Military Training International August 2016

August 2016 • Volume 21 • Issue 4

Military training, modeling and simulation solutions with a global perspective

Inside This Issue...

Bridge Simulation Page 16

Serious Gaming Page 20

Traumatic Realism in Medical Training Page 24

Training for Squad Overmatch Page 28

International Vector: Federico Santiago Pérez Dueñas NATO Modelling and Simulation Coordination Office

Q&A With

Colonel Craig S. Unrath Director National Simulation Center

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24-26 JANUARY 2017

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Military Training International Features

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August 2016 • Volume 21 Issue 4

Table of Contents Departments

Effective Bridges Trainees still do some time on the water but for many, training is done using high fidelity simulators that depend upon visualization, voice recognition and other technologies as well as sophisticated models and databases.

By Hank Hogan

Q&A with Colonel Craig S. Unrath Director National Simulation Center

Seriously Gaming After establishing a solid role in military training for combat and tactical operations, serious gaming is moving into new areas of need and adopting new technology to increase realism and integration with other training.

By Harrison Donnelly

2 6 27

people Resource Center

Traumatic Realism in Medical Training Traumatic simulation has come a long way in recent years, especially when mixed with environmental conditioning and actor/patients. Starting with parttask trainers, task and patient simulators have increased the ability to train for routine and nonroutine procedures and that training can now take place in a deployed environment.

By Andrew Drwiega

28

Program Highlights

12

International Vector

Federico Santiago Pérez Dueñas NATO Modelling and Simulation Coordination Office

Improving Warfighter Performance Through Squad Overmatch The Squad Overmatch (SOvM) study is a comprehensive approach to learning that explores the wide range of skills needed in today’s urbanbattle environments. A joint collaborative effort, SOvM leverages findings from military studies of battlefield performance, stress response, leadership, communications, and tactical combat casualty care.

That foundation was built into sophisticated training technologies and curriculum.

By Teresa Bradley

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Program Highlights Puma UAS Simulator Training

Action Training Environment, combining virtual scenarios with real-life role players to create an intense environment designed to encompass the training audience, test them with multiple stressors, and assess them on how they react.

I-MILES IWS 2

The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Command, Contracting Department, San Diego, announced an intention to award a sole source contract to AEgis Technologies Group, Inc. to provide integrated simulator training on the operation of the U.S. Navy fielded Aerovironment Puma unmanned aircraft system. This sole source contract is based on the Aerovironment’s Puma UAS product that was originally fielded w/ VAMPIRE (Visualization and Mission Panning Integrated Rehearsal Environment) flight simulator software. AEgis Technologies was the software developer.

Realistic Training In a combat theater soldiers face small arms fire and exploding ordnance attacks, but for Reserve soldiers it can be difficult to simulate these real world threats during monthly battle assemblies.

To achieve the most realistic training possible, Reserve units teamed up with active Army and Army National Guard units at Fort McCoy, Wis., for the 84th Training Command’s third and final Warrior Exercise of the year, hosted by the 86th Training Division from July 9 through 23.

During the exercise, soldiers from the 320th Military Police Company had the opportunity to perform in a mass casualty scenario involving live role players, aviation units and combat medics.

“This environment is great,” said Staff Sergeant Nikesha Cabrera, a squad leader with the 320th. “Probably half of my squad has never worked with medics or actually seen a Black Hawk [land].”

The 320th was one of 92 units from across the Army that honed their skills during the final WAREX, which allows units to train in tactical and combat training environments, enforces small unit leadership principals, and reinforces Army Warrior Training.

During the WAREX, the 84th Training Command set the stage with a Decisive 2 | MTI 21.4

Cubic Global Defense, a business unit of Cubic Corporation, has been awarded a contract of more than $10 million for new orders of its Instrumentable-Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System Individual Weapon Systems 2 (I-MILES IWS 2) from the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation and Army Contracting Command-Orlando (ACC-ORL). I-MILES IWS 2 is a laser-based simulation system that is integral to the quality and realism of live, force-on-force training for the warfighters.

I-MILES IWS 2 transmits laser messages when triggered by blank ammunition fired by a military weapon. Body sensors detect hits and perform real-time casualty assessments to replicate the effects of combat. The data is recorded for later review and assessment of effectiveness. The user-friendly system features small, lightweight components for individual soldiers, and requires less time to attach the small arms transmitters and align to the weapon than previous versions. It also maintains position during an entire exercise.

“Cubic’s I-MILES IWS 2 continues to provide invaluable training by combining realistic environments and equipment to ensure combat readiness for every mission scenario,” said Dave Buss, president of Cubic Global Defense. “The live, force-on-force training capability of the I-MILES IWS 2, used not only by the U.S. but also allied and partner nations, is the cornerstone of training and building ready ground forces.”

SAR Field Training Exercise in Vietnam

Pacific Partnership servicemembers from New Zealand, the U.S. and Australia supported

a Da Nang border guard-led search and rescue Field Training Exercise (SAR FTX) July 26 that began on the Han River and concluded aboard Vietnam People’s Navy hospital ship Khanh Hoa and USNS Mercy.

The FTX was the result of several months of planning between the Da Nang People’s Committee, the Da Nang border guard, the Da Nang 115 Emergency Center and the Pacific Partnership Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief team. The exercise aimed to enhance the command, leadership and incident management capacity of local government agencies involved in disaster management and SAR operations, and allow partner nations the opportunity to integrate their skill sets as required. In all, more than 120 civilian and military personnel participated in the exercise.

Brits, Canadians Use Virtual Training Service to Overcome Distance

British soldiers hosting a company of Canadian Army reservists used a tried and tested unit-based virtual training service to overcome any transatlantic differences in tactics, techniques and procedures.

Ahead of deploying onto Salisbury Plain, UK, for a multinational exercise, personnel from 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers plugged their visitors into NSC’s JCOVE [Joint Combat Operations Virtual Environment] trainer for a digital tour of the expansive training area.

The innovative simulation system allowed members of the dismounted Canadian unit to collectively experience the tactics employed when operating alongside the Fusiliers’ fleet of Warrior armored fighting vehicles.

Run on a network of portable laptop computers set up in a classroom at Tidworth and featuring an authentic emulation of Salisbury Plain’s terrain, the first-person virtual environment enabled the allies to fully exploit their time together in the field.

“We used JCOVE as part of the build-up training to the exercise,” explained Major Robin www.MTI-dhp.com

Program Highlights Hicks, officer commanding Z Company, 1 RRF. “Doing so helped us to maximize our time on live training. Rehearsing our tactics, techniques and procedures and sharing leadership lessons in a virtual environment meant we got the best bang for our buck when we got out on exercise.”

“I thought the system was great,” said Hicks.

It gives you an appreciation of the limitations of visibility you have in a vehicle—the fog of war.

I love how the dust kicks up and you can’t see anything and make any calls as to what’s going on around you. The system exposes you to what can happen to your command and control.”

Although new to Canadian personnel, JCOVE is a familiar training tool to the British Army having originally been introduced to the ranks in 2007 as a means of practicing vehicle convoy drills.

Later adapted to ready personnel for operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the system continues to play a role in the development of UK Regular and Reserve troops and has to date been used by more than 16,000 soldiers and delivered in excess of 300 weeks of training at more than 72 unit locations.

“I feel strongly that the simulation side [of training] will help save lives overseas,” said Captain Ricardo Manmohan. “I see it as having huge value—it increases the confidence of my troops to deal with certain situations and increases communication between key leadership positions.”

Virtual Training Environment for DCGS The U.S. Air Force has awarded Aptima a $12.4 million contract to develop a virtual training environment for its Distributed Common Ground System operations (DCGS). The DCGS is the Air Force’s primary platform for collecting and analyzing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to support its missions. The virtual training system is designed to better prepare Air Force operators tasked to produce actionable intelligence from its globally networked systems and sensors.

The weapon systems trainer will incorporate Aptima’s A-Measure software, which measures trainee performance in live, virtual and constructive environments (LVC), and its Advanced Learning Management platform, which dynamically adapts instruction to optimize each trainee’s learning.

“By simulating the mission demands operators encounter, measuring their progress and performance, and tailoring their instruction, www.MTI-dhp.com

the system will remove the typical limitations of one-size-fits-all training,” said Mike Garrity, executive vice president of government programs at Aptima. “This will ensure trainees are focused on developing the essential skills, delivering the greatest return on training investment.”

Aptima will team with Leidos on the contract.

MH-47 Simulator for 160th SOAR(A) USSOCOM is conducting market research on the acquisition of and support for a non-motion stimulated MH-47 helicopter simulator, using Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) as a location to model the research.

USSOCOM has an interest in providing a non-motion stimulated MH-47 helicopter simulator for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Using the JBLM location as a model, the MH-47 non-motion simulator would support the aviators of a special operations aviation battalion at a single designated operating location. The contractor would provide the non-motion simulator and support personnel.

Adaptive Language Learning Contract Employees of global organizations—from the U.S. government to small companies—need to interact at a working level with foreign nationals, ideally in their native languages.

Recognizing the unmet need for effective, relatively inexpensive foreign-language learning, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded a $3 million contract to Aptima Inc., Woburn, Mass., and Alelo Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., to develop ALLEARN, a system to accelerate foreign-language learning using artificial intelligence technologies.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense and ONR funded ALLEARN (Adaptive Language Learning) to bring learners quickly to an intermediate level of language proficiency and ensure they retain their skills over time.

The envisioned ALLEARN system will be a self-paced adaptive learning solution that will let learners, whether active duty personnel, civilians or contractors, develop and practice their skills through computer simulations of real-life language use. The system will automatically collect data on learner performance and use machine-learning techniques to optimize each learner’s learning trajectory. The system

will combine the latest advances in natural language processing, automated speech recognition, and machine learning.

ALLEARN will combine the proven technologies of Alelo’s Enskill platform and Aptima’s Higher Adaptive Learning technology (HAL).

Enskill uses speech and language technology to deliver virtual role-play simulations that practice and assess communicative competencies, in any HTML5-compliant Web browser. HAL mines learner performance data (from the aggregate of users), identifying the most effective lessons and content, customizing an adaptive training plan for the individual to accelerate learning.

“ALLEARN will bring new efficiency to language learning,” said Jared Freeman, chief scientist at Aptima. “It will pilot each learner on a unique personalized route through the huge space of training opportunities, and that navigation will improve over time as we apply educational data mining to the data from the first users of ALLEARN. This approach has shown strong, positive effects in research studies. Now it is time to apply it to provide those benefits to DoD in an operational training system.”

According to Dr. Lewis Johnson, CEO of Alelo, “ALLEARN technology will help learners master communicative skills more rapidly, while reducing instructor workload. We see broad demand for this capability, from elementarygrade education through adult education and workforce training. It will greatly enhance Alelo’s Enskill platform and has huge market potential.”

MQ-1/MQ-9 Electronic Officers Course

In an effort to neutralize the enemy and their ability to impact combat operations, airmen have created the Air Force’s first MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft electronic combat officers (ECO) course.

“We’ve been working for the last year and half or so to build the ECO course for the RPA community,” said Captain Craig, a 26th Weapons Squadron MQ-9 pilot and ECO course creator.

“It’s very fulfilling to see it’s finally coming into fruition.”

MTI 21.4 | 3

Program Highlights Squadron members joined with airmen from the 57th Wing and 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing to establish the course.

Since the insatiable demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability grew faster than the Air Force could produce qualified MQ-1/9 aircrews; the reality of low manning, platform sustainability and training became a constant concern.

“I had this vision back in 2013, when I wrote the syllabus for the first time,” Craig said. “I didn’t think it would end up turning into an actual Air Combat Command course.”

Craig, who previously served as a formalized training unit instructor at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., was deemed the most knowledgeable about the satellite communications (SATCOM) threats and how to combat them. He spent the next three years laying the groundwork for the course.

The newly created ECO course is designed to be a three-phase system and walks the students through 15 days of rigorous training.

“The course offered realistic training and challenging missions,” said Major Joseph, an ECO student. “It would do us no good to practice in ‘theory’ without real-world, realistic training scenarios that will mirror future/present threats that we may face.”

The first phase begins with the academics portion of the course and teaches students to plan and prepare against a jamming threat.

Next, the students learn to integrate RPAs into the SATCOM during simulated flights, followed by the final hands-on portion in which students execute tactics, techniques and procedures in support of airborne RPA flight operations in the Nevada Test and Training Range.

“One student will sit in the seat and experience what it’s like to receive a jamming signal while flying another student acts as the ‘ECO’ and supports the pilot who has received the threat,” Craig said. “They swap roles and do it all over again so they both get to experience those perspectives, from both the pilot and the ECO.” As reported by Technical Sergeant Nadine Barclay

DRAGON Flight Crew Training System Program Support L-3 Communications Corp., Link Simulation and Training Div., Arlington, Texas, has been awarded a $38.3 million fixed-price incentive firm contract for the new airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for Diminishing Manufacturing Sources Replacement of Avionics 4 | MTI 21.4

for Global Operations and Navigation (DRAGON) Flight Crew Training System (FCTS) program.

Contractor will provide for development and delivery of a government-owned AWACS DRAGON FCTS. Work will be performed at Arlington, Texas, and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2020.

Second T-50A Trainer Takes Flight

Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries have successfully completed the initial test flight of its second T-50A configured aircraft in Sacheon, South Korea. The T-50A is the company’s aircraft offering in the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Pilot Training (APT) competition.

“We now have two aircraft in flight test proving our upgrade, and we’re nearing completion of our assembly and training operations center in Greenville, S.C.,” said Doug Batista, Lockheed Martin T-50A program manager. “We’re on track to provide the U.S. Air Force with a production line and training capability on day one of contract award.”

The T-50A is low risk and ready now. It builds on the proven heritage of the T-50 with more than 100 T-50s flying today—100,000 flight hours and counting—and more than 1,000 pilots trained.

The T-50A is the only offering that meets all APT requirements and can deliver those capabilities on schedule at the lowest risk to the customer. Lockheed Martin teams studied clean-sheet alternatives and determined they pose prohibitive risk to APT cost and schedule requirements. The T-50A delivers the performance and capabilities needed to prepare pilots to fly, fight and win with 5th Generation fighter aircraft.

The T-50A was developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries. The accompanying T-50A ground-based training system features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized groundbased training platform.

Lockheed Martin completed the initial flight test of its first T-50A configured aircraft on June 2, 2016.

Egypt Orders Indian Training Systems On July 28, Zen Technologies Limited a provider of simulation technology based training solutions, announced its biggest export order till date of about $4.5 million. The Egyptian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has chosen Zen Technologies to provide range of training equipment including smart target systems.

Zen Technologies emerged as the front runner against tough international competition from global companies.

Commenting on the development, Ashok Atluri, CMD, Zen Technologies said, “Zen Technologies has over the years emerged as a strong player in the field of defense training simulation in India and it has been our endeavor to expand our presence abroad- specifically the Middle East and African region. The order from the Egyptian MoD is a reflection of our commitment towards providing the best training tools to security forces to tackle and neutralize both external and internal threats. We look forward to a fruitful and long-term association with the Egyptian government. Additionally various MoD’s globally have been showing intense interest in our training solutions especially the Combat Training Centre and we look forward to more breakthroughs in the coming months.”

Teaching Gender in the Military Handbook

On 21 Jun 16, Ms. Tanja Geiss, Mr. Gigi Roman and Lieutenant Commander Remi Tremblay presented the Teaching Gender in the Military: A Handbook to the NATO School Oberammergau commandant and dean of academics. The handbook codifies the knowledge and best practices developed during a series of four workshops organized by the Security Sector Reform and Education Development Working Groups of the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes (PfPC).

The Teaching Gender in the Military Handbook aims to both strengthen the ability of faculty to integrate gender in professional military education and to improve the capacity of gender experts to deliver educational content. It www.MTI-dhp.com

Program Highlights aims to cover both ‘what to teach’ and ‘how to teach’ with respect to gender and the military.

The handbook was created in response to a call to integrate gender into military education and training articulated within UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, the NATO frameworks to implement these resolutions and national policies and initiatives in the NATO-PfP area.

The handbook is available online at: www. dcaf.ch/Publications/Teaching-Gender-in-theMilitary-a-Handbook.

As reported by Lieutenant Commander Rémi Tremblay

Group, said “We are honored to welcome the First Sea Lord to the Fleet Intelligence Centre to open the SHAMAN training facility.

“Project SHAMAN will introduce a significant uplift in capability for the fleet and will greatly enhance our relationship with our global intelligence partners.”

Navy F-5 Adversary Upkeep Contract

UK Royal Navy Opens New Training Equipment Area

The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Phillip Jones KCB ADC visited the Fleet Intelligence Centre (FIC), HMS Collingwood recently to officially open the SHAMAN operator and maintainer training facilities.

During the visit 1SL was introduced to approximately 20 key UK and U.S. personnel, including representatives from both the military and defense industry associated with the SHAMAN project.

He also had the opportunity to meet the inaugural operators’ training course and instructors prior to being invited to officially open the training facilities.

“Project SHAMAN will introduce a significant uplift in capability for the fleet and will greatly enhance our relationship with our global intelligence partners,” said Commander Roger Noyce RN Project SHAMAN is an essential Information Surveillance Targeting and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) tool in the delivery of maritime force protection, security and maneuver.

It will significantly augment the Fleet’s war fighting capability from 2017.

Commander Roger Noyce, commanding officer of the Maritime Intelligence Support www.MTI-dhp.com

PAE has been chosen to support the U.S Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) F-5 Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) contract to provide maintenance and logistics support services for 45 F-5 aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, Nev.; Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Ariz.; and NAS Key West, Fla. Following the cancellation of a stop work order for the original award, PAE continued with contract transition performance on May 25, 2016 and will continue to cover a period of performance of just over four years if all the options are exercised.

Under the F-5 CLS contract, PAE will support the organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance and logistics service requirements for aircraft type-modelseries (T/M/S) F·5F and F·5N at NAS Fallon, MCAS Yuma, and NAS Key West, respectively.

The contract supports the newly expanded Specialized and Proven Aircraft Program Office (PMA-226) which encompasses aircraft in the Adversary program, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and out-ofinventory Foreign Military Sales (FMS) aircraft.

“PAE has provided support to the essential aviation missions of Navy and Marine Corps for nearly 15 years, and we are excited to broaden that relationship with the addition of three new locations as well as FMS opportunities,” said PAE CEO John Heller. “With this contract, PAE has also expanded the mission-focus of its aircraft services portfolio, by supporting aircraft maintenance for the training of Navy and Marine Corps aircrews and simulating the capabilities

of adversary fighter aircraft operating in today’s theater.”

C2 WEAPON SYSTEM PART TASK TRAINER CONTRACT Segue Technologies Inc., Arlington, Va., has been awarded a $7,269,799 modification (RS08) to previously awarded contract FA8771-12-D-1009 for a command and control weapon system part task trainer. Contractor will provide air operations center training baseline requirements to ensure that operators thoroughly understand the principles, theories, and methods of systems used to execute the air tasking order, via hands-on training scenarios, practical exercise, and delivery of instructional operational concepts of the weapon system. Work will be performed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by July 31, 2019.

First PC-21 Destined for Australian Air 5428 Pilot Training System

Lockheed Martin and Pilatus Aircraft Ltd have successfully completed the initial production test flight of the first PC-21 aircraft destined for the Australian Defence Force under the AIR 5428 Pilot Training System program.

Under a contract signed in December 2015, the initial seven-year program is valued at about $912.2 million. Performance-based options for up to 25 years will provide the opportunity to extend the length and increase the value of the total contract. Lockheed Martin leads the delivery of an integrated solution tailored for all future pilots for the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army.

“This is a true testament to our teammate Pilatus and a proven aircraft that will form the backbone of future pilot training for the Australian Defence Force for the next 25 years. We offer our congratulations on this MTI 21.4 | 5

Program Highlights first significant step,“ said Raydon Gates, chief executive, Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand.

This first PC-21, registered as A54-001, will be handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force at East Sale in June 2017 after completion of testing and verification work in both Switzerland and Australia.

“This initial flight of the first Australian PC-21, only seven months after contract signature, is a remarkable achievement and illustrates both the commitment of Pilatus and the hard work of all those involved in the project,” said Oscar J. Schwenk, chairman of Pilatus.

Ground Training Systems Support The U.S. Marine Corps’ Program Manager, Training Systems (PM TRASYS) has a requirement to procure and intends to issue a solicitation for the Ground Training Systems Support (GTSS) contract. The GTSS contract will be utilized to support various ground training systems at both continental United States and outside continental United States locations. The training systems supported include simulation, training devices, live-fire ranges, military operations on urban terrain, and infantry immersive trainer.

The total amount of the MATOC with shared capacity among all contractors awarded contracts under the GTSS solicitation will not exceed $48.9 million. There is no limit to the number of Task Orders that may be executed against this contract. The cumulative total of all task orders issued under the MATOC will not exceed the total contract amount of $48.9 million. No single task order may be for more than $10 million.

This GTSS MATOC IDIQ contract will have a basic ordering period of 40 Months or until the $48.9 million shared contract limit is reached, whichever comes first.

Special Operations SIGINT Training The United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) is seeking to identify sources that are capable of providing training to familiarize trainees with United States Army military table of organization and equipment (MTOE) and Special Operations Joint Threat Warning System (JTWS) signals intelligence (SIGINT) equipment, within the USASOC directive for conducting geo-location operations in accordance with 3rd Special Forces Groups’ (A) annual training 6 | MTI 21.4

and certification requirements. This course should utilize a modular structure to tailor the course for operational purposes by combining theory and principles, New Equipment Training (NET), applications training and scenario training modules. Additionally, this course should provide personnel with knowledge, skills, and technical acumen that is currently unavailable in the Training & Doctrine Command and/or the military system, nor can be administered at an Army Foundry Enabled SIGINT site.

MV-22 Tiltrotor Containerized Flight Training Device For Japan The Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, has been awarded $9,6 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of one MV-22 tiltrotor containerized flight training device for Japan under the Foreign Military Sales program.

PEOPLE Brigadier General Gerald V. Goodfellow, commander, Squadron Officer College and Squadron Officer School, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., has been assigned as director, Nuclear Enterprise Support Directorate, J-10, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Va. Brigadier General (Promotable) Terrence J. McKenrick, commanding general, Brigade Modernization Command, Army Capabilities Integration Center, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Bliss, Texas, has been assigned as deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Central/ Third U.S. Army, Kuwait.

Major General Paul M. Benenati, U.S. Army Reserve, commander (Troop Program Unit), U.S. Army Reserve Support Command, First U.S. Army; and deputy commander (Troop Program Unit), First U.S. Army, Rock Island, Ill., has been assigned as deputy chief of staff, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Eustis, Va.

Brigadier General Steven W. Ainsworth, U.S. Army Reserve, commanding general, Troop Program Unit, 94th Training Division, Force Sustainment; and deputy commanding general for mobilization and training, Individual Mobilization Augmentee, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command, Fort Lee, Va., has been assigned as commander, Troop Program Unit, 7th Mission Support Command; and deputy commanding general, 21st Theater Support Command, Germany.

Brigadier General Ronald A. Bassford, U.S. Army Reserve, deputy commanding general, Troop Program Unit,

88th Regional Support Command, Fort McCoy, Wis., has been assigned as commander, Troop Program Unit, 95th Training Division, Initial Entry Training, Fort Sill, Okla.

Brigadier General Daniel J. Christian, U.S. Army Reserve, commander, Troop Program Unit, 95th Training Division, Initial Entry Training, Fort Sill, Okla., has been assigned as deputy commander, Troop Program Unit, 412th Theater Engineer Command, Vicksburg, Miss.

Brigadier General Maria R. Gervais, commandant, U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School, U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., has been assigned as deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Brigadier General Hector Lopez, U.S. Army Reserve, chief of staff, Individual Mobilization

www.MTI-dhp.com

Program Highlights PEOPLE Augmentee, Eighth Army, Republic of Korea, has been assigned as commanding general, Troop Program Unit, 94th Training Division, Force Sustainment; and deputy commanding general for mobilization and training, Individual Mobilization Augmentee, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command, Fort Lee, Va. Brigadier General Dennis S. McKean, commandant, U.S. Army Armor School, U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Ga., has been assigned as chief, Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq, U.S. Central Command, Iraq.

Brigadier General Steven D. Garland, vice commander, 14th Air Force, Air Forces Strategic, Air Force Space Command, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been assigned as commander, Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

Colonel Brook J. Leonard, who has been selected to the grade of brigadier general, from senior military assistant to the secretary of the Air Force, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C., has

Your Worldwide Training Partner of Choice www.MTI-dhp.com

been assigned as commander, 56th Fighter Wing, Air Education and Training Command, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.

Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Moran is currently serving as deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel, training, and education, N1, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; and chief of naval personnel, Arlington, Va.

Brigadier General Scott L. Pleus, commander, 56th Fighter Wing, Air Education and Training Command, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., has been assigned as director, F-35 Integration Office, Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Navy Vice Adm. William F. Moran for appointment to the rank of admiral and for assignment as vice chief of naval operations,

Navy Rear Admiral Robert P. Burke for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and for assignment as deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel,

training, and education, N1, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; and chief of naval personnel, Arlington, Va. Burke is currently serving as director, Military Personnel Plans and Policy Division, N13, Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Arlington.

Brigadier General Edward W. Thomas Jr., commander, Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala., to director, public affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

milsim@cae.com cae.com @CAE_Defence

MTI 21.4 | 7

Q&A Colonel Craig S. Unrath was initially commissioned and served as an aviation officer (attack), from 1990-1998, serving as a platoon leader, company commander, and in numerous staff positions.

Since receiving a modeling and simulation graduate degree in 2000, he has served as a FA57 simulation operations officer. His FA57 assignments include the National Simulation Center Digital Integration Office, 1st Cavalry Division, Human Resources Command, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Aviation Center of Excellence Directorate of Simulation, and Army South.

Unrath currently serves as the director of the National Simulation Center and TRADOC capability manager for the integrated training environment. In this position his primary responsibility is the capabilities and requirements development of the Army’s needs regarding training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations.

Unrath possesses Masters Degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School (Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation), Army War College (Strategic Studies), and University of North Dakota (Aviation).

Q: Could we start with an overview of the size of the NSC, people, directorates, divisions, etc.?

Unrath: The National Simulation Center or NSC consists of approximately 400 personnel who are about evenly split between government (military/civilian) and contractor personnel serving at primarily three locations: Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and Forts Lee and Eustis in Virginia.

The NSC has a headquarters and staff element along with three divisions.

These divisions include the Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Capability Manager Integrated Training Environment (TCM ITE), Mission Command Training Support Division (MCTSD), and the Global Simulation Capability (GSC). Subordinate organizations to the TCM ITE include the TRADOC Project Office for the Integrating Architecture (TPO-IA), TCM Virtual & Gaming, TCM Constructive, and TCM Live.

The GSC has a subordinate organization for sustainment training support called the Logistics Exercise & Simulation Division (LESD), Fort Lee.

Colonel Craig S. Unrath Director National Simulation Center

Q: Summarize the NSC’s diverse mission for the Army.

Unrath: I always like to begin by succinctly stating why the NSC exists, or rather, what is our purpose? The NSC exists to ensure that the Army has the right live and synthetic training tools to enable the Total Army to fight and win in a complex operational environment. Providing these simulation tools plays an integral role in supporting Army readiness, the Chief of Staff of the Army’s number one priority. Probably our biggest mission is serving as the Army’s representative for developing the requirements for building synthetic tools for collective training.

The GSC supports Army division and corps constructive training by providing them with simulation feeds and exercise development support.

The MCTSD is the Army’s Lead Agent for managing the Mission Command Training Support Program that services the current 34 mission training complexes around the world.

Another big mission is our Futures Section which is charged with looking into emerging technologies for ten years and beyond that we can possibly leverage to meet our training needs.

Bottom line, our mission is to support, enable, and evolve synthetic training capabilities for the Army.

Our vision is to converge today’s virtual-constructive-gaming environ8 | MTI 21.4

ment construct into: “One live-synthetic training environment for the Army”.

Q: Earlier this year, the Army issued the Enhancing Realistic Training White Paper. What is your role in delivering more realistic training in the future?

Unrath: The operational design construct for Enhancing Realistic Training consists of three supporting lines of effort (LOE). Our contribution falls within the Training Infrastructure LOE, which serves as the backbone for the other two LOEs, Training Environment and Training Management and Assessment.

Our hallmark effort in support of the training infrastructure is referred to as the synthetic training environment (STE). The STE capability will provide a foundational architecture for converging the existing non-live training environments, known today as virtual-constructive-gaming.

In the past, we developed the collective training capabilities that trained collective tasks for a specific unit echelon in one of those stove-piped environments. In the future the STE will provide a single environment for the delivery of collective training. www.MTI-dhp.com

Q&A The STE is meant to be developed in conjunction with the Army’s concept for a common operating environment and the Army Enterprise Network.

Commercial standards and service reuse is the theme: use a common Army enterprise as the point of departure for training services provided through the STE.

•

• Q: You are coming up on two years as the director of the National Simulation Center. How would you characterize what the NSC is doing today differently than it was just those two years ago?

Unrath: Probably our most profound change was the implementation of a new strategy and optimization of the organizational structure.

Together we defined our purpose and a clear vision that keeps our focus on a single synthetic environment for the Army. We realize our critical role in supporting and enabling Army collective training today, but we really tackled the importance of looking strategically at what we need to do to evolve today’s simulation training capabilities by harnessing emerging or evolving technologies that can train the complexities of today’s and future contingency areas.

This strategy was complemented with a renewed emphasis on bringing an innovative spirit back to the NSC. To achieve that, over the past two years we have been evolving our Combined Arms Center – Training Innovation Facility (CAC-TIF) to enable testing of cutting edge technologies to help us better define and develop requirements for the STE. The results have led to quickwin and interim solutions using gaming and virtual reality to train mounted gunnery, Stryker collective training, and intelligent tutor supported training.

I’m extremely proud of what the NSC Team is doing and their excitement. I believe we have a strategy and vision that will prevail in the long run and only get stronger under the next director’s tenure.

Q: Where would you like to see the most investment in technology development within the LVC realm?

Unrath: I have continuously reiterated a common theme during my tenure in support of our vision: we have to transition out of this ‘era of integration’ that we have operated in for the past 20 years and move towards environment convergence.

We have to quit thinking in stove-pipe environments (virtual-constructive-gaming), and start thinking one holistic training environment. Simply put, it’s getting too expensive, we can’t evolve at the pace of commercial technologies, and it’s getting more difficult to meet operational commanders’ complex training needs. To meet these challenges, the NSC has identified six focus areas for technology development: •

•

•

Single Synthetic Environment – converge existing gaming, virtual, and constructive environments by leveraging modern technologies like gaming engines and aggregated computing power. We will work to ensure that future simulations incorporate the latest advances in virtual and augmented realities (VR / AR).

One World Terrain – Model the entire globe for training and mission rehearsal, allowing the Army to train anywhere—virtually. The goal of this technology thrust is to create a capability similar to Google Earth for simulation based training.

Point-of-Need – technologies that deliver training to the location where commanders would ideally train their soldiers; at home-station or deployed. Development efforts should leverage web, cloud, and mobile technologies. Bringing the training area to the unit rather than taking the unit to the training area.

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•

Big Data – Identify structured and unstructured data sources, and employ big data analytic techniques to rapidly model people, places, events, and other phenomenon. These technologies reduce human in-the-loop processes that take inordinate amounts of time. Instead we must strive to put leaders on-the-loop for validation.

Artificial Intelligence – Create intelligent virtual humans that think beyond scripted responses and actions. The use of cognitive architectures, neural networks, and agent-based modeling enable the Army to achieve a more realistic training environment, preparing us for the uncertainty presented by indigenous populations and uncooperative adversaries.

Intelligent Tutors – Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, build virtual observer-trainers into future simulations that teach, coach, and mentor Soldiers and leaders. These technologies are capable of providing immediate feedback and corrections. They also support posttraining feedback through automated after-action reviews to assist trainers with highlighting the most important points of any training event.

Q: What are the cyber security challenges to having so much training capability being accessible through web or cloud-based means? How do you coordinate with the cyber security to mitigate the risks?

Unrath: There are cybersecurity challenges associated with both web and cloud-based training capabilities, indeed with anything networked. As we engineer the STE we’ll need to be conscious of the cost, in operating capability, for assuming an increased security posture.

Inasmuch as it relates to cybersecurity, we must consider our risk exposure across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. There has to be a balance between system security and operational necessity. Consider that the ‘most secure’ system is the one that hasn’t been created, or at least one that is not networked.

We’ll likely have to weigh the relative importance of information confidentiality versus system availability. To that end, we will employ the risk management framework (RMF) process to minimize cybersecurity threats to our simulation training capabilities. RMF ensures that proper security controls are in place, reducing the risk to our information systems. That said, we are working to enable training in a more complex operating environment that includes operations in the information/cyber domain.

We are actively involved in efforts with the Cyber Center of Excellence and ARCYBER to begin replicating operations and effects in the cyber domain as part of a larger Mission Command training experience.

Just stating “train cyber”, borrowing a phrase from Joint Force Quarterly, is “… not helpful.” Cyberspace is a domain, an engineered collection of network devices, standards and specifications, satellites, data models, and more. Further, ‘cyber for cyber’ doesn’t align well with what we do within the Mission Command Training Program. Our charter is to train collective skills, Mission Command.

That isn’t meant to downplay the importance of the task, rather it’s not our area of expertise and the reason why we’re teaming with the cyber experts. Here’s another way to consider this: if cyber operations are successful, offensive cyber operations look a lot like fires effects (suppress, destroy, neutralize), whereas defensive cyber operations look a lot like engineering/ protection tasks (block, turn, fix).

The challenge is to deliver these cyber effects to the collective training environment in such a way that it drives staff actions and decisions, and that it makes sense, that it’s not out of place but rather that it gets soldiers to think of the cyber domain as if it were the physical domain. We want soldiers MTI 21.4 | 9

Q&A and leaders to realize that key terrain exists in cyberspace too; effects in cyberspace can achieve tactical and operational effects.

Q: Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry outside of the military realm. How would you characterize your interface with commercial game developers to make sure today’s soldiers have access to the most relevant game-based training necessary?

Unrath: Our interaction with commercial gaming companies is somewhat limited to information gathering. Our small training budgets don’t align with their business models that spend more on advertising than we do for the Army’s entire gaming capability.

However, in partnership with our science and technology teammates, we regularly communicate with game engine developers. Increasing an engine’s native features will have a down-stream effect on Army training.

The Army’s challenge is how best to leverage the vast number of gaming industry efforts underway today. Improving the ability to distribute games across a myriad of networks will help the Army deliver training around the globe. Improvements to graphical fidelity enables the realistic representation of people, places, events and other phenomenon.

The Army needs a single geospatial representation of the planet, and several companies are working to deliver a whole-earth engine.

Finally, future Army games must have the ability to use the latest peripherals – joysticks, steering wheels, virtual reality goggles, haptics and many others. Work in these areas will illuminate the range of possibilities for Army training simulations.

Q: Tell me about the communication and coordination between the other services when looking at synthetic solutions for training? How are you working to not duplicate effort and resources?

Unrath: This is a real challenge. Our lines of communication are limited and oftentimes the relationships do not optimally align. Our authorities and the ability to fund joint capabilities are limited. But, what are often viewed as duplicative missions and requirements across the services, many times are not.

For example, ground combat is different within the Marine Corps and the Army because of differences in doctrine, organization and military equipment. The same can be said for the Air Force and the Navy. An advantage that we do have is that a relatively sizable portion of our work force is joint—they are joint qualified through additional education and work experience. So, in a certain respect the notion that the Department of Defense, all the services and agencies, could have a single simulation is probably flawed.

That said, we do participate in working groups with the Joint Staff (JS).

The JS J7’s Joint Training Synthetic Environment working group is helping us identify high-demand capabilities and high-interest gap areas across the Joint community as well as areas where we need to apply additional effort.

Activities organized by the JS J6, the Army Modeling and Simulation Office, and the Army CIO/G6 office are enabling a common view, an approach to a unified data capability that could support all service simulations and Mission Command Information Systems. Duplication is costly and data translation— mapping across formats—is wasteful. A unified data approach and common starting point is good for everyone.

Q: How about allied countries? Is there a dialogue on how to sync synthetic training? Are there examples of where it has been or is being done?

10 | MTI 21.4

Unrath: The U.S. Army has been conducting training exercises with our allies around the world for a long time. Training with our allies is a critical requirement that we must assume will be required for any future operation. In order to train for these eventualities, we frequently engage in simulation exercises to identify areas where there are disparities in the way the various forces operate.

Probably the best example is the work that is being done in the Republic of Korea. The U.S. Army has a group of simulation experts at the Korea Battle Simulation Center (KBSC) that support exercises across the Pacific region.

While a great deal of their effort is focused on the Korean peninsula itself, they support exercises distributed across the entire region. The KBSC works very closely with the Korean armed forces as the Koreans develop their own simulations capability. Key to this relationship is ensuring that our simulations are compatible in order to conduct large-scale exercises that include many partner nations operating in that region.

Another example is the interaction we have with our allies in Europe. For decades, the U.S. Army sent large formations to Europe to participate in live training exercises on the continent. While nothing surpasses the opportunity to conduct live training and meet our allies face to face, that type of training became cost prohibitive. Now we have the capability to link U.S. forces with our European counterparts in simulation exercises networked around the world. Additionally, the U.S. Army Joint Multinational Simulation Center frequently coordinates NATO training exercises throughout the region tying multiple international partners together in a unified effort. All of this requires coordination between commands and close synchronization across the force.

The NSC participates in simulation operations forums around the world as well as inviting our allies and the resident liaisons here at the Combined Arms Center to come to the NSC to share ideas and best practices. We also participate in an officer exchange program with the Australian Army where we exchange majors who participate in the use and development of each country’s simulation programs. This sharing of knowledge and experience is essential in ensuring we are able to train with one of our key allies.

Q: Are you working any simulations that could be useful for soldiers as they return from deployment as part of the readjustment process?

How are you using simulations to build resilient Soldiers?

Unrath: There are a number of Army gaming products that increase our soldiers’ ability to withstand, recover, and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. These products enhance an individual’s psychological and social preparedness to achieve and sustain optimal performance in supporting the Army mission in environments of uncertainty and persistent danger.

Three gaming applications that closely correspond with resiliency training are: The Emergent Leader Immersive Training Environment (ELITE) Counseling is a laptop training application used to teach interpersonal skills to junior leaders by presenting real-world instructional scenarios in an engaging, self-reinforcing manner. The purpose of the training experience is to provide junior leaders with an opportunity to learn, practice, and assess interpersonal communication skills for use in basic counseling. The ELITE Counseling content incorporates Army-approved leadership doctrine, evidence-based instructional design methodologies, and research technologies, such as virtual humans and intelligent tutoring, to create a challenging yet engaging training experience.

Additionally, the ELITE Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention Command Team Trainer (ELITE SHARP CTT) is a laptop-based training application that provides Army Command Teams the knowledge, skills, and www.MTI-dhp.com

Q&A confidence to successfully execute the Army SHARP program within their organizations. Developed under the guidance of the Army SHARP Program Management Office and the Army SHARP Academy, the ELITE SHARP CTT content incorporates Army-approved SHARP doctrine, evidence-based instructional design methodologies, and state-of-the-art training technologies such as virtual humans, story-based scenarios, and intelligent tutoring technologies to create a challenging and engaging training experience.

Lastly, the Games For Training (GFT) program is developing a tactical combat casualty care (TC3) standalone game as well as a Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3) plug-in. Tactical Combat Casualty Care guidelines recognize that trauma care in the tactical environment has three goals: (1) treat the casualty; (2) prevent additional casualties; and (3) complete the mission. The TC3 gaming capabilities will train first responders (soldiers and medics) on life-saving triage skills. These skills are practiced in collective training events to reinforce the teamwork required to manage casualties effectively while continuing the fight. These TC3 gaming capabilities will be fielded later this year.

In addition to programs managed at the NSC, we work closely with the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT). They developed a virtual reality exposure therapy system called Bravemind to provide relief from post-traumatic stress. Bravemind is currently in dozens of sites, including VA hospitals and military bases. The system has been shown to produce meaningful reduction in PTS symptoms.

The ICT has another research effort called Stress Resilience in Virtual Environments (STRIVE). STRIVE is a story-driven approach to using virtual reality for understanding and training psychological resilience prior to combat deployments. Studies are underway to evaluate and understand its effectiveness as a tool to mitigate the effects of traumatic experiences.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

Unrath: We are in a difficult period given our current force reductions and fiscal constraints. Our biggest challenge is maintaining readiness and enabling support to current operations while keeping a focus on future capabilities.

Our priority is supporting the Chief of Staff of the Army’s number one priority of Army readiness. This can make investments in future technologies difficult when budgets are tight and there are so many competing for finite resources. It is essential we implement the lessons learned from the development and sustainment of our legacy systems so that we ensure the requirements are right for the future, and we develop those requirements using innovative, agile, and efficient acquisition methods.

The challenges with our legacy systems are compounded by affordability, the inability to harness emerging commercial technology, and our ability to train the operational complexities highlighted in the Army Operating Concept, Human Dimension Strategy, and Army Warfighting Challenges. We are confident that our STE capability vision and strategy can overcome these challenges but we first must achieve a Total Army consensus on using advanced technologies to accomplish collective training objectives that is synchronized with an acceptable divestiture plan for the legacy systems.

Whenever I brief the STE capability, I often refer to the famous Henry Ford quote that I think really summarizes the dilemma of our continuing era of integration, ‘If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.’ The STE capability is an automobile, we have to quit building faster horses. Nobody ever said change is easy, but I am confident the NSC is up to the challenge in realizing a holistic live-synthetic training environment for the U.S. Army. Thank you for the opportunity to tell our story. 

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MTI 21.4 | 11

(Photo courtesy of DoD)

International Vector An Exclusive Military Training International Q&A with

Federico Santiago Pérez Dueñas

NATO Modelling and Simulation Coordination Office Q: Let’s start with some generalities about the NATO Modeling and Simulations Group (NMSG)—a little about its history, its mission, its size and budget. Also tell me a little about the makeup of the permanent staff and their areas of expertise.

Dueñas: The NMSG is responsible for coordinating and providing technical guidance for NATO M&S activities undertaken by 28 NATO and partner nations, and NATO bodies. It is also the M&S policy management body for the alliance and its partners. As a group working in science and technology (S&T), the NMSG is part of the NATO Science and Technology Organization (STO).

What is the role of the STO in NATO? The STO was established with the idea of providing support to the collective needs of NATO and partner nations in the fields of S&T. As we are talking about collaboration among nations, the highest authority within STO is the Science and Technology Board (STB). This board consists of up to three members from each NATO nation, chosen from government, industry or academia, appointed by national governments. Each nation has one vote in the STB, and the decisions are by consensus. The STB is chaired by the NATO chief scientist, a high level recognized S&T leader of a NATO nation, acting as the senior scientific advisor to the NATO leadership.

Coming back to the STO, I have talked about the STB and the chief scientist, but the real engine of this organization are the following executive bodies: The Office of the Chief Scientist (NATO HQ, Brussels) providing executive and administrative support to the chief scientist.

The Collaboration Support Office - CSO (Paris, France) providing executive and administrative support to the S&T activities conducted in the framework of the Collaborative Business Model whereby NATO and partner nations contribute their national resources to define, conduct and promote cooperative research and information exchange.

12 | MTI 21.4

The Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation - CMRE (La Spezia, Italy) organizing and conducting scientific research and technology development and delivering innovative and field tested S&T solutions to address the defense and security needs of the alliance.

The Collaborative Business Model is addressed by seven technical areas (six panels and one group), and NMSG is one of them. The NMSG mission is to promote co-operation among NATO bodies, NATO nations and partner nations to maximize the effective utilization of M&S. The activities of these panels and the group are driven by nations. However, the NMSG business model is a little different with respect to the other panels, as the activities are governed by the NATO M&S Master Plan which was initially approved by the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in 1998. An updated version of this Master Plan has been formally noted by NAC in 2014. The implementation of this plan has allowed the establishment of the NMSG and the MSCO, and the nomination of the NMSG by the Conference of NATO Armaments Directors as the delegated tasking authority for standardization in NATO M&S domain.

As the STB consists of members from each NATO member state at the highest level in their respective nation, NMSG also consists of members representing their nations in the aspects related to modeling and simulation. These members may also be chosen from government, industry, or academia.

A priori, CSO doesn’t have any budget to support the technical activities. Funding for the participation of technical team members in STO activities is the responsibility of the nations. All of our activities and our program of work, are financed by the participating nations; NATO and partner nations. They provide not only the people to do the research, but also the funds for the travel and the locations/means required for the studies, exercises or demonstrations. However, under certain conditions, there are support programs available that allow an individual expert or a Technical Team to receive limited financial support from CSO. When we talk about www.MTI-dhp.com

Technical Teams we are referring for specific research activities which have a defined duration. These research activities can take a variety of forms, including task groups, workshops, symposia, specialists’ meetings, lecture series and technical courses.

In any given year, there are over 450 scientists and engineers from NATO and its partners working on approximately 25 modeling and simulation research activities being conducted by these technical teams. In all cases, these activities result in the publication of highly valued scientific literature published by the STO. An abstract of every publication can be viewed on the CSO’s site (http://www. cso.nato.int/). Depending on their classification, the full text of many of these reports can be downloaded.

The NMSG has no permanent staff. The nations or NATO bodies showing an interest for a particular activity nominate contributing experts which become part of the NMSG program of work during the lifetime of the respective activity. The MSCO is the only full time body in NATO to provide the NMSG with the necessary management and administrative assistance.

Q: How do you communicate and liaison with the in-country M&S agencies and teams and what is the process for sharing technologies and innovations?

Dueñas: As I mentioned previously, the NMSG is composed of representatives from the different NATO nations, and also from some partner nations in the field of modeling and simulation. They act as the liaison with the respective national M&S agencies.

In addition, when a new activity is approved by STB, the nations and NATO bodies with an interest in this activity nominate their scientists or military people to be part of this activity. During the lifetime of the activity, they share their knowledge and experience.

The driving factor is the development of research for the nations, by the nations.

Q: When trying to establish standards, what is the process you follow? How complicated is it to develop common standards with so many people at the table?

Dueñas: The NMSG is the Delegated Tasking Authority for Standardization in NATO M&S Domain. Their main responsibilities are to coordinate M&S standardization activities with the committee for standardization and the NATO Standardization Office to validate standardization objectives and proposals and translate them into standardization tasks; and to manage the production and the maintenance of standardization documents.

The general standardization policy of NATO is to use civil standards whenever possible and cooperate with the most suitable Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) to develop standards of interest to NATO. Hence, we are not working alone. NSMG cooperates with the most suitable civil SDOs on mutually beneficial standardization efforts. Proof of this cooperation is the technical cooperation agreement with the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) signed in Paris July 2007.

A NATO standard is a standard developed by NATO and promulgated in the framework of the NATO standardization process. This process involves the proposal, development, agreement, ratification, promulgation, implementation, and update of the NATO Standards.

Basically, we can differentiate three types of NATO standardization documents: covering documents, allied standards and www.MTI-dhp.com

In his Spanish Navy career he was a maneuver and fire officer (Frigate Asturias), a maneuver and electrical officer (oceanographic ship Hespérides), participated in the F-100 Frigate program, managed IT systems at Spanish Navy headquarters, was in the Spanish Navy INFOSEC Group, was a member of the C.C.E.A. Computer Security Unit, was at the Center for Operations research before moving to the Modelling and Simulation Coordination Office.

Dueñas graduated from Spanish Navy Officer School in 1990, received a Master’s degree in computer science from the Spanish Navy Computer School in 1996. He then earned a Masters in computer security from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid In 2005, A bachelor of science degree in mathematics in 2008 and a Master of of Science in Operations Research in 2011.

standard-related documents. It is not my intention to go deeper in this process; I would only like to highlight the covering documents at this point: Standardization Agreement (STANAG) and Standardization Recommendation (STANREC). The STANAG is a NATO covering document that specifies the agreement of member nations to implement a standard, in whole or in part, in order to meet an interoperability requirement. The STANREC is a NATO standardization document that lists one or several NATO or non-NATO standards relevant to a specific alliance activity unrelated to interoperability.

Q: Specifically for industry, are you in a position to funnel industry technologies and solutions to various countries? Is the NMSG in a position to make recommendations based on what each military—and each service within—may be in need of?

Dueñas: The NATO modeling and simulation goal is to exploit M&S to its full potential across NATO and the nations to enhance both operational and cost effectiveness. To comply with this goal, the NATO M&S master plan has defined the following guiding principles: • Capitalize on, leverage, and share the existing NATO and national M&S knowledge and assets to enable more effective and affordable capabilities for NATO. • Direct the development of common M&S standards and services for simulation interoperability and foster interoperability between command and control and simulation systems.

• Increase the visibility, accessibility and awareness of M&S to foster sharing and ensure its best exploitation across all NATO M&S application areas.

• Employ and develop readily available, flexible and cost-effective M&S to improve NATO effectiveness to address the changing nature and increased complexity of the alliance strategic environment.

Hence, taking into account the goal and the guiding principles, our role is not to funnel industry technologies and solutions to nations. It is quite the opposite; the different NATO stakeholders define their needs and requirements, NMSG collects and analyzes them to develop their program of work, and industry has to provide solutions.

Q: Are there specific focus areas—such as LVC, ADL, mobile apps, etc.? By identifying these as focus areas, are you dedicating more resources (people, funding, etc.) to those areas in hopes of driving rewards quicker?

MTI 21.4 | 13

Dueñas: The NATO M&S application areas include, but are not limited to: support to operations, concept development and experimentation (CD&E), mission rehearsal, training and education, and procurement.

Our resources are not driven by quick rewards; they are driven by NATO and the Nations’ needs and requirements. Right now, our main effort is developing interoperability standards, and training.

I would like to highlight the following NMSG activities working in interoperability standards: • MSG-134 on “Enabling Distributed Simulation Interoperability and Reuse NATO Distributed Simulation Architecture and Design, Compliance Testing and Certification.” Its objective is to update the NATO Education and Training Network (NETN) and Federate Object Model Design Document (FAFD) to support distributed simulations, and to deliver the integration verification and certification tools (IVCT) to support compliance testing and certification of NETN FAFD compliant simulation components.

• MSG-136 on “Modelling and Simulation as a Service (MSaaS), Rapid deployment of interoperable and credible simulation environments.”

They try to find to the synergy of the service-based approaches with ideas taken from cloud computing. This new M&S ecosystem will provide M&S products, data and processes simultaneously and spontaneously to as many users as often as possible for their individual purposes. This M&S eco-system will have to support stand-alone use as well as integration of multiple simulation systems and real systems into a coherent and distributed simulation environment whenever the need arises.

• MSG-145 on “Operationalization of Standardized C2-Simulation Interoperability.” NMSG has worked in two standards in the past to allow the interoperability of command and control and simulation systems. Coalition-Battle Management language (C-BML) is a standard that defines an unambiguous language to describe order, report and request for the exchange of digitized military information among command and control (C2), simulation and autonomous systems. In parallel to the development of C-BML, NMSG has worked in Military Scenario Definition Language (MSDL) standard to develop the scenario and to reduce scenario development time and cost, with the additional goal of being able to use the resulting scenario across multiple simulations. MSG-145 is trying to merge both standards to enhance realism and overall effectiveness by faster, more consistent information exchange among systems, to decrease cost and risk by reducing manual input, to reduce the number of supporting personnel and equipment, and to reduce the preparation and response time with rapid configuration, initialization of systems and validation of scenario.

Q: What is the significance of the next generation Simulation for Training and Operations Group that was recently stood up? Is there an established mission for the group and what are its goals?

Dueñas: Their main objectives are to collect information of best practices in the different nations/armed forces and to create an overview of installed simulators for the NMSG or other bodies within the NATO and the nations. In addition, they also look for new standards and try using similar systems to make the exchange of troops and training at different places easier. Ultimately, they try to find the training gaps when using M&S—what would be good to have, what systems are installed and what they are lacking of—to put together a kind of request for industry to research and develop what is needed.

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Q: How would you characterize the level of modeling and simulation interoperability between NATO and allied countries? What are the challenges to improving those capabilities?

Dueñas: The NMSG has numerous activities related to interoperability, and we can acknowledge the relevance and interest of those activities in the nations depending on their participation. Our task group working in modeling and simulation as a service, is made up of more than 70 participants from 18 different nations and six NATO organizations working together. It is important to keep in mind that we will never fight alone. The different missions around the world where NATO nations are participating, i.e. Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Mali, etc., involve other nations. Consequently, we seek to include partner nations in our activities, such as Australia, South Korea, Sweden, Finland and Austria.

NMSG has also performed demonstrations, or participated in exercises to show and test the validity of our research. In June this year, the task group working on ”Incremental Implementation of NATO Mission Training through Distributed Simulation Operations (MTDS)” will conduct an exercise with simulators from four different nations, with the aim to implement a persistent MTDS capability supporting operational readiness.

In NATO, MTDS is referred to the use of a shared virtual mission environment consisting of networked simulators and command and control systems.

Our main challenge could be more about the scope than technical. As I have already said, we are working on new standards or updating the current ones, but there are areas where we should do more, like interoperability in the maritime, space or cyber domains.

Q: What does your office do to promote better education and understanding of the value of M&S? (conducting training, seminars, exercises, etc.)

Dueñas: NMSG has several activities promoting M&S. In September and October this year, we will have lecture series in Norway, Italy and Turkey on “Command and Control (C2) to Simulation Interoperability.” The lecture series will address the combined use of the Coalition Battle Management Language and Military Scenario Description Language (MSDL). MSDL is used to develop the scenarios and C-BML for execution of military scenarios and to enable interoperation of C2 and simulation systems within a coalition. The first part of the lecture will provide an overview of C-BML and MSDL for all including military commanders and industry leaders. The remainder of the lecture will be focused on military/industry technical staff and will provide detailed technical information on C-BML, MSDL and the C2-simulation program.

NMSG is running another activity working on “NATO M&S Education and Training Curriculum.” This effort is only an exploratory team with the aim of trying to identify current and future educational and training requirements for M&S professionals with NATO and nations. They also want to develop an educational roadmap that defines critical courses for common core education and two key tracks: M&S Technical Professional and M&S Management Professional.

The NATO Education and Training Network (NETN) consists of a persistent infrastructure, distributed training and education tools, and standard operating procedures that enables the nations to collaborate with each other to train their tactical forces and headquarters. NMSG has been working on interoperability, technical standards and architectures to network the NATO and national training and education centers in order to provide a persistent capability. www.MTI-dhp.com

Q: Is NATO exploring how to harness the power of M&S to understand and better train military and security personnel for the fluid and ill-defined terrorist-type threats, much like seen in Europe recently?

actors, which are targeted to achieve political and strategic objectives.

The objective of this exploratory team is to understand NATO’s role in addressing hybrid threats and to assess the modeling and simulation requirements and shortfalls.

Dueñas: NATO has conducted several analyses to provide a common perspective of the challenges facing the Alliance in decades to come. I am not referring only to the current situation in Ukraine, and the deepening civil war in Syria and the emergence of Daesh. There are other instability sources that we need to take into consideration, such as disruptive impact of mass migration, high-impact cyber threats, large-scale disasters, mega-city turmoil, or non-state actors rival states.

From these analyses, NATO has proposed how alliance forces can transform and has recommended abilities that the alliance may need to develop over the next 15 years.

In NMSG, we have activities analyzing these kinds of situations. One of our task groups is working on “M&S Support for Crisis and Disaster Management Processes and Climate Change Implications.” The aim of the project is to develop a technical platform, to enable a fast, accurate and objective crisis/disaster response plan calculation in complex environment and dynamic conditions. The development includes researches, theory and concept creation, standardization and interoperability improvements.

We also have an exploratory team working on “Hybrid Warfare Modelling and Simulation.” When we talk about hybrid warfare, we are talking about non- conventional warfare based on a broad, complex, adaptive and highly integrated combination of conventional and unconventional means, overt and covert activities, by military, paramilitary, irregular and civilian

Q: Does your office have a role in understanding how adversaries and potential adversaries are using M&S? Dueñas: As part of our normal business, NMSG is performing a technology watch. This is a systematic procedure to observe, track, analyze, assess and disseminate information on potentially disruptive technologies in order to identify new relevant technologies that hold the potential to contribute to or enable the development of military capabilities. Technology watch enables the identification of scientific or technical innovation with the potential to create opportunities for breakthroughs or to avoid threats.

The results of these procedures are reflected in tech watch cards where we highlight the disruptive effect of using some specific technology for the friendly forces, and also the disadvantages when this technology is used by the adversary and we don’t have that technology.

We are trying to determine the current state-of-the-art of these technologies, but also in the midterm frame, and assess what is needed to get there (funds, collaborative efforts, technology breakthrough, …). Some of our tech watch cards are about decision and planning support in the battlefield, intelligent wizards for fast scenario development, rapid 3D environment modeling and visual analytics.

As a concluding statement, modeling and simulation contributes to saving lives, saving time and money and preparing the warfighter better, faster and cheaper. 

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MTI 21.4 | 15

Building—and using—better bridge simulators.

For those longing for the good old days when training took place exclusively on ships on the water, Captain Dave Welch has a story to relate. Welch is now commanding officer of the U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Officer School Command (SWOS) in Newport, R.I. When he was an ensign, Welch’s training was on a ship, a yard patrol craft, out on the same Narraganset Bay that he can see from his office window today. “We’d practice man overboard drills. Now, you’d think that’s a real ship in a real maritime environment, so that’s pretty realistic. And it was,” he recalled.

But, Welch said, the ship was generic and didn’t closely model any particular vessel in the Navy. Also, the training schedule was completely at the mercy of whatever weather rolled in.

“I will tell you that driving yard patrol craft on Narraganset Bay after Thanksgiving is pretty unpleasant. Sometimes you simply can’t go out because of the wind or the snow or the visibility,” Welch said.

With multiple ensigns to train, there also was the need to wait and take turns. That further reduced training opportunities to actually drive the ship.

Today, things are different. For one thing, Welch heads up a network of nine training sites that handle 70,000 or so students annually, including 1,500 surface warfare officers, aviation officers and quartermasters. Those trainees still do some time on the water but the majority of the training is done using high fidelity simulators that depend upon visualization, voice recognition and other technologies as well as sophisticated models and databases. That brings benefits, Welch noted.

“With the simulators we have, there’s a much higher ratio of actual, hands on practical experience—more ‘stick’ time. And I can control for all the variables. In addition to modeling every ship class in the U.S. Navy, we model over 70 ports around the world,” he said.

Of particular importance to ship handling training, that port information includes hydrographic, such as water depth, data. Thus, the 16 | MTI 21.4

By Hank Hogan MTI Correspondent

representation used in the simulators not only includes what can be seen but also what’s invisible, at least to the eye when looking at the sea’s surface.

Thanks to ongoing advances, the future of bridge simulation promises to further improve training effectiveness. Some of the potential enhancements include more realistic and detailed visuals depicting what someone on a bridge would see. There also are new simulators for new classes of vessels, like the littoral combat ships or the Zumwalt class destroyers that are just now or will soon be entering service.

Another advance is that some tasks require developing a feel—literally—for the behavior of a ship. Thus, simulators will have to incorporate force feedback, or haptics, so that they can render the sights and feel of a situation.

Another innovation on the horizon combines different simulators for various parts of a vessel or even other non-water going craft. This will enable different aspects beyond what’s done on a bridge to be included in training scenarios. An expansion of artificial intelligence in bridge simulators will enable quicker feedback to trainees on their performance.

For his part, Welch is happy with the current situation. “The state of bridge simulation right now, for us, is solid. It’s one of the best physicsbased models we have of ships and the environment,” he said.

Having a good physics-based model is critical, he added. If a student looks at a simulation that’s supposed to be of a vessel moving at seven knots through San Diego harbor, then the scene had better match reality or the simulator will lose credibility. The same is true for how the virtual vessel reacts to currents and wind. Again, if it is unrealistic then the training value of the simulation will vanish.

For that reason, the models are constantly being updated. For instance, a master mariner on Welch’s staff got a chance to operate a Zumwalt class destroyer for several hours and observe how it sailed. That www.MTI-dhp.com

information, in turn, went back into improving the models for that ship type.

In most bridge simulation, it’s important to realize that voice recognition plays a critical role. That mimics what happens on a real bridge, where commands are issued by the officer on watch to a helmsman and lee helmsman who will actually carry out the command.

The bridge simulation replicates this, with voice recognition systems effectively taking the place of crew in carrying out orders. That’s one reason why improvements in voice recognition accuracy and speed are sought after, according to Welch.

Other non-visual aspects of the simulation system are also important, with one of these being motion. Like visuals in a simulation, the perceived motion has to be close enough to reality that it convinces trainees.

What’s more, the motion cueing system has to match up with the simulation visuals. If that’s not the case, then what is seen with the eyes and what is sensed by the inner ear will not jive. Then, the ancient, reptilian part of the brain springs to life, convinced that the situation is dangerous and drastic steps are needed.

“When your senses send conflicting messages, your brain interprets it as if you have been poisoned,” said Sébastien Lozé, senior marketing director of simulation and training at D-Box Technologies of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The company makes simulator motion systems that provide the cues needed to convince those in the simulator that the motion is real.

At one time, motion cueing systems tended to be complex, large affairs, which made it difficult to incorporate them into bridge simulations.

Technology advances have made this easier to implement, and studies of cognitive workloads and training effectiveness indicate that adding motion pays off, Lozé said. This is because if motion is not part of the mix, the brain has to work harder at achieving the illusion, leaving less capacity for absorbing and retaining training lessons.

In the case of D-Box, the actuators that supply the motion are electric, low friction, fluid free and compact. That makes them low maintenance. They can provide up to six inches of lift and rapid motion, simulating the vibration arising from ship engines and wave motion. The technology has been used by CASNAV, the Brazilian Navy’s research arm, to create an immersive simulator of a ship’s bridge.

In addition to more capable systems, there’s another reason why motion can now be part of simulation: greater know how. The key is not to provide a 100 percent faithful reproduction of www.MTI-dhp.com

Bridge simulations not only allow the bridge team to move through the physical procedures to operate the ship but also the interactive skills required to be part of a team. (Photo courtesy of Transas Marine)

The PCU Gerald R. Ford bridge watch team is utilizing bridge simulations heavily as they move towards taking the ship to sea. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy)

Lieutenant Commander Duncan Mackenzie

every possible motion but to produce enough to create an immersive experience. Knowing what to dial in is, therefore, important, and this expertise has been developed over the years, making it more practical to include motion in a simulation.

Speaking of practicality, simulation is a way to lessen risk, noted Lieutenant Commander Duncan Mackenzie, navigation training officer in the Royal New Zealand Navy. Mackenzie is responsible for the delivery and maintenance of world-class navigation training at all levels.

As for what that training entails, he noted that watch-keeping officers are called upon to navigate ships in situations ranging from permissive to hostile and in locations that include harbors, the littoral and the open ocean. While doing so with live ships would work in some of those cases, that approach wouldn’t be prudent in others.

MTI 21.4 | 17

“Training, for example, at the war-like end of the spectrum would require an extreme appetite for risk if one was to do so with real ships. Stateof-the-art bridge simulation can therefore be considered as a facility where myriad scenarios can be planned, executed, reviewed and learned from in a safe way,” Mackenzie said.

He added that current technology and simulation systems work well for many situations. There are a few where this is not the case, one example being smaller, high speed craft such as rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs).

These tend to demand simulation in hydro- and aerodynamics, and the resulting motions are difficult to replicate in a simulator because of their frequency and the range of movement required.

Other areas that challenge current systems are where interconnectivity is needed, such as when bridge simulators need to be linked to combat, Training at the war-like end of the spectrum would require an extreme appetite for risk if one was to do so with real communications and engineering simulators. ships. State-of-the-art bridge simulation can therefore be considered as a facility where myriad scenarios can be Similarly, training that involves multiple interplanned, executed, reviewed and learned from in a safe way. (Photo courtesy of the New Zealand Defence Force) actions, like underway helicopter operations, are difficult for simulators to handle. Warfare training also challenges current systems employed by the Royal New Zealand Navy, largely due to limitations of the software and the communications suite, according to Mackenzie. He noted that the software is being enhanced to correct such problems, and he’s seen capabilities in action that will soon be available.

“I am confident that the advancement of simulation is meeting the needs of users,” Mackenzie said.

The Royal New Zealand Navy uses software from Norway-based Kongsberg Gruppen ASA. Clayton Burry, vice president of sales and marketing Americas for Kongsberg maritime simulation, noted that the company has more than 40 years of simulation experience involving the bridge, engine room and more.

The state-of-the-art in bridge simulation is a moving target but could be characterized as trending toward integrated simulation solutions, Simulators allow more actual hands on practical experience for training sailors than using an actual ship—with Burry said. This could include the interoperability much lower costs and the ability to change the variables quickly and often. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy) of ship bridge, engine room, RHIB launch and recovery, and crisis management, as well as tactical In addition to putting new and better hardware to work, the company engagement. is also constantly updating its ship models. The company library covers “The high end realism offered in Kongsberg’s hydrodynamics, visual hundreds of vessels and sailing areas. These have to be maintained and systems and physical behavior of the modeled onboard equipment, such as improved on an ongoing basis winches and fully line dynamics, create an unparalleled simulation second As for the future, Burry mentioned a few areas that need further only to real life operations,” Burry said. improvement. One is interoperability. Many military customers, he noted, The company uses proprietary simulations software, various hardware have simulators from various vendors and the desire, naturally, is for all of controls and standard off-the-shelf PCs and visual display systems. The them to work together. Doing so requires that the simulators communicate last two mean its products benefit from the steadily increasing processing seamlessly with one another, a challenge that the industry is addressing. power offered by such systems. Still, high speed craft operating in a visuThe goal is to eventually have various simulators participate in a common ally and target rich environment are always a challenge to simulate, Burry training environment in real time. noted. “The combination of physical, hydrodynamic and aerodynamic effects “We’re not there yet, but I think it is clear that this is where we are along with the need for rapid updating always make the calculation load certainly heading,” Burry said. extreme for such simulations.”

18 | MTI 21.4

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He also noted that simulator technology is being pressed into uses other than training. One in particular is procedural and CONOPS verification.

As naval forces shrink, officers have to execute a growing list of responsibilities due to lean manning of ships. A simulator can be used to assess the ability of an officer to handle a larger number of tasks brought on by having a smaller crew.

Speaking of naval changes, part of the challenge for bridge simulation is that what is needed for the world’s navies is not static training. For instance, actual combat experience is growing rarer and combined military-civilian operations and deployments are becoming more common, said Frans van den Berg. A retired rear admiral of the Royal Netherlands Navy, Van den Berg is business development executive for Naval Simulation and Training at Transas Marine Ltd. The Cork, Irelandbased company claims it has nearly half the worldwide maritime simulation market.

Simulators, like the LCS version here, allow for scenarios to be played and replayed on the ocean or port of choosing “Transas Naval Simulation and Training philoso- anywhere in the world—in calm waters or a typhoon. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy) phy is based upon the increasing need for navies to anticipate changes in global political situation, For all these reasons, bridge simulation is a valuable tool. With current operational environment and in tasks and deployments,” said Van den Berg. technology being improved, the training benefit should increase.

He added that Transas is teaming up with another simulator company, As Sullivan said, “Although the simulator does not replace the required Germany’s Thales, to create a modular simulation solution that encomqualifications each watch stander is expected to earn for evolutions at sea, the passes an entire warship. Transas has expertise in bridge simulators while simulator helps bring the classroom discussion to a more realistic venue.”  Thales brings operational and tactical trainer know-how to the project, according to Van den Berg. He noted that the cost of a simulator has fallen significantly over the years. For instance, the cost dropped four fold over a decade starting in the late 1990s. Today there is a push to use cloud simulation, again as a way to cuts costs. The feeling is that it will also improve flexibility.

However, this technology or any other is only half of the solution, Van den Berg said. “The bit which is absolutely paramount is the quality educational content—training scenarios, assessment tests, courseware. Which is why Transas is looking to and welcomes partnership from professional training centers, which are ready to explore this new opportunity, and is willing to participate in educational content design, development and tests TH TH for the mutual benefit,” he said.

A final example of bridge simulation at work comes from the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers. The first of these is undergoing pre-commissioning, with active training taking place while the ship is still being constructed. Lieutenant Commander James F. Sullivan is the assistant navigator and he noted that bridge simulation plays an extremely important role in the training being done.

“The opportunities for training on an operational carrier at sea are extremely limited, and it takes time and practice to hone specific skill sets, such as pulling in and out of port, anchoring, and underway replenishment alongside another ship. We are also able to understand and learn the unique ship characteristics through repetitions under various environments while practicing different emergencies or ship degradations,” Sullivan said.

The simulator can provide ship specific vantage points, such as a centerline view from a carrier. Beyond that, the ability to provide a live, virtual, construct environment for the entire bridge watch team simultaneously is an important element in continued training improvement. Also of benefit is the ability to make mistakes without paying the price that would be www.omconf.com extracted from doing so using a live ship. Likewise, being able to record and replay events helps reinforce teaching.

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MTI 21.4 | 19

By Harrison Donnelly MTI Correspondent After establishing a solid role in military training for combat and tactical operations, serious gaming is moving into new areas of need and adopting new technology to increase realism and integration with other training.

Combat oriented games remain the mainstay of military serious gaming, with Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3) serving as the U.S. Army’s flagship product for its Games for Training program, and being used by military trainers in some 30 countries around the world. Developer Bohemia Interactive Simulations continues to update the system, recently releasing enhancements designed to improve its ability to enable soldiers train on tactics, rehearse for missions, and practice standard operating procedures.

Also coming onto the scene, however, are programs such as the game released this year by the Army Combined Arms Center-Training and a unit of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which trains soldiers how to respond to foreign natural disasters. The first version of the game, Disaster Sim, challenges a soldier to respond to the needs of Guatemalans during an earthquake.

Another Army serious training game that has received a lot of attention is the Emergent Leader Immersive Training Environment, Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention, Command Team Trainer, which gives aspiring leaders practice in managing difficult gender-related issues among military personnel.

Advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) is also expanding game capabilities, increasing the realism and integration that is vital of effectiveness. Using its Watson AI, IBM offers real time strategy and role playing games 20 | MTI 21.4

the government and providing a wide variety of that directly affect strategic execution. A French training environments. It’s also allowing us to company, MASA Group, uses AI capabilities in its blend live, virtual and constructive systems better Sword automated wargame, which is used in through this latest generation of gaming technol15 countries for training, analysis and decision ogy,” said Steve Farrow, business development support. executive at Raytheon Global Training Solutions.

Two factors in particular are encouraging the “It’s an exciting time to be working in the use of serious gaming in training. As is true with gaming space,” observed Lauren Johannesmeyer, all types of military training, limits on funding and business development manager, technology solureduction in personnel are encouraging the use tions for AEgis Technologies. of simulation alternatives. In addition, the ongoing popularity of games in the consumer economy is Realism leading to explosive development in both features and professional development tools, which then are available to military users at mass-market Understanding that the realism of a serious costs. game for its participants is a critical factor in “As game development technologies have achieving training effectiveness, developers have gained popularity in use, demand has risen and focused on making the experience of serious competition for market share among game engame playing as similar to real life as possible. gines has risen in turn,” observed SAIC Solutions Training realism is at top of mind for Architect Gardner Congdon. “This competition executives of Raytheon, whose training portfolio has resulted in lower licensing costs and greater includes management of the Joint Pacific Multiease of use of the technology itself. Both Unity national Readiness Capability and 7th Army Joint and Epic, the makers of the Unreal engine, have Multinational Training Command. reduced their licensing fees and “There is nothing better than made the technology easier to live training. But when you do live work with. The result is that it is training along with a high level of easier and cheaper than ever to realism in the virtual world, and use these cutting-edge technolotie it all together, the realism is gies.” very high. What makes this effec“The serious gaming industry tive to a trainee is the thought has blossomed in the past process: I am really doing this, decade. What we’re doing is and I better give it all I’ve got. grabbing the technology that’s Otherwise the training can go out there and leveraging it into to the wayside rapidly,” Farrow military training environments in explained. as many areas as possible. Reuse “If you’re on an individual Gardner Congdon is a key tactic, saving money for system and you’re playing video www.MTI-dhp.com

games, it’s easy to get distracted, and the realism factor goes away,” he continued. “But if you’re doing the realistic training, that makes it more effective.

Also, when you start adding in allies and coalition partners, now it really starts to feel like a real battlefield, with a combination of multilingual countries all playing together, which is how it is in the real world.”

Realism is vital for commanders as well as other participants. To help Steve Farrow achieve it, Raytheon uses actual terrain maps for the virtual battlefield. “The maps commanders are using are the real thing, and they can’t tell from their viewpoint whether they are looking at a real or virtual tank on the battlefield,” Farrow said.

“As we increase the technologies in the systems, working with the government and its current and future requirements, the key is to continue to enhance the technology so the training environment continues to grow in realism,” he added.

Serious Game Based Innovations Like their industry partners, U.S. military training organizations are also working to expand the scope and increase the effectiveness of serious gaming techniques.

The Air Force, for example, has used serious game technology for a number of years in several application spaces, such as game based tactical training, adversary air, and as deployable trainers for field training. More recently, however, the Air Education Training Command (AETC) has been contemplating the use of game-based applications in maintenance training, according to Stephan Lyon, an AETC flying training lead integrator.

Legacy hardware trainers are costly to maintain and offer little flexibility as modifications are introduced, whereas virtual gaming trainers are a fraction of the cost and can be updated to match a propagating system, Lyon explained. He pointed to AETC efforts at Sheppard AFB, Texas, to leverage synthetic game based training applications for C-130 Hercules and F-15 Eagle maintenance training.

“From the workforce development perspective, results have been remarkable,” he reported.

“The first fruits of game-based technology have demonstrated significantly lower costs and a smaller footprint option for training, which can be used to supplement the actual aircraft and higher fidelity simulation based training. We have also seen positive impacts in our use of gaming for mission training.

“An example of this is a PHASE III Small Business Innovation Research program the Air Force Research Laboratory has with the Red Flag www.MTI-dhp.com

Another key to realism is to ensure that the vehicles and equipment used in the game are as accurate and up to date as possible. A key player in this area is Simthetiq, which develops highly realistic 3D content that can be readily configured for serious game platforms.

Simthetiq’s serious game configuration service allows it to rapidly convert and integrate 3D model content into any of the current game engines. “When paired with our extensive library of 3D model content, Lauren Johannesmeyer this service offers rich content that can plug and play with the most widely used serious game engines,” said Gareth Jones, director of marketing and sales.

“As an example of how this can apply to military training,” Jones said, “some of our customers ask us to help them develop new prototypes for vehicles in a serious game platform. By adding specific weapon and sensor configurations or payload options, we can help them with operational concept development, testing and prototyping of future real-world entities in their specific serious game environment.”

total cost to train is significantly reduced,” Lyon [advanced air combat exercise]. The initiative uses said. “Offloading training from classroom to exportgame technology to give new attendees to Red able, mobile media also allows student access to Flag an opportunity to practice the communication information anytime and anywhere.” and aircraft coordination skills they need in an Within the Army, one focus of innovation has integrated operational training environment prior been the National Simulation Center (NSC), which to their arrival at the exercise,” Lyon added. acquires off-the-shelf games for Army training.

Like any high quality training development The NSC is exploring several areas with our effort, the project faces the challenge of getting science and technology partners. For example, adequate time with subject matter experts, whose developers are working to model the entire world essential expertise and experience are in great in a game engine, providing a Google Earth-like demand. In addition, AETC must contend with capability that would offer training on realistic sustainment issues, which are especially acute terrain anywhere on Earth. The goal of the global because the command doesn’t have a formal game engine is to facilitate a program office designated for its capability that collapses gaming, game-based needs. virtual and constructive environ“We are working vigorously ments into a single synthetic with the newly formed Live-Virenvironment. tual-Constructive Program office The center is also workat Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to ing to expand gaming beyond gain and sustain innovation in traditional battalion-and-below the schoolhouses,” Lyon said. “We training events through aggregarealize technology does not stand tion techniques that allow serious still, and in fact is increasing at games to train, as well as cloud a hyper-exponential rate. So gaming services, such as Sony’s AETC is in the process of forming PlayStation Now, to leverage coma science and technology core Stephan Lyon mercial industry technology to capabilities team to research, deliver training on laptops, tablets analyze, integrate and promote and mobile smart phones. mature technology and innovative instructional In the search for greater realism, improvepractices using gaming.” ments in cultural/behavioral modeling are enabling The command is also exploring new ways to extremely lifelike game controlled avatars. Adteach skills throughout the continuum of training. ditionally, there are current efforts to make the One such idea is called “offloading,” in which skills gaming avatars representing soldiers perform development is pushed to lower, less expansive based on the individual soldier’s real world performedia—from airplane to simulator, or from simulamance data, including marksmanship and physical tor to desk-top trainer, for example. “As we develop abilities. skills in a lower cost per hour training device, the MTI 21.4 | 21

Simthetiq’s content is completely configured, Jones added, including such information as infrared data, vehicle dynamics, multiple virtual cameras and fuel efficiency metadata. The company also continues to invest in developing tools that make providing high-level accuracy and detail quick and cost effective.

“One of our most recent tools uses a Pixel snap technique to match the vertices of 3D entities in our modeling software to pixels of the source imagery. This technique allows us to produce unrivalled accuracy that otherwise would only be possible by using CAD files,” Jones said. “We are also exploring methods to optimize the dense point cloud data that is generated by 3D scanners in order to strike a balance and generate highly accurate geometries that are more suitable for use in serious gaming. We believe this could be a fundamental game-changer for how we render and visualize 3D content.”

Integration

Companies are paying close attention to wearable technologies and how best to incorporate those innovations into gaming systems that add realism to warfighter training. (Photo courtesy of AEgis Technologies)

The effectiveness of serious games also depends heavily on integration of their content both with other games and with current military needs. That approach is evident at the Army Game Studio (AGS) in Seattle, Wash., where SAIC is the prime contractor.

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The AGS brings together game design, level design, programming, art, animation, sound engineering, music composition, testing, and quality assurance capabilities. One of its best-known products is the America’s Army first-person shooter game, which serves as both a recruitment tool for the public and a basic skills trainer for enlistees.

The center also has produced a variety of highly immersive 3D games, covering such areas as TOW and Javelin missile operations, future soldier training, nuclear and chemical threats, convoy defense and virtual live-fire shooter houses. Several of these offerings consist not only of 3D immersive environments, but tactile user interface as well, for example, requiring users to physically manipulate the actual controls found on the fielded equipment in order to interact with the simulated environment.

Those capabilities enhance the effectiveness of serious games in three major ways, Congdon explained. “First, our development team is made up of professional game developers. These folks learned the tools and methods of game development in the crucible of the highly competitive commercial entertainment game industry. If you can imagine it, our developers can build it.

“Secondly, we employ integrated teams made up of developers, instructional systems designers, human performance psychologists, and subject matter experts. By using an integrated approach, we ensure that every aspect of our games for training is designed and executed to achieve the most effective results. Lastly, we make significant investments in developing technologies and methods that enhance our offerings,” he said.

The studio has benefitted from being located in one of the nation’s hotbeds of advanced technology, which has given it access to a large talent pool and also facilitated synergies with other key companies in the region.

In addition, changes in the cost of and access to professional development tools have had a significant impact, Congdon noted. “As game development technologies have gained popularity in use, demand has risen and competition for market share among game engines has risen in turn.

This competition has resulted in lower licensing costs and greater ease of use of the technology itself. Both Unity and Epic, the makers of the Unreal engine, have reduced their licensing fees and made the technology easier to work with. The result is that it is easier and cheaper than ever to use these cutting edge technologies.” www.MTI-dhp.com

Augmented Reality

challenges they face in the field, that training does not seem real to them. You need to be able to bring the virtually real consequences of their actions into their training Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) systems as best you can.” are also having an impact on military gaming. AEgis, for MASA, meanwhile, offers two military training products example, is exploring such capabilities for virtual training, equipped with AI capabilities. visual awareness and interactive training solutions. “We are MASA Sword is a wargame with automated forces. actively developing for new AR and VR off-the-shelf devices Although its principal purpose is to perform computer and have established a wonderful reciprocal partnership assisted exercises for command posts from brigade to batwith a large hardware manufacturer in support of these eftalion levels, Sword is also used as an analysis tool. There forts. AEgis is also eagerly watching the emerging advancehas also been interest in product for serious gaming during ments in wearable tech that could substantially enhance advanced officer training classes. military training applications,” Johannesmeyer explained.

Enrico Raue MASA Life is middleware designed to enable the creThe company also has developed a Google Cardboardation of autonomous behaviors for simulations, meeting the compatible virtual and augmented reality experience called need for realistic simulations to be populated with a variety of actors, all of Visual-Eyes, which highlights its modeling, simulation, gaming and training whom cannot be driven by human operators. It enables operators to create capabilities in one interactive game. and simulate a wide variety of engaging, autonomous characters that can In 2012, AEgis’ tablet-based game, Combat ID, won an award at the I/ become effective actors on the virtual battlefield.

ITSEC conference. The fratricide-prevention tool is designed to help military “In that sense, Life is not a serious game for armies, but it does allow personnel identify friendly and adversary vehicles under various circumarmies using virtual simulations for training purposes to populate their virstances and environments. tual worlds in a simple way and edit behaviors according to their doctrine Since then, the company has enhanced Combat ID, adding more real for more realistic training, in terms of actions, reactions and interactions,” world hazards, difficulties, sensors and objects to identify. “We enhanced said Enrico Raue, new markets and sales manager. the environments to be more dynamic, realistic, and feature more vari“Compared to other constructive simulations, Sword is lighter and ance, such as random objects, positions, time of day and movements, and easier to use,” he said. “This ease of use implies the need for fewer operaincluded more challenges to test the soldiers’ abilities to ID targets,” Johantors during a training session, as well as significantly reducing the time nesmeyer noted. required for customization and deployment. Armies that use Sword have “Immersion is a key factor here,” she added. “If a user’s training does reported significant savings.”  not capture the operational environment, stress factors, constraints and

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13/06/2016 11:01

MTI 21.4 | 23

Traumatic simulation has come a long way in recent years, especially when mixed with environmental conditioning and actor/patients.

By Andrew Drwiega, MTI Correspondent

It often takes a war to accelerate developments in technology and techniques, not only in weapons effectiveness and complexity, but also in every aspect of war fighting. Caring for the wounded has shared in this development. The hospital at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, during its short history 2006 to 2014, became renown as one of the world’s leading trauma centers.

Initially only a tented hospital when it opened in 2006, the fierce fighting and wide range of serious wounds that ever increasingly called for extensive surgery meant that a newer, more robust facility was required that could provide much improved environmental controls giving protection from dust, heat and cold.

By 2010 and with a new structure in place the number of operating theatres had been increased to four, the intensive care unit expanded to 12 beds and the general ward had a surge capacity of 50 beds.

Medical treatment out on the battlefield had also improved, often out of necessity where a murderous frequency of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was causing horrific blast injuries, often to several soldiers caught in the same explosion. Designated soldiers within platoons and companies were given better training to handle such injuries to try and keep their buddies alive until the specialist medics arrived onboard specialist U.S. Air Force ‘Pedro’ and U.S. Army dust off HH-60s and Royal Air Force CH-47s in the form of the medical emergency response team (otherwise known at MERT).

The larger Chinook MERT usually comprised one doctor, one nurse and two paramedics and could begin blood transfusions and basic preparations before the patient is delivered to a hospital such as that at Camp Bastion.

Then once a casualty has been stabilized and need to return to their home country for more extensive treatment there are the medical repatriation flights onboard aircraft including KC-135s or C-17s.

The skills of all the medics involved all of these steps, from first wounding out on the battlefield to the final medical repatriation have been honed 24 | MTI 21.4

and refined over the years of conflict that have lasted for most of the 21st Century, but how are such skills maintained when the fighting stops, or as in the current climate decreases significantly?

Keeping the realism An aeromedical evacuation technician, supported by a with a flight nurse, work diligently to attach ECG leads to a patient so that they can assess the electrical activity of the patients heart. Time is slipping away and the measurements need to be taken quickly and accurately.

This is a scenario many in the military medical world are likely to have experienced over the decades of conflict that have focused on Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 15 years. However, this time no life is at stake as this is a training session taking place at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. The patient is in fact a simulation dummy although the personnel are real; both members of the U.S. Air Force’s 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (AES), one of four squadrons that comprise the 375th Medical Group that supports the 375th Air Mobility Wing.

The 375th AES is responsible for the coordination of aeromedical staging transfers for injured and wounded personnel within the U.S. armed services.

On May 6 2016, the 375th AES took ownership of a cargo compartment trainer (CCT) which has been designed to simulate conditions under which AE crew would have to work on board an aircraft.

It has been designed to provide a realistic and challenging clinical experience that will test the thinking and problem solving of the medical personnel using it.

Staff Sergeant Andrew Hicks, one of the 375th AES’ aeromedical evacuation technician said that he believed the CCT trainer “fosters a more realistic environment, which allows hands-on training to develop www.MTI-dhp.com

an increased comfort level on operational missions.” As in any training, especially synthetic, realism creates its own pressure.

The CCT replicates the inside of a Boeing KC-135 aircraft that can be configured for aeromedical evacuation missions, one of four aircraft types that the 375th AES uses to transport patients.

The simulation includes the use of cameras and a recording system to provide for post-training review. Scenarios can increase in complexity to increase pressure on the AE teams.

Staff Sergeant Ryan Edwards, another of the squadron’s aeromedical technician talked of the benefits of such a system: ”As I have worked with my team to develop medical scenarios and training events to guide and mold new AE flyers, I have seen first-hand an improvement in the confidence of medical technicians.” The squadron’s AE personnel must conduct training in the CCT at least twice during a six-month period.

In 2015 the 375th AES conducted 117 actual missions. Hicks made the point with a current slower operational tempo that had been witnessed over the last decade or so, the systems remained a vital part ensuring that the ability to apply “clinical skills and knowledge” within the aircraft environment was not forgotten.

In January 2016, Dobbins AFB took delivery of a CAE Aeromedical Evacuation Training System based on a C-130 layout. It includes a range of patient simulators surrounded by real and simulated aircraft parts, day/night modes and a smoke generator to increase the pressure of the working environment.

What are the choices?

“There are different approaches and countries have their own ideas about battlefield medical care, how intensive it will be, and how forward towards the battle area it will be,” said Helmar Winkel, CAE Healthcare’s business development manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In his geographical area within Europe, nations such as the UK, Germany, France and Italy all have programs for military medical training. He added that the choice was usually divided between ‘green’ and ‘white’ simulation.

“The green part is the combat first responder, or medics out in the field,” said Winkel. This is where there is a big focus on training the guy on the scene first, usually a patrol member, to be able to stop the casualty dying before the next level of medical skill arrives on scene. “This means taking care of the casualty in what we call the platinum 10 minutes. They need to react to what kills first - no breathing, ensuring an airway, trying to stem severe bleeding,’ he said. In principle they train to follow the basic tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) guidelines.

“The white side is hospital work and that is similar to the real world too,” added Winkel. “We have a variety of products for that too with a lot of surgical simulation, even up to neuro surgery or knee surgery.”

“Hyper-realistic situations are the future,” Winkel believed. “This is about what you do with a simulator and a real actor together with a pressure environment. Especially if the casualty is wearing a cut suit, which is a surgical simulator worn by a human actor.”

The cut suit is a very realistic simulator that allows the medical personal to cut into virtual skin. “It allows everything to be done under TCCC but in a hyper realistic environment, so you really cut and the person is responding,” said Winkel. “There is a huge difference between this and an immobilized task trainer, “ he added.

Hyper realism Last September, CAE Healthcare became the exclusive distributor of Strategic Operations (STOPS) surgical cut suit outside the United States. www.MTI-dhp.com

Aeromedical evacuation team members connect ECG leads to a simulated patient in order to assess the electrical activity of the patients heart on a new training simulator at Scott Air Force Base. The cargo compartment trainer comes equipped with new features including an upgraded camera and recording system which gives the ability to replay training scenarios and document trends. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman Daniel Garcia)

Designed for point-of-injury training, the surgical cut suit allows first responders to practice performing surgical and emergency procedures on patients with simulated traumatic, life-threatening injuries. It immerses the trainee in a hyper-realistic training environments that include special effects, role players and simulated wounds.

CAE Healthcare lists the applications of the surgical cut suit for “procedures including hemorrhage control by tourniquet or by suturing and stapling of internal organs, arterial ligation or clamping, surgical cricothyrotomy, needle thoracentesis, suturing of internal organs and skin and peripheral IV access.”

The cut suit is worn by a live person which can replicate interaction at whatever level the training team desire. There is also a TCCC/EMS cut suit vest which can be zipped around a manikin to add realism to that particular scenario as well. The latter cut suit allows trainees to treat three primary causes of death experience in real life: hemorrhage, airway compromise and tension pneumothorax. CAE confirms that both types of suits can be customized and are repairable for multiple uses. “It is self repairable with very modern tissue. A lot of R&D money has gone into that development,” said Winkel.

Another hyper realistic scenario is the blast trousers simulator from STOPS which is used in conjunction with the blood pumping system (BPS).

This system simulates blast injuries from above knee height and that continue to below the naval.

According to STOPS, “The wound is above any effective tourniquet placement and must be treated by clamping the vessel or packing the wound (which holds up to two rolls of gauze) and applying direct pressure.” Not only can they also include additional life threatening and distractor wounds, but by using a remotely controlled blood pumping system they can also ‘bleed out’ over three liters of simulated blood in just a couple of minutes.

International Teamwork According to Dr. Curtis Whittle, a former member of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Defence Medical Services organization, the British have used simulation for some years to prepare troops for deployment to the battlefield and develop clinical competencies not usually acquired in their ordinary duties.

Training in advance of deployment was vital, he said during an interview hosted by medical training solution provider Laerdal. The requirement for good teamwork is obvious, but is becoming increasingly vital when British forces deploy as part of a coalition with medical teams from other MTI 21.4 | 25

countries. Mutual understanding and cooperation is never more challenged than when working in a multinational field hospital where several national teams are all likely to have differing experiences and practices.

“Simulation starts with part-task trainers and battlefield trauma life support courses where individuals can practice the practical skills that they will use on deployment,” he said “They then use a manikin to manage the casualty, working on team cooperation.” He said that the British have used mannequins in the MERT scenario by locating them in the back of a rotary or fixed wing aircraft trainer which simulates the distractions of that particular environment. This type of environment poses its own difficulties and requires well practiced team procedures to overcome them: “Resuscitation skills in the back of an aircraft are made difficult as the ability to talk to each other is hampered. You have to find out subtle ways of working and communicating together and develop inter personal skills.”

Whittle talks about the need for critical care teams to work together and develop team work in a risk free environment. He also points to the benefits that were observed by bringing multi-disciplined teams together over a number of days “where emergency department physicians, surgeons, anesthetists and nurses as well as the surgical team can work together” proves very beneficial. “We can create a resuscitation, an amputation, blast injury, penetrating trauma and start to acquaint these people with the trauma, blood injuries and aggression that they are likely to see.”

Preparing NATO’s SOF One example of the value that command organizations are now placing on pre-deployment medical training can be found in the course that has been

established by NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ). The course is provided for personnel expected to deploy within a couple of months.

The two-day NSHQ pre-deployment medical refresher training course introduces personnel to basic life saving skills and equipment which is itself based on the curriculum of the Committee for Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

From understanding and learning how to use an individual first aid kit, it moves through phases of care at the point of injury to extraction techniques from non-standard vehicles. The course includes field training using trauma simulators.

NSHQ also runs a longer 10-day NATO SOF combat medical simulation and TCCC train the trainer course. This course is for personnel who have conventional medical experience and who are responsible for training unit operators, medics and above.

It teaches how to compile a TCCC curriculum using combat medical simulation and simulators. In addition to medical theory and concepts behind the use of simulators, it gives a hand’s on experience of the advantages and limitations of different medical simulators in the NSHQ Allied Centre for Medical Education. Increasingly complex scenarios are taught so that they will be able to teach good medical simulation practices while learning the use of combat medical simulators.

Course graduates will be able to coordinate home station use of NSHQ simulators on a space available basis through the NATO Capability Enhancement Program.

Winkel stated that technology in the field of trauma car has made huge progress as a direct result of experiences gained from the battlefield. But he concludes that the lessons learned must not be lost and that competency can be secured through the use of modern training and assimilation training: “they need to be prepared for the next conflict.” 

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MTI 21.4 | 27

TEAM ORLANDO Improving warfighter performance through Squad Overmatch

By Teresa Bradley

The Squad Overmatch (SOvM) study is a comprehensive approach to learning that explores the wide range of skills needed in today’s urban-battle environments. A joint collaborative effort, SOvM leverages findings from military studies of battlefield performance, stress response, leadership, communications and tactical combat casualty care. That foundation was built into sophisticated training technologies and curriculum.

The goal of the SOvM study team is to improve training effectiveness and realism by supplementing existing programs of instruction and programs of record.

Unique to SOvM is the Integrated Training Approach (ITA) that integrates five lifesaving domains into a single compressed curriculum. Previous research has shown that each of these domains contributes to improving individual and team performance: Advanced Situational Analysis helps recognize patterns that may indicate a potentially dangerous situation, including behavior profiling to predict an impending attack.

Team Development focuses on building communication and leadership skills. Warfighters learn how to function more effectively by sharing appropriate information.

Resilience and Performance Enhancement concentrates on the skills necessary to maintaining composure and tactical focus under stress.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care addresses the essential tactical and medical phases of TC3.

Integrated After Action Reviews optimize a trainee’s AAR through self and team reflection.

Unique comprehensive and immersive approach SOvM ITA combines multiple training formats to ensure skills are first understood intellectually and then applied effectively under conditions that

replicate combat. Training begins in the classroom, progresses to simulations and then culminates in live training events. It encompasses a mission from beginning to end: mission planning to casualty collection sites and evacuation preparation.

Rob Wolf, assistant program manager, U.S. Army PEO STRI/PM TRADE, said, “The integrated training approach enables rapid transfer of life-saving, individual, team-and leader performance skills.

It offers a higher probability of retention due to the graduated stress exposure and the immersive learning environment.

During several three-day, SOvM training events held at Fort Benning’s Clarke Simulation Center and the McKenna MOUT site, warfighters experienced progressively complex situations involving civilians, threats, direct contact, and IEDs—resulting in multiple casualties for each of the five gaming and live scenarios. Situation complexity increased throughout a continuous story line, with mounting hazards adding stress that could potentially distract warfighters from “What’s Important Now.” Following Army Games for Training scenarios, realism was enhanced with live training at the MOUT site. This featured immersive situations with automated and human-controlled avatars exhibiting verbal and nonverbal cues, an array of non-pyro explosive effects, trauma mannequins at sniper-fire and IED locations, and moulage to add further realism in the MOUT training environment.

A squad leader reported greater confidence in his team at the conclusion of the training study. “I felt more confidence in them than I ever felt with any squad member, because they were all on the same page. Everyone knew their jobs. The computer portion was key. It didn’t waste any resources.

I would have been in the black the entire time if I didn’t have this training.”

“This is one of the most helpful trainings I’ve ever done.”

A squad leader from the 75th Ranger Regiment said that he’d achieved in three days what normally takes a training cycle (typically three months).

Life saving During a 10-year period in 2001 – 2011, the Eastbridge study concluded that 87 percent of 28 | MTI 21.4

injured warfighters who died of their wounds, did so before reaching a medical facility. Most bleed to death, even though 24 percent had suffered wounds that were potentially survivable if first aid had been administered quickly.

In contrast, only 3 percent of 75th Ranger Regiment deaths were deemed potentially survivable wounds. Rob Wolf said: “This underscores the importance of first responder self-and buddy aid/TC3 training in realistic environments. It’s an objective of SOvM to close the gap between those staggering statistics.”

A soldier with multiple deployments to Afghanistan said, “I wish I could have had this training before I deployed.”

SOvM and the future A joint team of researchers from NAWCTSD, PEO STRI, USMC PM TRASYS, ARL ATSD and the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCOE) conducted curriculum development, data collection and experimentation over a two-year period in 2015 and 2016 at Fort Benning, GA. To date, sixteen squads have supported SOvM from the Army’s 3rd ID, 316th CAV, 82nd ABN, 75th Ranger Regiment and the 6th Marines Division.

The SOvM team will be publishing preliminary experiment findings and a draft Training Support Package (TSP) in 2016. The TSP will assist commanders in conducting mission critical training in the classroom; gaming and virtual environments, and live exercises with key AAR learning objectives.

In 2018, the SOvM team will be seeking additional units to implement the SOvM ITA. The SOvM study team is developing a train-thetrainer package to facilitate transitioning to the field. The first implementation of SOvM will be at Camp Buehring, Kuwait this fall.

The program has been funded by The Defense Health Affairs Joint Program Committee for Medical Simulation and Training and the CSA Army Study Program Office.

PEO STRI manages SOvM in collaboration with the training developer (MCoE), the combat developer (CAC-T) and is supported by Army, Navy, USMC, Industry, Academia and other government agencies.  www.MTI-dhp.com

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