFIT) and the DOT, the eCampus site is now available to enhance the training experience for more than 600 staff members and thousands of NMOTC students annually.

The site provides a one-point access of materials for 64 courses taught at six detach-ments and eight Aviation Survival Training Centers geographically located across the country. On the eCampus site, the eLibrary contains course-related textbooks, journal articles, and medical information in digital format for NMOTC staff and students.

"The long-term goal is to establish colle-giate-level experiential learning technology for the deck plate," said Lieutenant Miles Erwin, NMOTC's eCampus project manager.

This new site has controlled access with common access card credentials required to ensure data security and the modules are further protected by a compartmental permis-sion system. Instructors have the ability to make changes to student rosters and provide updates to course materials.

As reported by Navy Medicine Education and Training Command public affairs.


Colonel Bradley M. “Critter” Crites is the commander of the Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation (AFAMS).

AFAMS is the lead agent for centralized management of Air Force cross-functional and shared live, virtual and constructive operational training (LVC-OT) foundational capabilities, and resources supporting the Air Force Service Core Functions. As commander, Crites is respon-sible for overseeing Air Force initiatives for enterprise solutions that will help build an efficient foundation to achieve Readiness Thru LVC, and allow warfighters to maximize performance and decision making.

Crites was commissioned through Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1991, following graduation from the University of California Irvine. During his career, he was commander of the 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and served four times as a deployed squadron commander of the 41st Expeditionary Elec-tronic Combat Squadron, Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. His previous assignments include: chief of Officer Development Branch, Air Combat Command Manpower and Personnel, Langley Air Force Base, Va.; chief of EC-130H formal training and assistant director of operations, 755th Operations Support Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; wing air operations officer and AC-130U weapons and tactics officer, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; and missile maintenance officer with Minuteman III ICBMs at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. He also served with the Army as part of Combined Joint Task Force Paladin and Headquarters International Security Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Before assuming his current position, he served as deputy director of operations, 12th Air Force, Air Force Southern, U.S. Southern Com-mand, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. He shared responsibility for over-seeing operations for active duty wings, as well as Guard and Reserve flying units; planning and executing counter drug and ISR operations and exercise efforts throughout the 31 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean; and overseeing USSOUTHCOM’s radar architecture, medical operations and exercises. He is a command pilot with combat experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

His major awards and decorations include: Bronze Star; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters; Aerial Achieve-ment Medal with one oak leaf cluster; Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster; Joint Service Achievement Medal; Army Achievement Medal; and Combat Readiness Medal with five oak leaf clusters.

Q: Is there an air Force live, virtual, constructive (LvC) roadmap acting as the prime guidance for operational training and the as-sociated research and development and acquisition of LvC?

a: Actually our LVC roadmap and our governing instructions are under-going a rewrite in conjunction with a reorganization effort spearheaded by Headquarter Air Force (HAF) which will allow AFAMS to better meet next generation LVC requirements for the Air Force. To really get at operational training we are focusing on optimization. This means identi-fying potential gaps that will need to be addressed but also leveraging new efficiencies via the incorporation of emerging technologies.

In order to provide the best LVC training for our airmen operating in flight, space and cyberspace we are working to invest in those areas

that will enhance the LVC environment and help to modernize exist-ing infrastructure. AFAMS is collaborating with multiple agencies and entities to navigate the roadmap process and ensure that the right LVC equities are chosen as the foundation for the next 20 years of Air Force Modeling and Simulation.

Q: Is the last roadmap still operational?

a: Yes the current roadmap will remain in force until the new one has been completed. This was the foundation for the last 20 years but with today’s technological advances it is time for a much needed reboot so that our airmen can continue to stay ahead of any potential adversaries. Acquisition, training and analysis formed the basis of our existing guidance and will continue to play a major role in future LVC discussions.

Colonel Bradley M. “Critter” Crites

Commander, air Force agency for Modeling and simulation

Q&A


Q: What is the significance of blending those elements together?

a: By blending acquisition, training and analytics together, AFAMS has created a holistic approach that enables the agency to really get at the complexities of training with modeling and simulation with its live, virtual and constructive elements. This means articulating those train-ing needs through established requirements that are clearly communi-cated to supporting acquisition efforts to provide the operator with the best possible solution.

The Air Force is striving to identify and address existing training gaps with the help of the field and then partnering with sister service and interagency efforts to bring in the right capabilities to train our airmen.

Q: When will the roadmap next be updated?

a: The roadmap is currently being updated and pending restructuring discussions we expect to have a draft document in circulation later this year.

Q: What are the implications of using LvC and conducting train-ing with coalition partners and allied forces?

a: Joint and allied training makes our forces stronger. This is an oppor-tunity to identify improvements and make necessary changes. These engagements enable our warfighters to clearly articulate requirements gleaned from operational lessons learned. AFAMS then takes those requirements and makes a better way forward.

This may span a spectrum of solutions from security to resourcing to identifying new technologies but in the end the goal of these efforts is to optimize the training for our airmen and allied partners. Partici-pating in joint exercises help to facilitate coalition-based enterprise solutions that everyone can leverage to their advantage.

Q: are there commands/functions/tasks that have not yet been touched by LvC training that you plan to bring into the fold?

a: Right now Cyber is a key focus area for AFAMS. There are multiple focus areas that need to be considered and multiple lines of effort so

the challenge will be to smartly and rightly scale LVC efforts to best meet the needs of joint cyberspace operations.

Cyber effects, cyber defense, cyber attack, all of these areas need to be able to be exercised in a training environment if our airmen are to be successful in a Cyber influenced battlespace. We look at training cyber operators no differently than training a pilot, astronaut, battlefield airmen or ISR operator. They all need to be tested and trained with the same rigor.

Q: how far along are the technologies and techniques for LvC training?

a: Cyber in particular is a challenging area. Technological convergence makes for exponential leaps in capability. In order to keep pace, AFAMS has partnered with 24th Air Force to conduct a series of cyber summits that bring industry, academia and our joint forces together to identify solutions that will enable us to forge a path to success.

What is the right size or scale of a simulation? What is the best model to use when representing the digital terrain of cyberspace? These are the kinds of important questions the summit was designed to answer.

Q: how does the aF articulate its operational training require-ments when new systems are being developed—before con-tracts—are written to build in LvC capabilities in at the baseline. the new bomber program comes to mind. What does it take to incorporate new systems into the existing framework?

a: This is where communication between acquisition teams and end users is really important. If warfighters aren’t plugged into the process from the beginning, the final result could be a training LVC solution that fails to meet the requirement. This is where AFAMS can help. As the principal agent for Air Force modeling and simulation, our job is to make sure those connections are happening.

It’s also important to have frank discussions with the customer about exactly what existing technologies can and can’t do. There are just some types of training that a simulator can’t get at yet but that might change down the road. AFAMS is there to make sure when those advances do happen, that they are best leveraged to augment existing LVC training to the benefit of our airmen.

Simulator technology has become ever more sophisticated to match the technology levels of the systems they are mimicking. (U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Shane A. Cuomo)

The evolution of simulator technology now allow entire crews to train together and the connectivity available means that different elements of a mission, regardless of the physical distance between them, can also train as part of that same mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Roland Balik)


Q: With the speed of change in new technology and innova-tion without the simulation community—commercial espe-cially—how do you move forward with programs knowing that something better may/will be along in 6 months? how do you best write contact language and build growth into programs that take that into account?

a: It comes down to relationships really. Establishing solid touch points across the modeling and simulation community has given AF-AMS the ability to rapidly identify new and existing technologies that can meet current and future requirements from the field. Partner-ships with industry LVC leaders, academia, the national labs and U.S. and allied services provide that resource pool that we can tap into.

Leveraging our partners helps to save money and time as well as to prevent duplication of effort. It can be a complex process but the knowledge base generated by this type of collaboration is priceless. This is a strength the Air Force intends to build upon in the updated roadmap.

Q: any closing thought?

a: LVC is an exciting and challenging business to be in. As technol-ogy advances it becomes increasingly important to keep our airmen at the bleeding edge via realistic, accurate training simulations and models.

Knowing what questions to ask and where to find the right an-swers is a big part of the job. What are the seams and what are the gaps? How do we best stretch limited resources while stilling meeting

the requirement? Will the simulations solutions we find today still be the right solutions five or ten years from now? Most importantly, will our efforts produce airmen who are battle ready?

The men and women of the AFAMS team understand these chal-lenges and they are passionate about the mission. I have the best and brightest working on these questions daily and the solutions they are finding are going to take Air Force’s training optimization to the next level.

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TRAIN AS YOU MAINTAIN

As training and simulation technology advances it becomes increasingly important to keep our airmen at the bleeding edge via realistic, accurate training simulations and models, explained Crites. (U.S. Air Force photo)


Lieutenant Colonel Vahur MurulaidChief of the training department

estonian defence Forces headquarters

International VectorAn Exclusive Military Training International Q&A with

Q: the estonian defense budget is expecting about a 9 percent increase in 2016 over 2015. that’s a fairly substantial amount in this day and age. are there any training projects or programs that will benefit?

Murulaid: The Estonian Defence Forces are proud to have the full support of our citizens, government and parliament. This support is reflected also in defence budget growth. As training of troops and units is one of the priorities of our forces, significant amount of overall budget spending is foreseen to fulfil this task.

Due to the fact that budget details are classified as official use only information, I cannot give a detailed overview of our allocations to different projects/programs.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the training systems and programs of the estonian armed forces and how are they being addressed?

Murulaid: As one of the last conscription-based and mainly reserve-manned armies in Europe, the EDF has a constant challenge to maintain the high level of skills of troops and units throughout their reservist career. To keep up the high level of operational standards, reserve units are periodically called up to do refreshment training.

In 2015 the EDF conducted a biggest MOBEX so far. This exercise put a huge additional burden on our professional soldiers. Thanks to

their professionalism, the exercise turned out to be a success story. During this exercise our NATO allies, including the U.S. and UK units, also played a vital role making the scenario more challenging and realistic.

Secondly, as a relatively young army, we are in constant process of purchasing new and developing/improving the weapon systems we have. For example the Estonian Defence Forces are purchasing armored infantry vehicles CV90. Due to this we need to train our troops to use the new equipment but it also changes TTPs which should be reflected in unit and HQ level training.

Those new capabilities require a lot of efforts to allocate our limited resources, including instructors and management of training areas, appropriately.

Q: tell me about the physical training locations you have avail-able including Mout (military operations on urban terrain) facilities, air-to-ground and gunnery ranges, academies, live-fire shoot houses and ranges, and other training facilities?

Murulaid: For training purposes the EDF has currently six training areas covering approximately 200 square kilometers including the Central Training Area which holds several live fire areas and the central target area. This area is also used for air-to-ground exercises. All of the live fire training areas offer several ranges for training and firing all weaponry currently used by the EDF.


Nearly all of the training areas are designed and secured keeping also in mind the opportunity to host live fire while tactical maneuvers. Depending on the size of the area, the unit size may vary from a section to a battalion.

Q: Can you give me an overview of how the estonia services (army, navy, air Force) view the use of simulators for training? What types of simulators are most common in estonia?

Murulaid: There are Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) and VBS2 simulators in use. Units also use Saab laser simulation.

The Estonian National Defence College Simulation Centre (ENDC) was established in April 2006.

The Simulation Centre’s main tasks are to ensure the defense of computer exercises and treatment of a wide range of defense-related agencies and the training in order to support the ENDC. No simulation compensates fully the actual experience, but it still allows for a more efficient, faster and safer training. The ENDC has continued the development of a variety of tasks in order to develop and test new simulations.

There are two simulation systems–con-structive and virtual–JCATS and VBS2.

The JCATS, helps to teach battle manage-ment and staff procedures.

Simulations allow computer-interactive simulations IOT support tactical and operational level commanders and staffs with training and developing the defense modeling and simula-tion capability.

JCATS is designed primarily for training brigade and battalion level staffs which simulate the operation according to real-time information.

The main objectives are as follows:

• Support unit commanders and staff training.• Enhance the ability of units to cooperate with other allies.• Raise staffs’ operational planning capabilities and analytical

efficiency.• Support pre-mission training for peacekeeping operations and

enhance international cooperation.

The VBS2 (Virtual Battle Space Two) is from Bohemia Interactive Australia, which created an interactive 3D simulation.

VBS2 has been used since 2009 and is the center of intelligence and supported through VBS2 Military Police and fire control exercises, as well as being used for asymmetric warfare course planning exer-cises, tactical decision games and so on. Using VBS2 has been used for training of specialists’ teams, sections and groups for training planning and decision-making exercises.

Q: describe your officer progression. how do you go about developing competent operational skills in young officers and

then transition them to broader understandings of strategic vision of becoming a mid-level or senior officer?

Murulaid: The Estonian National Defence College is an institution of vocational training, based on secondary education, for applied higher education and military research related to national defense.

The ENDC’s mission is to train and educate senior non-commis-sioned officers, as well as junior and senior officers for the Estonian Defence Forces, Defence League and other military institutions. The ENDC has established a national reputation in Estonia for expertise in military research and development.

Lieutenant Colonel Vahur Murulaid was conscripted into the Soviet Army in 1987. After the the establishment of the Estonian Defence Forces, he has serviced in various command positions beginning at the platoon, company and battalion level.

In 1998, he was in the advanced officer training course at the Estonian National Defence College. From there he served as a battalion chief of staff and at the brigade level as the J3, chief of operations.

He returned to the Estonian National Defence College in 2006 as a lecturer, becoming deputy commandant in 2007 and comman-dant in 2010.

Between 2010 and 20145 he was the commander of Estonia’s Southern Defence District.

In 2014 he moved to the headquarters staff as the head of the J7 Department.

His major awards and decorations include: The Cross of the Eagle, 5th Class Order; Cross of Merit of Estonian Defence Forces; Badge of Merit of Estonian Defence Forces; Service Medal of Esto-nian Defence League; Estonian Defence Forces Medal for participa-tion in international operations; “10 years of Restored Estonian Defence Forces” Memorial Medal; Estonian National Defence Col-lege Service Badge; Scouts Battalion Service Badge; and the Kalev Single Infantry Battalion Service Badge

...it still allows for

a more efficient,

faster and safer training.


A challenging academic program by the ENDC provides a balanced education in military and civilian subjects designed to provide a solid military foundation for officer-training, meeting the intellectual and mental requirements neces-sary for service as a military leader in the Army.

The academic staff of the ENDC are sup-ported by members of the academic community from leading universities throughout Estonia.

Q: tell me about estonia’s role in the nato Cooperative Cyber defence Centre of excel-lence?

Murulaid: Estonia proposed the concept for a cyber defense center to NATO in 2004, right after joining the alliance. In 2006 the concept is approved by Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and in 2007 negotiations held between potential sponsoring nations.

NATO Centers of Excellence (COEs) are na-tionally or multi-nationally funded institutions that train and educate leaders and specialists from NATO member and partner countries, as-sist in doctrine development, identify lessons learned, improve interoperability, and capabili-ties and test and validate concepts through experimentation. They offer recognized expertise and experience that is of benefit to the alliance and support the transformation of NATO, while avoiding the duplication of assets, resources and capabilities already present within the NATO command structure.

Q: how do you approach the responsibilities of your training missions overseas, for example in Mali and afghanistan?

Murulaid: All EDF soldiers receive a mandatory pre-deployment train-ing prior to deployment. This training is designed to complement the induction training provided by the mission. The aim of the pre-deploy-ment training is to provide all EDF soldiers the personal security and survival skills needed in a theatre of operations.

After re-deployment and mission feedback lessons learned events are arranged for all EDF soldiers in order to share the experiences, as well as to assist EDF in developing its future field support and training.

Q: tell me about the training cooperation and links with your nearest neighbors. Let’s start with Latvia, Finland and russia.

Murulaid: From historic side there has been very valuable partner-ship with the Nordic countries who supported the Baltic states with education and training opportunities to get the re-established nations on their feet. Several Estonian military officers have partially acquired their education in Finland, Sweden and Denmark. As for today, there is no need for such particular support and the cooperation has changed.

There is 3B framework to enhance Baltic states cooperation. Com-mon efforts in education and training are part of that.

Additionally, we have access to Nordic countries framework—NOR-DEFCO. Through the cooperation frameworks (both 3B and NORDEFCO)

nations share the training plans and offer courses and exercises. Through contributions to commonly established forces (BALTBAT, EU NBG) nations participate in common exercises which ensure interoper-ability among forces from each nation.

The Baltic Defence College, founded in 1999 and located in Tartu, is a joint Baltic military staff college of tertiary education, which trains senior staff officers. To date, the Baltic Defence College has become a unique institution throughout NATO because it provides internation-ally recognized military education in English outside English-speaking countries. In addition to the Baltic countries, many countries—the United States, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Great Britain and Denmark—have sent academics and students to the col-lege. In addition, the college offers courses for senior staff officers, senior management courses and courses for civil servants.

With Russia we have only political relations.

Q: how do you go about training for likely scenarios while at the same time assuring those regional neighbors of your intent and not raising tensions?

Murulaid: In all exercises the scenarios are run in a fictitious environ-ment.

Q: do you use mainly military trainers or do you ever contract with outside (industry sources) to help provide specific training skills?

Murulaid: The EDF use mainly our own personnel to train our troops.

After re-deployment and mission feedback lessons learned events are arranged for all EDF soldiers in order to share the experiences, as well as to assist EDF in developing its future

field support and training.


the virtues of actual live exercise and training versus hybrid training combining live and virtual aspects.

by peter buxbauM MtI Correspondent

Technology has advanced in recent years to add simulated entities into the training undergone by warfighters in a wide variety of areas. The area of live fire training has lagged behind in that respect but is making strides forward.

While virtual training has taken its rightful place in many areas of military training, for a variety of reasons, including cost cutting and throughput considerations, live training has not and cannot be completely displaced. This is especially true in the case of marksmanship training, and yet, studies have shown that traditional live fire training on a range, the way it is usually practiced today, hardly prepares

warfighters for what they will face during firefights.

The irony of the situation is that the only time soldiers practice live fire training on real-istic moving targets is during firefights, hardly the best environment for on-the-job training given the life-or-death implications.

But technology is being developed to close those gaps. Smart moving robotic targets have been developed to provide warfighters more realistic training on confronting a mobile enemy in conflict. Simulated entities are also being introduced into live training through the optical devices that all warfighters use. The net effect is to supplement the live range with simulated

effects which create an even more realistic environment for warfighters being trained for combat.

“Although there have been significant advances in modeling and simulation, live fire training remains essentially unchanged since the Vietnam era,” said Ralph Petroff, president for North America at Marathon Targets, a company based in Sydney, Australia. “Current elements of live fire training are fundamentally unrealistic.”

Ninety-nine percent of all live fire training is on stationary targets, not real-world moving targets, Petroff noted. “Marksmanship badges and awards are based almost exclusively on


the ability to hit a static target,” he said. “Most shooters never shoot at a moving target of any kind. There is little actual decision-making taught during live fire. Soldiers are taught to ‘fire on my command’ and ’stay in your lane.’ There is no group fire control in live fire training. The root cause of these problems is absence of realistic moving targets during life fire training.” And, Petroff added, studies have noted that expert range marksmen often fail when first confronted with moving targets.

Injecting simulated entities into live exercises can actually enhance the realism of the training, noted Ofer Segal, senior director for land forces training systems at Elbit Systems, an Israeli com-pany. “In an old-fashioned two-sided exercise,” he said, “if, for example, in Israel, I put an enemy in the exercise I could only put an Israeli Merkava tank in front of them. But, virtually, I can put any type of platform that my enemy really has. That makes the exercise more authentic and it also saves resources because you don’t need to double the number of trainers to create a two-sided exercise.

“There are various capabilities at Cubic that support realistic training for the U.S. Army and

allied partners, including our Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) and Mobile Instrumentation Systems, which is used for recording and playback of AAR for live force-on-force training exercises, as well as various live fire training support through our live fire ranges and marksmanship training,” explained Brandy Castle, account executive of Army and Marine Corps training, Cubic Global Defense.

Cubic provides live firing training capabil-ity with their suite of engagement skills trainer systems for marksmanship to elite military and civilian security forces around the world. “Our shooting simulators teach basic marksmanship of how to shoot and to when to shoot for the most precision firing experts in the world,” said Castle.

Cubic offers an integrated approach to lever-age all training domains and blend them into an integrated training environment. “We are increas-ing training realism for live training by addition of the following technologies: non-line of sight weapons—adding weapons to the battlefield; and integration of augmented reality,” Castle continued.

For example, MILES adds realism to training by reinforcing the requirement for individuals and

units to adhere to operational doctrine. It accurately replicates both the actual firing capabilities and effects of weapons during training, detects hits from laser “bullets,” and performs damage and/or casualty assessments on targets. Our MILES are reduced in size, weight and power; have an open architecture—ability to add new features and simula-tions seamlessly; interoperable across the family of live training systems in U.S. and their ally and partner nations; and are open standards that align with the U.S. Army vision for Live Training Transformation and non-proprie-tary systems—which both result in lower lifecycle costs,” said Castle.

Cubic continues to support their customers throughout the European region as they in-crease their training tempo and participate in multinational train-ing events with USAREUR. Castle also noted that Cubic believes that there is a strong opportu-nity pipeline in the Middle East for live-fire training.

There are two factors that militate in favor of introducing

simulated elements into live fire training, ac-cording to Larry Raines, vice president for Virtual Systems at Meggitt Training Systems. “There are some inherent risks in live training that virtual training can mitigate,” he said. “Simulations introduced into live environments means putting fewer people at risk from the dangers associated with live fire training.”

Then, there is the question of costs. “It’s very expensive to use some equipment such as aircraft as part of live training,” said Raines. “Trainees can experience the simulated effects of an air strike virtually without incurring the expense of operating aircraft or crews. They can be trained to call in mortar or artillery strikes without going to the expense of firing mortars or shells.”

These same considerations open the poten-tial to do more live training at a unit’s home base. “That way they don’t have to fly a battalion to some remote location for training,” said Raines. “This also presents an opportunity for more frequent and recurring training and to do it safely and cost effectively.”

In a live training environment, Raines added, troops and vehicles on the ground can be supplemented with simulated entities. “The virtual training system can be used to exercise command and control and to train on tasks such as calling for indirect fire,” he said. “This allows training to combine simulated elements in a live environment so that warfighters can use their range finders and binoculars to view simulated objects within the world of live entities and events that is taking place in front of them. Then they can use the simulated system to call for fire. The simulated environment can show the effect of aircraft, mortars and artillery without all those live assets being used in the environment.”

Elbit Systems recently introduced an augmented reality system that can eject virtual entities into the optical sight of any military equipment. “This virtual entity can be an enemy or a friendly,” said Segal. “If the soldier shoots and hits he see the effects. If he misses he also sees those effects. The system works on a moving platform in a real area against a virtual enemy inside the optical sight in real time.”

The augmented reality system represents a merger of several technologies, including visual-ization technologies, sensors, lasers, communica-tions data links, and positioning systems. “Be-cause it is augmented reality, it needs to be able to place entities on the ground where and how they belong,” said Segal. “This requires sophis-ticated and intensive real-time terrain analysis. The system also requires communications to link the virtual environment to the soldier’s systems in the field.”

Italian Carabinieri trainers watch an Iraqi policeman as he fires at a target during advanced marksmanship training at Camp Dublin, Iraq. The training prepares the policemen to secure and stabilize Iraqi towns after other Iraqi Security Forces retake them from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. William Reinier)


Sensors are placed on soldiers and platforms in order to simulate the effects of fire on the trainees. Lasers are integrated into the real weapons the soldiers use in the exercises in order to simulate fire on the range. “The laser simulates the characteristics of the real ammu-nition fired by the real weapons including range and stopping power,” said Segal.

Positioning technology communicates with the back end of the augmented real-ity system in order to inform trainers the exact location of all participants at all times in real time and in order to gather data for debriefings after the exercise.

“Not all these technologies are new,” said Segal. “A few com-panies have similar systems but we are the only ones doing laser-based training systems. In the end it provides full reality-based training with moving platforms against moving virtual targets with no latencies and no gaps.”

The Elbit augmented reality systems has been patented in most of the world, including the United States. “We have seen a lot of interest in the system around the world,” said Segal. “We believe it will be incorpo-rated into military training in the next three to five years.” The Polish armed forces recently chose Elbit to supply a laser engagement system for the training of their special forces.

Meggitt provides its training customers with several products that allow for the integration of live and simulated training environments. “We provide the tools such as laser rangefinders, target designators, and optical scopes for weap-ons that allow trainees to see the virtual world as they look through that device,” said Raines. “Behind the scenes we provide the systems that takes the information provided by the forward observer and allow trainees to call for fire in the real world while the virtual system replicates the effects of what they are calling for in terms of the size and the kind of round. The system then allows the trainees to learn whether they made the right corrections in the fire environment and whether assets were properly used in a joint training environment.”

Technologies that have advanced device miniaturization and that allow systems com-ponents to communicate with each other wirelessly in a robust fashion have contributed to the blending of reality and simulation that Meggitt systems provide. Miniaturization comes into play with micro-displays that are embedded in the optical devices warfighters use to view simu-lated, high-fidelity entities. The optical devices Meggitt provides, some of which are purpose-built for training, retain the form, fit and function that warfighters would use in actual operational situations.

“The devices truly replicate targets at an appropriate range so that they can be identified and recognized,” said Raines. “We try to embed the simulated systems in the actual devices, such as night vision goggles that warfighters use in the field.”

The robust wireless tech-nologies that have been devel-oped minimize the use of cables and allow training to take place in remote areas where a wired infrastructure is likely minimal or nonexistent.

Meggitt systems have been selected as the small arms train-ing provider for the United States Army and Marine Corps. The company also does business in

the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.Marathon’s robotic targets come to correct

the phenomenon that even elite target range shooters have difficulty engaging realistic moving targets, at least at first. “Shooters are over-con-fident in their ability to engage moving targets, based upon their proficiency at hitting static targets,” said Petroff.

This results in what U.S. Army Maneuver Cen-ter of Excellence (MCoE) personnel have dubbed “the meltdown,” when elite shooters engage moving targets and realize they are not as good as they thought. “When shooters encounter robots engaging in unexpected behaviors, they typically freeze,” said Petroff. “They are too pre-conditioned to stay in their lane and ‘fire on my command.’ Group fire control effectiveness is poor, at first, but quickly improves with practice.”

Marathon’s robots have been demonstrated at a number of military marksmanship events,

including the International Sniper Competition in October 2015, and the FORSCOM Marksmanship Competition in September 2015. “The robots have received uniformly excellent reviews from shoot-ers, subject-matter experts, and leadership,” said Petroff, “with an emerging consensus that robots should be integrated into live fire training thought out the Army, and as quickly as possible.”

Robots can help impact squad overmatch, the phenomenon whereby warfighters feel they were unprepared for the stressors associ-ated with encounters with the enemy. “If the marksmanship lethality increases by 100 to 500 percent,” Petroff said, “this favorably impacts the squad overmatch equation.”

Marathon’s robots are autonomous, which means that they do not require a squad of per-sonnel manipulating joysticks to control a squad of robots. “The robots are programmed,” said Petroff. “Each is given a series of instructions in concert with other robots. When attacking, they can break themselves into three robot fire teams, each using cover and concealment, and with no robot exposing itself for more than two and a half seconds. When the robots advance, each knows where the other robots are and can execute a very well-planned attack on a position.”

The robots react realistically in the sense that one lethal shot or four body shots will take them down. Relatively minor wounds will slow them down without taking them out of the fight. They can be made to react in a variety of ways depend-ing on how the scenario develops and the exercise can be changed on the fly by the instructor.

“The brain of the robot is an electronic box that contains all the software required to coordi-nate the robotic actions,” said Petroff. “The robots use Lidar,” a continuous laser scanning system, “that takes an accurate mapping of the area so the robot knows where every wall, obstruction, and street crossing is. A collision avoidance system allows the robots to swerve around obstacles after going at top speed.”

The robots don’t carry weapons and don’t fire at trainees, but, said Petroff, “When they see robots charging at them at full speed screaming and yelling it is quite an imposing sight.”

The warfighters on the other hand, are shooting live ammunition at the robots, and the robots can survive that onslaught to exercise another day. The robots are made of self-healing plastic and bullets pass right through them. The robot bodies can take thousands of rounds and their metallic base is heavily armored and can handle machine gun fire.

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps currently have a couple of dozen robots in use. “We have seen very high interest in the mobile robotic targets with all of the shooters,” said Petroff.

Brandy Castle

Larry Raines

Ralph Petroff


Whereas those in the armed forces once obtained train-

ing by attending sessions and reading manuals, today training delivered via apps

and smart devices has become the norm. There are several reasons for the trend. First, the DoD is challenged

by reduced federal funding and a reduced number of armed forces personnel. Second, by using this technology, armed forces personnel can obtain their training anytime, anywhere and at their own pace. They can also have the latest, up-to-date training immediately at their disposal thanks to technological enhancements that allow them to have high-speed connected tablets and mobile phones with them at all times.

Consequently, the government is investing heavily in mobile training platforms and applications. To date, the U.S. Navy Sea Warrior Program (PMW 240) have produced four apps for Android and iOS/Apple devices: the Navy Credentialing Opportunities Online (COOL) that helps enlisted and officers find information on credentialing, career development and civilian crosswalks related to their military occupation; the Final Multiple Score Calculator that allows sailors to calculate their final multiple score (FMS); Operations Security General Military Training (GMT) that helps sail-ors complete required GMT on Operations Security (OPSEC); and Domestic Violence GMT for required GMT on domestic violence awareness. Tracen Technologies was the software developer in the series of PMW 240 apps.

“We are in the process of producing a few more apps that we expect to be out in the coming months, both for our GMT, as well as a few apps for our new accession sailors,” reported Lieutenant Commander Kather-ine Meadows. “We want to provide access to training and resources for our sailors anytime, anywhere.”

To produce the apps, the Navy developed all require-ments for the application and was involved throughout the applications development. Tracen Technologies de-veloped a proof of concept application that became very successful. The process was not without its challenges, however.

“The hardest challenge is the legal ramifications of the government hosting bring your own device applica-tions within public app stores,” revealed Jason Davidson, Tracen executive vice president. “The issue being that in order for the government to host the applications under a government owned developer account. They have to agree with all of the terms of the app developer agree-ments.”

This requires extensive legal reviews and approvals from people authorized to legally bind the government. “The importance of the gov-ernment establishing their own app store account is that it provides a safe location where government personnel can easy distinguish official government applications from none government sponsored applications,” Davidson added.

Tracen is now involved in developing PII and Records Management General Military Training courses.

Corporate InvoLveMent and progress

A host of other companies are involved in working with the govern-ment to develop military training apps. D2 Team-Sim (D2) is one of them. D2 has developed apps for the air defense artillery community at Fort Sill and other commands to provide such capabilities ranging from officer recruitment to tactical training through game-based simulation.

“Each app is unique in design and functionality,” said Ben Tirabassi, D2 Team senior program manager.

D2 also has developed diversified distributed learning and apps to support medical training (Army National Guard), emergency operation cen-ters (Center for Disease Control), combat training (Training Brain Opera-tions Center, Fires Center of Excellence, Maneuver Center of Excellence), language and cultural training (Defense Language Institute), Army career training (Sergeant Major Academy), and others. D2 has been developing distributed learning content, embedded with varying levels of interactive multimedia instruction, for nearly 10 years.

D2 has been working with the U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) in the development of the Enterprise Content De-

velopment Capability (ECDC), powered by the Distributed Instruction Framework, a web-based and secure DL training content development tool. The success of ECDC in the Army has migrated to support by other DoD agencies including the Navy, Homeland Security and the Veterans Affairs

“Through the use of ECDC, D2 can collaborate elec-tronically with the customer from storyboard, to design, to implementation, to final delivery,” Tirabassi said. This saves significant amounts of time and money.

“By allowing training and app proponent developers to use, and re-use, 3D assets, simulation and gaming, video, audio and other multi-media assets, through a simple to use, drag-and-drop interface into a what-you-see-is-what-Ben Tirabassi

expanding the options for training to the individual level.by Karen e. thuerMerMtI Correspondent

MIlItary MobIletraInIng apps


you-get representation of their final training, ECDC-developed content allows for rapid development, maintenance, sustainment and deployment of content to meet the immediate training needs of the soldier,” he said.

Additionally, an initiative coined as disconnected use is gaining momentum at the joint level of the government that addresses the need to access training, via apps, when the training platform/device is not con-nected to the Internet. An example is a Navy submarine or an Army patrol in a remote area with no connectivity. “D2 is working with the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) CoLab on defining how developed apps can work in this mobile space while disconnected, then once a connection is reestablished, communicate with a centralized server to upload results and/or download new data or features,” Tirabassi revealed.

To help combat security and access concerns of both the apps (Army authentic) training content and the physical device itself, D2 has been working with the Army’s lead training development command, TRADOC Capability Manager–The Army Distributed Learning Program (TCM-TADLP), as well as TCM-Mobile (TCM-M). TCM-M has created the TRADOC Applica-tion Gateway (TAG) which can host unclassified and non-FOUO apps and interactive digital publications. “They are instructional design specialists and developers that vet apps for any of these potential risks then once validated, wrap them in an Army logo frame thumbnail and post it to the site for access by the training community,” Tirabassi said.

Besides security and access issues, Tirabassi pointed out that apps have challenges with target devices, operating systems, screen size/resolution and other access and playability parameters. D2’s design and software development teams work closely with their instructional de-signers, and use the latest in graphic design and simulation technology, to ensure that these challenges are met and that the customer has the training and tools necessary.

IMI soLutIon

Riptide Software is involved in live, virtual and constructive train-ing in support of the warfighter in multiple DoD programs. Its Riptide Elements software specifically provides a modern interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) solution that combines traditional features of a learning management system/learning content management system that can be used a-la-carte for computer web and mobile communities.

The company is currently providing Riptide Elements IMI solutions for multiple programs: the Combined Arms Command & Control Trainer Upgrade System (CACCTUS) program U.S. Marines, an in-line training over-lay that allows users to learn how to use software by guiding the user through workflows in the software then tracking the users as they prove competency; three independently unique U.S. Army programs: Captivat-ing Virtual Instruction for Training (CVIT) Advanced Situational Awareness Training, CVIT Supervisor Development Course Refresher, and CVIT Intel-ligence Architecture Online Course; and Reaper in which Riptide was able to get historical training data from a proprietary live fire training range at Fort Benning, create data visualization in the form of bullet maps and heatmaps, provide feedback to the individual users, enable the solution to report results to DTMS, mine the performance data as it was coming in to identify problems with fundamentals, and more.

“We are expecting to begin Reaper II work with the Army Research Lab (ARL) this year and add to the proof of principle,” said Nick Washburn, director, Riptide Learning Division.

Washburn added that Riptide’s in-line software training is currently being considered for multiple military projects.

“Our work with Experience API (xAPI) and the Learning Record Store is a vital part of what we do,” Washburn commented. “Capturing better

training analytics will allow for competency based training, auto tutor-ing, and adaptive training. XAPI allows for the data to be interoperable between systems—which is key, rather than keep it all proprietary within each training system.”

One of the biggest challenges Washburn saw is the fact technol-ogy is moving so fast. “The military is determined to keep up, and we do not have requirements for some of what is needed to do that,” he said. “Some of the baselines are going out of date almost as they are estab-lished. Once a client decides to use a modern solution, they want it now. Working in brand new technology is not always neat and clean, so each project tends to have a set of unique unknowns.”

Washburn pointed out that Riptide strives to be device agnostic to allow the military to have the most flexibility in their choice of platforms. “By developing a modernized solution that is not beholden to legacy tech-nology but is flexible to work with legacy in a non-disruptive way, we are bringing value now and overcoming obstacles now, but also helping to future proof and future enable, especially with learning experience data collection,” he said.

3d For vMt

DiSTI’s expertise is in developing interactive 3D environments of complex mechanical systems for use in virtual maintenance training (VMT) applications. This includes simple remove and replace type lessons on sub-system devices like a reciprocating engine or transmission to troubleshooting lessons on complex platform-level devices like fighter jets and transport aircraft.

“Years ago these training applications were developed for desktop use only, but as the graphical capabilities of the mobile platforms have expanded over the years these training applications have started migrat-ing to them,” said Scott Ariotti, DiSTI director of global marketing.

DiSTI has developed these virtual environments for use in U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force training applications. “We also transformed a previ-ously delivered desktop training application; the diesel engine mainte-nance trainer built for the U.S. Army Transportation School, into its own stand-alone iPad app and made it commercially available under the brand Virtual Engine Shop,” Ariotti outlined.

In developing apps for military training, Ariotti maintained that, first, there has to be easy access to the training materials allowing the students to open, select a lesson and train. “Second, the material has to be engaging, enticing the student to run the app because they want to, not because they have to,” he said. “With frequent easy access to train-ing materials these apps have the potential to minimize skill decay and increase job proficiency.”

Ariotti pointed out that unlike a traditional 3D virtual environment where detail is spread out over a large gaming area (like a flight simula-tor), the virtual environments for maintenance trainers tend to be graphi-cally intense 3D environments packed into a single mechanical unit. “As a result, a VMT application often levies hefty requirements on the type of computer capable of delivering the immersive interactive 3D experience,” he said. “This requires the app developer to consider a variety of trade-offs in their design. Some of the factors include resource management, data connectivity, and information assurance.”

MobILe perForManCe MeasureMent tooL

Aptima has created a mobile performance measurement tool called Spotlite. This application is used by instructors and observer controllers to measure and assess teams and individuals performing mission-essential


functions during live and simulated training events, such as close air sup-port, reconnaissance, air-to-air engagements and indirect fires.

Spotlite has been applied to dozens of domains across the DoD across every service branch. “Its use is most prevalent in the U.S. Army and Air Force,” said Courtney Dean, senior scientist and Spotlite product lead for Aptima.

Dean describeed Aptima’s performance measurement apps as offering mobility, flexibility, high quality measurement and feedback, and workload reduction. “The benefit of mobile applications is that they can live on devices as small as a smartphone and fit into a pocket,” she said. “Users can easily access Spotlite to rate performance when and where it’s observed, or store the device momentarily to intervene in training when needed.”

The company develops high quality, observable measures of team and individual performance tied to tangible trainee behaviors. These measures are descriptive and facilitate meaningful, informative feedback.

“By capturing performance measure data in digital form, instructors and trainers can eliminate the duplicative steps of transcribing written notes and checklists into spreadsheets and databases,” Dean said. Spotlite can output results into a .csv file, or export them wirelessly, eliminating administrative tasks after training has concluded.

“Moreover, Spotlite takes advantage of the interface features of today’s smartphones and tablets, providing quick navigation buttons that enable instructors to quickly rate and shift to different measures and keep up with the pace of training,” she added.

The military plays a substantial role in the development of each iteration of Spotlite. “We work directly with the end-users and service members with domain expertise to develop appropriate performance measures and to identify physical, environmental, procedural, or operational con-straints,” Dean said. “We work with those same individuals during the design and testing of prototypes to ensure that the final product is both useful and usable.”

According to Dean, the main challenges to developing such apps are usability and utility.

“We developed a tool that must be able to measure soldiers, airmen seamen and Marines performing duties in a wide range of domains,” she said. “Training occurs inside, outside, and within physically confined spaces such as armored vehicles and aircraft cockpits. Spotlite must be easy to use and work in each of these environments. We strive to develop custom user interfaces for every domain to ensure that Spotlite will work for the user when and where they need it.”

the next bIg thIng

While not an app, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are deemed to be set to become the next big computing platform computing platform after PCs and smart phones. Video games and entertainment are the first hot consumer markets, but military VR applications are expected to top $1.4 billion in sales with 700,000 active users by 2025, according to a new VR forecast by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

Military planners recognize that virtual environments can help cut costs and increase safety for soldier training. Current AR/VR applications for defense already include flight simulations, battlefield simulations, and medic training.

“Military leaders and defense contractors can use VR and AR applications to simulate complex situations in an immersive, 360-degree setting,” explained Doug Magyari, CEO of VR/AR headset maker IMMY Inc. “By combining sophis-ticated optics with powerful new software and high-resolution graphics, VR/AR technologies present a much more emotionally engaging environment than standard handheld apps.”

Magyari points out that a big benefit to these virtual environments is they can be adjusted and changed almost immediately as the training advances to different levels or situations, providing a robust training experi-ence not achievable on handheld devices. “This diverse training can be

accomplished with substantial cost savings over traditional methods of training. Some developers are already working on VR/AR apps that run on smartphone operating systems, so we should see a fairly rapid conversion or adoption toward these new platforms,” he said.

Magyari helped pioneer Boeing’s 3D VR Immersive Training Program in the early 2000s. Since then, Magyari has worked with retired Army Brigadier General Stephen Seay to develop next-generation head-mounted displays (HMDs) for military and civilian uses. From 2000 to 2005, Seay headed the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO-STRI), where he oversaw purchasing HMDs for the military. Seay has 20+ years of working with HMDs for military and civilian life,

including a stint as commander of the Joint Contracting Command in Iraq in 2004-2005.

Magyari pointed out that VR technologies differ greatly from handheld apps because the VR experience is completely immersive. “By wearing a full occlusion headset that covers up the eyes and ears, the user feels completely surrounded in a realistic virtual environment, rather than looking down at the screen of a two-dimensional handheld device,” he said. “This increased level of mental stimulation actually activates more neurons in the brain, resulting in learning at a higher rate.”

With AR devices, soldiers can maintain their eyes on the subject, in their line of sight. This affords enormous benefits that handheld devices cannot offer, including a huge personal safety factor. “In this way, we can realistically prepare soldiers for any imaginable battle scenario. VR also is a powerful platform for military trainings in non-combat situations such as for intelligence-gathering or search-and-rescue missions,” Magyari added.

VR has been effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorder by giv-ing war veterans a chance to safely experience actual field-like situations.

AR presents a different kind of benefit by allowing users to view the real world around them while visualizing diagrams and other useful data on the lenses of their headsets. “In this way, we can efficiently train soldiers to perform first aid, vehicle maintenance, weapons management and any number of other important military tasks,” he said.

Doug Magyari

NETC’s newest app, NavyCOOL, provides Sailors with a set of credentialing and career tools to help make professional development decisions throughout their Navy career and beyond. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign James A. Griffin)


The Army Modeling and Simulations Of-fice (AMSO) completed its inaugural Modeling and Simulation (M&S) Forum February 2016, at Fort Belvoir, Va. AMSO, the executing of-fice of the Deputy Chief of Staff G8 as the Army M&S Proponent, used the M&S Forum to conduct a detailed analysis of previously identified M&S issues or “gaps” with the six communities that represent the Army M&S Enterprise. The six communities included acquisition, analysis, experimentation, intel-ligence, test and evaluation, and training. All communities where overwhelmingly repre-sented at the forum for the sole purpose of solving enterprise-level M&S gaps that sup-port their processes, activities, and events.

The impetus for the M&S Forum began in 2015. AMSO and the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G3/5/7, as directed by the VCSA, jointly conducted an M&S Capability Portfolio Review (CPR) to provide visibility of Army modeling and simulation as a unique port-folio. The CPR identified an initial baseline of nearly 400 Army M&S tools in active use across the Army, including 48 joint defense tools and 22 commercial-off-the-shelf products. The significant outcome of the CPR was the identification of common gaps across the Enterprise. This outcome led to the establishment of the annual M&S Forum which allowed the communities to collabora-tively focus on near-term investments and cross-community solutions to M&S gaps. The

timing of the forum also allows communities to work together as they build their budget plans for the next fiscal year, thus enabling a crowd-sourced resource model to solve common problems.

The FY16 M&S gap areas are: cyber/electronic warfare, fires, network modeling, CBRN, intelligence/sensors, terrain, resourc-ing and workforce. Working groups, co-led by M&S community representatives with AMSO, conducted rigorous analysis of each gap as well as developed near/long-term actionable courses of action to mitigate each gap.

Some work groups identified and devel-oped “low hanging fruit” solutions to address specific gaps. For example, the Fires working group identified a specific coalition integra-tion issue that extended beyond Army M&S. This Fires gap articulated the need for a live, virtual, and constructive integrated archi-tecture linking classrooms, laboratories, and ranges within a common network with com-mon scenarios for coalition events. The Fires working group, which included a representa-tive from the Office of the Under Secretary For Defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OSD (AT&L)), identified Fires coali-tion integration efforts and projects already underway within AT&L. The Army M&S Forum provided the perfect opportunity for Army and AT&L representatives to meet and ulti-mately collaborate to solve a common M&S gap area.

Another example comes from the Net-work Modeling working group. This working group articulated the need for network mod-els to both remain current as well as rapidly evolve with Army and DoD technologies to meet emerging capabilities. This work group initially pinpointed two specific network models for continued development and sustainment. Additionally the working group began developing a program plan for both additional model updates and new develop-ment for FY17 and beyond. In the end, each working group developed different courses of action to solve the M&S gaps ranging from material technological solutions, updates in Army policy, updates to programs of instruc-tion for the M&S workforce, or even simple cross community information sharing leading to commitments for collaboration. All M&S gap courses of action will be briefed to the VCSA this summer.

AMSO will continue to host the Army M&S Forum annually. The Army M&S Forum is integral to the enterprise approach of capitalizing on current policy, governance, and the CPR results. This venue provides the intellectual capital of the M&S communities to collaboratively focus on enterprise-level M&S solutions.

Colonel Joseph M. Nolan is the deputy di-rector of the Army Modeling and Simulation Office.

an in-depth look at army modeling and

simulation gaps.

by CoLoneL Joseph M. noLan


Just as it has reshaped the way that training is delivered to warfighters and small units operating in the field, virtual technology is changing how their commanders and headquarters staffs learn to improve their decision-making and ability to direct forces over large areas.

Simulated and immersive environments are usually thought of as providing instruction in tactical actions and the practical tasks of military operations. But they also are proving to be useful at higher levels not only in learning how to operate the many command and control and communications systems used by the military, but also

in developing the judgment and confidence needed to act success-fully under conditions of intense stress and barrages of frequently contradictory information.

“The drive over the last several years is for more realistic and more relevant training environments for command and staff training. To accomplish this, the Army is trying to blend live, virtual, construc-tive and gaming (LVC-G) technologies, which allow it to integrate battalion and below training audiences into larger scale exercises. The LVC-G based exercises enable the lower echelons to provide more realistic and relevant feedback to their higher headquarters, therefore

Virtual Worldsblending training technologies into seamless environments

equals better realism and relevancy.by harrIson donneLLy

MtI Correspondent


improving the overall training experience,” explained Ralph Briggs, se-nior manager of business development for Lockheed Martin Training and Logistics Solutions.

As the technology continues to improve, use of virtual simulations to support command and control is expected to increase. The key for success, Briggs added, is that “the simulation stimulates either op-erational or emulated mission command components, which ensures that the commander and staff have to conduct planning and execu-tion exactly as they would in an operational environment.”

Indeed, immersion may be as important for training commanders as for field personnel, even though the former may occur in the same command post they would use in actual operations, rather than a specially created environment or computer program. Moreover, sys-tems that duplicate visual, communications and sensory conditions can add to the realism and effectiveness of the simulation.

“The ability to suspend belief of the training environment has always been the largest obstacle of any training exercise,” observed Brian Overy, sales manager for Diamond Visionics. “It has taken great advances in the technology to overcome each hurdle that was pre-sented in its way. Many have looked at immersion as less important for the command and control training, and I think that is why it has had to overcome different hurdles than traditional military simulation. True immersion will always be an important factor in ensuring that the decisions being made in a training environment are truly predic-tive of the real situation.”

“In the area of command training, one aspect of our role is in the area of familiarization of operations, and making them as realistic

as possible, so that everyone in the command chain can understand the effects of different decisions in an operation,” said Sebastien Loze, senior product marketing director, industrial market for D-Box. “One way to integrate the higher levels as part of decision making is to provide them with the right cues and information about the operation. In training people to make decisions, there is a need to get a maximum level of cues as to what would happen in the field as a result of your decision. You need to

virtualize all the communications and other feedback.”One of the major programs in command training is the Army’s

Joint Land Component Constructive Training Capability (JLCCTC), which enables unit leaders and their staff to hone their skills in an opera-tionally relevant constructive simulation environment.

JLCCTC incorporates seven different systems providing capabili-ties in areas such as stimulation of mission command systems, intelligence, UAV visualization and after-action review. Together, they create a simulated operational environment in which computer-gen-erated forces respond to commands. By linking to existing mission command systems, the system enables trainees to practice on the same equipment they would use in real-world missions.

Lockheed Martin is the major industry partner for the program, supporting 50 large-scale training exercises since 2009 at the the-ater, corps, division and brigade levels.

“Our role is to provide an operationally relevant simulated environ-ment that commanders and staffs can use to hone decision-making skills in a variety of complex scenarios. We also developed the original

Warfighters’ Simulation (WARSIM) technology, which is one of the seven systems integrated into JLCCTC,” said Briggs.

A key element in Lockheed’s capability in this area is its Enhanced Perception and Integrated Control (EPIC) product, which facilitates the critical need for long-distance training by enabling it to be cloud based and web enabled. “Using EPIC, our simulation environment is scalable, from tablets all the way to large-scale digital sandtables measuring 100 square feet or more,” Briggs explained. “By being web-based, EPIC supports networking across sites, reducing travel obliga-tions and costs and allowing for more collaboration with allied forces.

“This technology also maintains existing network security; EPIC essentially operates right on top of an existing protected network, and can be used to flow security patches to all nodes on the network in a matter of minutes,” he added.

The command trainers have the ability to network with live as-sets, for example a tank commander on a training range, and virtual assets, such as a gunner in an advanced gunnery training system, while also serving as the constructive simulation backbone enabling integrated exercises.

stretChIng the boundarIes oF traInIng

A wide-area system used by the U.S. Army’s chief training facility in Europe is helping commanders, as well as other per-sonnel at all levels, train together in a common virtual operating environment even though separated by hundreds or thousands of miles.

The system last summer enabled the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Hohenfels, Germany, to oversee exercise Swift Response 15, the largest combined airborne training conducted on the European continent since the end of the Cold War.

Developed by Raytheon, the JMRC-Instrumentation System consists of both a fixed and mobile suite of sensors, cameras, training instrumentation, communications and computer net-works all working together creating a blended training environ-ment that can extend over hundreds of miles. It can extend combat training center capabilities while also stretching the existing, physical training area boundaries.

In addition, a mobile instrumentation capability supports live maneuver training at locations without permanent training instrumentation.

“Swift Response-15 demonstrated that JMRC has the capa-bility to integrate live training into the virtual, constructive and gaming across multiple countries and to provide stimulation for mission command systems from extended locations,” said Sandy Brown, program area director for combat training centers and support mission CONUS for Raytheon.

“Army commanders can effectively exercise multiple, brigade-sized units simultaneously. This is because the training ‘geography’ is unified at the higher command level. Senior com-manders ‘see’ the physically dispersed units as all training in the same virtual training location,” Brown explained. “By creat-ing a huge simulated training environment using live, virtual and constructive training separated by thousands of miles, the ca-pability enables large unit, full-spectrum training when there is limited available land space to physically conduct such training.”

Brian Overy

by Karen e. thuerMerMtI Correspondent


A wide range of other technologies, meanwhile, help provide the visual, sensory and communications experiences needed to make training for commanders as realistic, and thus effective, as possible.

Diamond Visionics, for example, focuses on visualiza-tion aimed at rendering the best visual scene with the most accurate and up to date information, through its GenesisRTX visualization software.

“GenesisRTX architecture allows the commanders to utilize the new information as it is downloaded,” Overy said. “The scene of a reconnaissance plane, UAV or special operator with boots on the ground relaying live updates to the command station that needs to evaluate the situation and make instantaneous decisions, is why we do what we do—and why our software technology is now recognized as paramount to allowing these instant decisions.”

Traditional visual systems require off-line processing of source data to generate pre-computed levels-of-detail, and the time required can be a liability. The time needed depends on the extent and complexity of the source data, with the resulting database consuming significantly more storage space than the source data used to create it.

GenesisRTX, however, eliminates the need for traditional off-line database generation, saving precious time that is needed during an ever-changing planning scene, he said. “By leveraging the parallelism of modern CPUs and the GPUs, GenesisRTX dynamically constructs out-the-window and correlated sensor scenes at run-time, directly from standard geographic information system source data formats that are collected.

“The ability of GenesisRTX to add overlays, graphics, colorization of individual features, trajectory paths, and other aug-mented reality types of elements will ultimately provide the commander with the maximum amount of informa-tion, and much more than would be available via reports, 2-D sketches, or paper maps. This instant utilization of updated data suits the need of the command and control perfectly,” Overy said.

Even though command training may not require the experiential intensity involved in preparing for an urban firefight, or even for driving a vehicle at high speed over a bumpy road, it still must provide sensory and emotional verisimilitude to ensure that the training actually helps rather than hurts readiness for the real world.

D-Box motion-cueing systems, for example, integrate with leading simulation applications to provide kinesthetic training to prepare personnel for acting and commanding in frequently turbulent land, sea and air environments.

The need for motion simulation is evident in a variety of training systems, from full-scale aircraft mock-ups to the latest virtual reality headsets, in order to ensure that the body’s motion-sending and visual inputs are in synch, Loze explained.

“You want to have a feel of motion, which will give you the cue that you are actually moving. Otherwise, you generate a lot of negative feedback from training, because you are in an environment that is very realistic for the eyes and not very realistic for the body, which makes bad sensations. You need to add motion in the mix, because if not people can’t learn because they can’t spend much time in the environ-ment,” he said.

“It’s like being in a full flight simulator that doesn’t also incorporate motion,” Loze continued. “It’s so realistic that your eyes are getting the

signal that you are moving. If the motion system is not turned on, a lot of people feel sick quite rapidly. When you turn on the motion system, people can get through the training.

“It’s not the fault of the systems, which are extreme-ly accurate and clear. They are so good, in fact, that they create a signal for the brain that the body is convinced that when the camera is moving, it should also move. This is why the motion cueing system is so important,” he added.

SAIC is focusing on understanding human perfor-mance and cognitive development of individuals. “We’re looking at how we roll that into simulation and training

exercises, so that we are progressing our knowledge and ability to use that knowledge to make decisions, rather than training a repetitive process. That’s the opportunity that lies before us, and a shift that we’re going to see in the virtual world,” said Carey Oliver, vice president of enterprise marketing for training and simulation.

“It’s important in that it’s trying to create the emotional element. How do I stress you to train you to make decisions under stress?” he continued. “It’s about the decision making process and your performance, and what you are able to put together in the heat of battle to make a decision.”

Because higher echelons necessarily must issue orders over signifi-cant distances, communications is another critical part of command and staff training. One company active in delivering training services and sys-tems to customers such as the U.S. Army, Marines and Australian Defence Force is Calytrix, whose Comm Net Radio (CNR) solutions are integral in tactical as well as command level training.

“As CNR is a simulated radio communications system, it is used in all levels of training, from teaching a private on how to turn on and use a radio, to full joint level exer-cises like Talisman Sabre, where the Calytrix CNR suite of simulation products provides real time communications between boots on the ground and headquarters,” noted Buck Connor, president of the company.

“Traditionally, most battle command training is done live, or if a facility is available, at a huge battle command simulation center,” he explained. “But it is now possible to do battle command training in a unit’s headquarters, working out of the motor pool, or in any location desired through the advance in simulation of all the battle com-mand systems.”

The Calytrix CNR suite allows the integration of real and simulated radios in a command network, facilitating training anywhere, anytime.

Another major benefit of the advance in simulation systems, Connor pointed out, is the elimination of the need for large numbers of contract employees to actually run the systems. Military personnel can, with a few exceptions, run most simulation exercises themselves with minimal outside help.

Connor cited Operation Talisman Sabre—abiennial joint Australia-U.S. exercise held in locations in Australia, the Pacific, and continental U.S.—as a perfect example of how technology aids in long distance training. In it, the Calytrix CNR suite of products provided the communications system as the backbone of the exercise, with the CNR-Live unit connecting real radios into the simulation seamlessly. “As a result, there is no discernable difference between the AC-130 in simulation at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and the joint terminal attack controller live on the ground in Townsville, Australia,” he said.

Buck Connor

Carey Oliver


In terms of new technology, Lockheed is currently fielding for an international customer the Digital Battle Staff Trainer, which can train commanders and their staffs from platoon level to corps. The capability is based on WARSIM, but has been modernized with the latest hardware and a tailored configuration for this customer’s requirements. The new hardware hosts the latest EPIC software, which provides a simple yet powerful collaborative web interface for 3-D control of wargame execution and after action review.

“When thinking about technology enablers, we’re really excited about the value our EPIC product brings to simplify and streamline the management of LVC scenarios. EPIC’s user interface can seamlessly control all entities in a distributed training scenario,” Briggs said.

SAIC executives see the maturing of cloud technology in the military as offering huge benefits in the ability to deliver training where it’s needed.

“Training in the future may become more user demanded, so that I can go onto a system and learn when I have the opportunity. From an SAIC perspective, we have made investments in cloud computing to deliver immersive training to a handheld device, which can convince users that they are in the situation that they are training for, with the emotional component,” said Oliver.

“Our investments support a training framework we call SAIC Inte-grated Training Edge, where our focus is on leveraging cloud technology to be able to deliver training to any location, to satisfy the need for home station training, and the segmentation of training down to smaller por-tions,” he continued. “There will always be the need for the large exercise, but most of the military seems to want to be able to bring the training down to the individual.”

Simulated and immersive environments are usually thought of as providing instruction in tactical actions and the practical tasks of military operations. But they also are proving to be useful at higher levels not only in learning how to operate the many command and control and communications systems used by the military, but also in developing the judgment and confidence needed to act successfully under conditions of intense stress and barrages of frequently contradictory information. (U.S. Army Pacific photo)

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If the explosion in the number of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) being used by the military appears to be high, then the corresponding increase in the number of students required to operate them has been unprecedented. According to simulation and training company CAE, the organization cur-rently contracted to provide the United States Air Force (USAF) with training for General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper crew training, there was a 540 percent growth in student numbers between 2009 and 2014.

Now, through a contract modification from the DoD, the Air Force has requested CAE to “significantly increase the number of training instructors it employs to support the USAF’s MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper training programs.” Most of these new instructors will be located at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., the formal training center for both Predator and Reaper operators.

There are already around 700 Air Force and contractor staff at Holloman supporting the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) training program. Of this, 200 are active-duty instructors supported by 100 mixed contractor instructors and other support staff. Additionally, the aircraft are cared for by around 400 maintainers. The decision to expand will mean that the number of CAE employees, who currently represent around one third of RPA instructors, will soon comprise near to 50 percent.

CAE is currently half way through its training support contract, awarded in August 2013 and due to run until the end of September 2018. Previously it had provided training from 1998 through to 2008 when there was a change in the way in which contractors were selected, giving a preference to small businesses. However, after a five-year gap, the competition was opened to all sizes of business and CAE won it back to include both aircrew training services and course-ware development.

The contract modification was necessary due to the increasing operational need for RPAs around the world which has created a larger demand for systems and aircrew resulting in a shortfall in the number of training instructors available to train the extra personnel needed. “Unmanned aerial system pilot training in the U.S. Department of De-fense has received significant attention since the release of a Govern-ment Accountability Office report several months ago, and the Air Force is taking a number of initiatives to improve UAS pilot training,” said Ray Duquette, president and general manager, CAE USA.

There are currently four RPA squadrons at Holloman comprising: 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 9th Attack Squadron, 16th Training Squadron, and 29th Attack Squadron.

the appeal of increased uas operations has led to a gap developing in the production of trained uas aircrew, together with pressure to

keep training system fidelity at the same level as the operational platforms.

by andreW drWIega, MtI Correspondent


CAE employees work closely with active-duty USAF personnel to provide classroom, simulator and live flying instruction for around 1,500 pilots and sensor operators annually not only at Holloman; but also at Creech AFB, Nevada; March Air Reserve Base, Calif.; and Hancock Air National Guard Base, N.Y.

In addition to actual flight and sensor operating training, CAE is also responsible for the further development of current USAF tac-tics, techniques and procedures with regard to RPA operations. The company continually develops the synthetic software and courseware which evolves into the updating of the training task list, course training standards (CTS) and course syllabi. In fact, according to CAE, it has the distinction of being the only USAF flight training unit where contractors fly the ‘go to war’ aircraft.

Another contractor at the site is L-3 Link, the company that delivers the simulator hardware as well as providing full maintenance support on the Predator Mission Aircrew Training System (PMATS).

Observing the increase in the military’s increase in op tempo and its corresponding effect on additional training, Robert Luthy, L-3 Link simulation and training director for Air Force and Navy strategic development emphasized the point that synthetic training is completely aligned with UAS training. “The cockpit tactile environment for the UAS is the same whether flying in training or on an operational mission. The aircrew is not subject to the physical forces of flying with the plat-form,” he said.

He added that the simulation industry was continually challenged to maintain its accuracy when it came to replicating operational condi-tions. “To achieve 100 percent of the training through simulation, the operational environment to include the entire battle space must be modeled to allow the total immersion of the aircrew in the mission,” he said.

As with any flight training, particularly manned fixed-wing, there is always continual pressure to keep currency with the front-line platform in order to replicate as accurately as possible all the phases on a sortie.

“The largest challenge for all UAS platforms is keeping up with the rapid changes to systems that are at least three to four times faster than manned platforms,” said Luthy. “New sensor capabilities and new weapons are added to platforms as quickly as they are developed. This propels rapid change management to all training programs to keep pace with platform advancement and evolving tactics.”

On 26 January, L-3 Link was also awarded a contract option for 34 new PMATS simulators by the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB. They will be delivered to 15 installations with the Air Force and Air National Guard. This now means that L-3 Link will have fielded a total of 67 Predator and Reaper systems in support of crew training.

The details of L-3 Link’s product involves the com-bination of a physics-based image generator, Synthetic Automated Forces generator, instructor station, with ad-ditional hardware and software. This allows the PMATS to present trainees with a high-fidelity environment that replicates aircraft performance while including mission systems for weapons, sensors, communications, data link operations, emergencies, degraded video feeds and environmental conditions. They are sufficiently adapt-able to be used by Predator and Reaper aircrews who are either looking to achieve their initial qualification, mission qualification, or for more experience crews who need continuation training and for mission rehearsal.

u.s. arMy needs sharp vIsuaLs

For the last 10 years, the MetaVR’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) has been a key feature of the Multiple Unified Simulation Environ-ment/Air Force Synthetic Environment for Reconnaissance and Surveil-lance simulation system used by the U.S. Army to train its UAS operators.

The economic effect on the Army from sequestration has put more pressure than ever on saving cost where possible. The UAS training environment has been capable of delivering synthetic training, although it is not by any means a ‘cheap’ solution.

“The increasing adoption of simulation as a way of keeping training costs low has resulted in the need for greater realism in training simula-tion,” said W. Garth Smith, president and co-founder of MetaVR. “But to achieve this he emphasizes the need for high-resolution geospecific syn-thetic environments which are vital to retain the level of realism required.

Smith believes this has presented MetaVR with an excellent op-portunity thanks to the development of small commercial UAVs that can work in tandem with high quality digital cameras. He said that because of this the company can “collect sub-inch resolution imagery with our own portable UAV for building high resolution terrain databases in our terrain tools and improve our image generator to render the sub-inch resolution terrain”

He also adds that improvements made to onboard sensors now allow for high definition (HD) quality video. MetaVR’s VRSG “can stream real-time HD-quality simulated video with KLV metadata, using the H.264 protocol, which is indiscernible in composition from the real UAV video.”

The challenge of linking synthetic training to some extent has been overcome by MetaVR through the standardization of the VRSG across multiple programs that need to be connected. “As an example our image generator is used for the A-10 FMT, the JTC TRS close air support (CAS) simulator and the Shadow, Aerosonde, Gray Eagle, and Hunter UAV simu-lators that use the universal ground control station (UGCS),” explained Smith.

“The A-10 FMT can be directed to target by a CAS soldier in the JTC TRS dome using a UAV feed from a Gray Eagle on his real Rover device while the grey eagle is simulated by an embedded component on the universal ground control station,” he added.

However, in the fight for business opportunities Smith is unhappy that the large corporates are being favored in terms of being selected by major UAS operators. “Too often large simulation training programs are awarded and take on a life of their own regardless of the quality of what they produce,” he said, believing that contracts would be better founded following competitive fly-offs. “Right now, it’s our opinion that the warf-ighters are not always getting the best possible simulator. And that’s why we have customers making alternative Predator and Reaper-based

simulators (using our and a business partner’s software), in order to give the end users what they need.” He added that smaller resourced companies can play a positive role in developing specific systems. “Right now there is a large gap in simulation of UAV prototyping systems with electronic warfare components,” he stated.

MIssIon Context

“We’ve focused on developing accurate simulations that train UAS operators to perform basic flight skills within a larger mission context,” said Del Beilstein, AEgis Technologies’ vice president, business development tech-nology solutions.Del Beilstein


As an example, Beilstein explained that a simulated mission could require a pilot to fly to an area to obtain aerial sensor imagery of a fire-damaged area. First there are various planning and pre-flight steps necessary. Once airborne the pilot is multi-tasking between the actual flying and navigation. Then once on station they will need to operate the sensors and optics.

“Training with simulation within a mission context is a powerful way to simultaneously improve a pilot’s pre-mission planning, flight and pay-load management skills, and situational awareness,” explained Beilstein.

One of AEgis’ top priorities in developing a UAS simulation is to maximize the fidelity of their simulation to the actual UAS. It’s critical the simulation responds precisely to control inputs and provides the same feedback to the user as the real system. “Realism is our goal, so we work closely with UAS OEMs to accurately simulate the performance characteristics of their system and present simulated aircraft information and realistic sensor imagery just as the operator will see them in flight,” said Beilstein. “Experienced operators will notice inconsistencies and inaccuracies in a training system right away, so we engage UAS platform experts throughout our development process to help make our simulation experience authentic and realistic.”

AEgis believes that offering UAS simulation software embedded on the ground control station offers unique advantages. There’s no addi-tional hardware required to enable training, so there’s less to carry, keep track of, and fix. An embedded approach also sustains operator muscle memory and lends continuity to training with OEM flight controls, user interfaces and system instruments.

AEgis’ Vampire is designed specifically as an embedded simulation for small UAS.

“We’ve delivered Vampire to several international customers and are starting to receive international interest in Vampire ITS, which is the classroom configuration of Vampire said Beilstein. The locally networked UAS simulation allows a single instructor to train 10 or more students si-multaneously. The instructors can assign student training scenarios, in-ject emergency conditions, score performance and build training records for students. “We’ve delivered more than 30 ITS to the U.S. Army and we’re starting to see significant interest in the commercial and international markets as well, Beilstein noted.

sLoWer progress In europe

In Europe, UAS training has been slower to develop. The British Army, with its extensive experience of both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, has lagged behind fielding some of the larger UAS platforms. On the September 29, 2014, the British Army began its first operational flights of its Thales Watchkeeper WK450 remotely piloted air system (RPAS) over Afghanistan, principally to assist in the withdrawal of UK forces. It was the culmination of an £800 million contract that had originally been awarded in July 2005. It is based on an Elbit Hermes 450 design.

Watchkeeper has had its share of delays, but the training of operators has been one of the major concerns in the timeline of its full entry into service. As late as October last year, despite 36 of 54 Watchkeepers having been delivered, a response to a request under the freedom of Information Act revealed that there were only four military pilots backed by a couple of civilians who were capable of flying them operationally. Officially the operators are called a suitably qualified and experienced person (SQEP). They were supported by 24 launch and recovery personnel together with a further 20 maintainers.

This represented a concern regarding whether enough SPEQs would be trained and ready in order to meet the target of fielding a Watchkeeper

force to full operating capability by the target date of April-July 2017. The current objective is to train up to 24 SPEQs within the next two years with the final aim to have nearly 100.

At the start of the year the French Army decided to procure the Sagem Patroller as its unmanned tactical aerial vehicle instead of the Thales Watchkeeper. The contract would see the purchase of 14 UAS, 10 to be used operationally and four for training. No doubt this is a set-back for the British Army which would have expected to share training coopera-tion through the Lancaster House treaty on defense cooperation.

The notorious British weather has so effected training that the Army’s Watchkeeper training has reportedly been moved to the British dependency Ascension Island in the South Atlantic during the winter, and will stay there to conduct training between April and August 2016. In the UK, the RPAS were tested in Aberporth, west Wales, and at Boscombe Down on the Salisbury Plain. However, due to air space restrictions, the capacity for extensive training is limited.

The Royal Air Force also operates 10 Reapers for surveillance support and situational awareness, although they are destined to be replaced by the end of the decade by the next generation called Protector.

The Reapers are divided between two operational squadrons: 39 Squadron based in the U.S. at Creech, and 13 Squadron based at RAF Wad-dington in the UK. According to Penny Mordaunt, UK Minster of State for the Armed Forces there are six personnel at Creech undertaking a variety of training, test and evaluation duties.

In 2014, the UK and France set up a joint user group for Reaper operators that is tasked with working on air certification, interoperability, through life support and training. It is open to the U.S. and other European nations operating Reaper.

In Italy, CAE is currently developing a high-fidelity Predator UAS mission trainer which will be based at the Amendola AFB. Completion is expected by 2017. This follows a contract from the Italian Director-ate for Air Armaments and Airworthiness last year for CAE to deliver an upgrade to a generic Predator mission trainer that was under develop-ment for the Italian Air Force.

CAE is working with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and the Italian Air Force to collate flight test data from the Air Force’s own Predator A and Predator B/MQ-9 aircraft.

Chuck Morant, CAE’s vice president for global strategy said that there were numerous technologies that would result in a high-fidelity training device for the Italians. These will include performance model software that raises the fidelity of the aerodynamic, engine and flight control models; live sensor data to increase sensor and equipment simulation; and an increase in the fidelity of the synthetic environment. “Having been involved in high-fidelity simulation for a range of platforms over many years, CAE provides its own high-fidelity synthetic environ-ment that integrates sensors, radars, computer-generated forces and other entities to create an immersive, realistic virtual world,” Morant said”

He added that the new mission trainer will be reconfigurable to adapt to aircraft configuration changes and that CAE’s simulation en-gine conforms is “STAGAG 4586 compliant, which makes it interoperable by using a modular approach.”

Morant claimed that the new Predator mission trainer will be “the world’s highest-fidelity simulator for any unmanned aerial vehicle or remotely piloted aircraft.” His added that flight hours flown in this simu-lator will support pilot certification “in an equivalent manner to actual aircraft flights. An analogy would be how commercial airlines use ‘Level D certified’ flight simulators to qualify and license pilots to fly commer-cial airliners.”


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Human-Centered Engineering

Military Mobile Training AppsPage 16


TEAM ORLANDO

The Naval Air Warfare Center Train-ing Systems Division (NAWCTSD) and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) have been awarded the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Southeast Region 2015 Interagency Partnership Award for “Immersive Training for Law Enforce-ment and Force Protection.” This award focuses on the collaborative work of FLETC’s fully-immersive Performance As-sessment Laboratory (PAL) and NAWCTSD’s Scenario Planning and Effects Control Sys-tem (SPECS). The two previously won the FLC Southeast Region 2009 Interagency Partnership Award for the Advanced Use-of-Force Training System, and went on to receive the FLC national award in 2011.

Tyson Griffin, head of NAWCTSD’s Advanced Modeling and Simulation Branch, said the partnership with the FLETC has been an important one to both groups. It has allowed for the continuous evolution of technology that benefits from a very wide breadth of domains and perspectives. This results in a more cost affordable and complete training capability for all.

Dating back to October 2009, immer-sive, scenario-based training technolo-gies developed by NAWCTSD for use in the Department of Defense were applied to the law enforcement domain within the FLETC’s PAL. This is a state-of-the-art facility created to research and evaluate immersive, scenario-based training and hu-man performance. However, a need existed for the incorporation of flexible and cost-affordable scenario and special effects control, as well as after action review (AAR) technologies. NAWCTSD engineers customized its SPECS and AAR technology, working closely with FLETC research-ers and subject matter experts to better support law enforcement training and the mission of the PAL.

Many of the modifications focused on the creation of highly intricate and inti-mate environments for challenging a per-son’s situation awareness and escalation of force decision-making. While customized

for specific law enforcement requirements, the modifications also turned out to be very applicable to DoD training for the war on global terror, and helping personnel to better prepare for the complexities and ambiguity of non-combatant intensive envi-ronments.

“Law enforcement often does that best because that’s the world they live in,” Grif-fin said. “Most of the additions we worked on with the FLETC were able to be imme-diately repurposed and utilized in training capabilities we were also providing to the fleet at the time.”

Fast forward to current day and the most recent collaboration between the two groups resulting in feature enhancements and installation of a custom set of SPECS and AAR technologies within a number of the Counter Terrorism Operations Train-ing Facility Danis City buildings at the FLETC. Danis City is an expansive area that provides a realistic urban and suburban environment, and is utilized for various levels of training including stress exposure training for federal and state/local law enforcement.

William A. Norris, Ph.D., chief of the Applied Research Branch, FLETC, said that SPECS is designed around the perspective of tying specific cues to cognitive tasks that instructors want trainees to make. Instructors can develop a scenario that causes people to make decisions for some of those cues they receive—be it smell, sound, visual—all the various types of sensory perceptions in humans.

“Both groups have piggybacked on each other,” Norris said. “With this improved and added technology, several camera place-ments enable a comprehensive record-ing of the training, giving an instructor the ability to review camera feeds from different areas. It’s stored as part of an integrated network and is accessible to instructors at any time to use for feedback for trainees.”

Norris said that one of the things they learned in the PAL is that when reviewing

with students involved in these high-stress, immersive trainings, they often have an inconsistent recollection of the training scenario than that of their instruc-tors.

“When we are discussing a student’s training outcomes with them, we often find they have a totally different vision of what really happened. Once we play the video, using the cameras from multiple per-spectives, the students’ mouths are wide open as they realize what they thought they did isn’t at all what they actually did.”

Griffin said that an important aspect of the technologies is their usability. The ability of technology to affect change in a student is predicated on the instruc-tor’s utilization of the tools that support their expertise as an instructor. He added, “even with very little training on SPECS, an instructor who understands the training environment can sit down at the SPECS client, and using a mouse or keyboard, quickly create a scenario and save it. Once they have programmed their scenario into the system and saved it, they can play it repetitively across many students, or make dynamic, real-time changes during training.”

As a government-owned technology, each time customers approach NAWCTSD about SPECS—whether that’s within the Navy, other services or other government agencies like the FLETC—whatever itera-tions take place in that next development, they can benefit all future customers who come to present their SPECS requirements to NAWCTSD. Not only are the continued collaborations saving money and time, they are helping to prepare and protect our nation’s military service members and law enforcement.

“Realistic preparation for our trainees translates into better performance on the streets or on the battlefield,” Norris said. “If they have developed some familiarity of their environment—what it should sound like or smell like—it’s less overwhelming when they get there.”

naWCtsd, FLetC recognized for Collaborative Workby doLLy raIrIgh gLass


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Real-time screen captures are from MetaVR’s visualization system rendering 3D virtual terrain of Afghanistan, and are unedited except as required for printing. The real-time renderings of the 3D virtual world are generated by MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Generator™ (VRSG™). 3D models are from MetaVR’s 3D content libraries. © 2016 MetaVR, Inc. All rights reserved. MetaVR, Virtual Reality Scene Generator, VRSG, the phrase “Geospecifi c simulation with game quality graphics,” and the MetaVR logo are trademarks of MetaVR, Inc.

With MetaVR visuals used for simulated UAV camera payload video in ground control stations and in manned aircraft simulators, UAV operators, pilots, and JTAC trainees can achieve fully correlated HD H.264 simulated sensor video with accurate KLV metadata that replicates the actual sensor payload imagery of ISR assets during distributed training exercises.

Since 2002, the U.S. Army has used MetaVR visuals for simulated UAV camera payload video for Shadow, Gray Eagle, Aerosonde, and Hunter training.

Military Training International April 2016

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