mt2 20 4 final

August 2015Volume 20, Issue 4

www.MT2-kmi.com

Aviation Maintenance O Ground Training O ProjectorsDoD Training Research O Army U O Constructive Simulation

Guard Chief

Gen. Frank J. Grass

ChiefNational Guard Bureau

Serious GamingSpecial Section:

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August 2015Volume 20, Issue 4military training technology

Cover / Q&A

General Frank J. GrassChief

National Guard Bureau

16

Departments2 editor’s PersPective3 ProGram hiGhliGhts/PeoPle14 data Packets26 team orlando27 resource center

Industry InterviewW. Garth smithPresident and Co-OwnerMetaVR

28

Features

19constructive simulation traininGFor soldiers in the Army National Guard, training time is usually limited to a couple of days each month and a few weeks during the year. With this reduced training time, it is key to maximize the amount of collective training a unit conducts in order to maintain its proficiency and readiness.

By Major jason Inskeep

20traininG to the WarFiGhterA DoD training official provides an overview of the department’s investment approach for military training technology research, identifying key focus areas in which efforts are being concentrated and, where appropriate, highlighting areas that are promising works in progress.

By CoMMander joseph V. Cohn

22traininG For maintaininGTraining programs for aviation maintenance workers must be extremely efficient, enabling personnel to reach high levels of competence quickly and with the least expenditure of scarce money and other resources. Training the maintainers requires smart combinations of the latest technologies with hard-won experience in instruction.

By henry Canaday

25army launches universityThe Army is consolidating soldier education under one roof as part of the recently initiated concept of the Army University. While not a “brick and mortar” university, Army U will maximize the educational experience that soldiers are already getting in the Army through the Army Training and Doctrine Command.

By C. Todd Lopez

4ProJectinG realityAs their software and visual content grows more complex, military simulation and training programs are looking to industry for projection technology able to deliver eye-popping visuals, intense colors and, most importantly, improved training outcomes.

By harrIson donneLLy

11neW needs chanGe Ground traininGThe next generation of warfighters will have to be prepared to operate in more complex environments, from traversing new geographic terrain to conducting security missions in cities, working with coalition partners or delivering humanitarian aid in support of NGOs. Preparing for future contingencies will require a higher level of preparation to adapt to the complexities of the future battlefield.

By erIn FLynn jay

serious GaminGSerious gaming plays a critical role in maintaining operational readiness for the warfighter, and the developers who providethese solutions are consistently using innovative technologies to meet the needs of our military. Profiles of two of the leaders in this area—SAIC and Bohemia Interactive Simulations—are featured.

7

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While a recent study of the U.S. military training and simula-tion market for the rest of the decade is not exactly upbeat, it offers a brighter vision for the government and industry community over the long term.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan predicts that U.S. market revenues will drop from $13.11 billion in 2014 to $13.00 billion in 2019, at a negative compound annual growth rate of 0.2 percent. The declining defense budget overall will contribute to this trend, although the main factor fueling the downswing will be the completion of initial training system deliveries for programs such as the P-8, KC-46 and littoral combat ship.

Moreover, budget cuts and unpredictable future funding levels are reducing the services’ ability to invest in and plan for training programs, and the uncertainty regarding sequestration returning is making strategic planning difficult. Contractors, meanwhile, are being forced to operate on shorter deadlines, expect smaller profit margins and work with reduced investment in R&D, the report contends, adding that this can stifle innovation.

The primary impact of the fiscal crunch will be on live training programs, which currently account for nearly 50 percent of spending in this area, but are expected to decline as a share of the budget. Live-virtual-constructive (LVC) training programs, by contrast, will receive increasing emphasis.

The LVC approach also has its share of challenges, the report notes. Department of Defense training and simulation providers will need to create robust LVC capabilities, and the networks, frameworks, hardware and software required will be expensive to develop. In addition, more information is needed about the true benefits of LVC, as well as the types of programs for which it is best suited.

Eventually, however, the result will be a better system, the study predicts: “Once sunk costs are absorbed and systems are in place, overall annual training costs will fall to a new baseline and an optimal training mix for combat readiness will be achieved.”

Harrison DonnellyedITor

Recognized Leader Covering All Aspects of Military Training Readiness

editorialEditorharrison donnelly [email protected]

Copy Editorskevin harris [email protected] jonathan Magin [email protected]

CorrespondentsPeter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • Scott R. Gourley erin Flynn jay

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Senior Graphic Designerscott Morris [email protected]

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Military Training Technology

Volume 20, Issue 4 • August 2015

eDitor’S PerSPectiVe

An MV-22 Osprey lands during a training exercise to recover personnel in Southwest Asia. The 185th Theater Aviation Brigade conducts interoperability training missions to enhance capabilities between U.S. Army aviation and other U.S. military forces. [U.S. Army National Guard photo by Army Sergeant Michael Needham]

Program highlightS Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Virtual Role-Playing to Support Afghan Leader Engagement

NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) has ordered Alelo’s VRP MIL product for use at the NATO Joint Force Training Center (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland. JFTC plans to use it to prepare NATO personnel for key leader engagements in Afghanistan, as part of the Resolute Support 15-3 training exercise this summer. VRP enhances training with commercial game engines with virtual role play training capabilities. Learners speak and choose screen-based options to interact with artificially intelligent characters that behave in culturally appropriate ways. The Alelo VRP approach is grounded in proven pedagogy and social science research. Simulations include tasks and situations similar to ones learners are likely to encounter in the real world. Lifelike practice without the risk of failure ensures that learners retain and sustain their acquired skills and can confidently apply them during their missions. NATO has licensed Alelo’s VRP MIL plug-in for VBS3, together with virtual role-players for Afghan culture and the Pashto language. Using VRP MIL, learners can walk up to game characters in a VBS simula-tion and engage with them in the local language.

Dr. W. Lewis Johnson; [email protected]

AgustaWestland has been awarded a contract by the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply AW101 Merlin Mk4/4a aircrew synthetic training equipment that will equip a dedi-cated training facility. AgustaWestland conducted a competi-tion for the supply of the training equipment on behalf of the MoD. Following a robust assessment of the bids, involving project stakeholders and flight simulation experts, CAE was selected to supply two flight training devices, a flight naviga-tion procedures trainer and a rear crew trainer. The training devices will equip a dedicated Merlin Commando Helicopter Force training facility located at the aircraft’s main operating base, Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. The training devices will enable multi-aircraft and whole crew training utilizing augmented reality that will further enhance the training experience for the rear crew. The company has worked closely with the MoD’s Merlin Project Team to develop the Merlin MK4/4a training requirements and to ensure that the delivery of the training solution is synchronized with the aircraft development and manufacturing program.

Ian McVeigh; [email protected]

Synthetic Environment Trains Merlin Aircrews

Navy Captain Stephen C. Evans, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as commander, Naval Service Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill.

Lieutenant Colonel Walt Yates, program manager, training systems for the Marine Corps, has been promoted to the rank of colonel.

James T. Blake, Ph.D., former Army program executive officer for simulation, training and instrumentation and head of contracting activity, has joined Cubic Global Defense as vice

president and deputy general manager, integrated training solutions, where he will be responsible for creating further differentiation of Cubic’s training solutions and services. In addition, Navy Vice Admiral David Buss (Ret.) has joined the company as vice president and deputy to the president, where he will lead the business strategy for Cubic’s live-virtual-constructive training.

FlightSafety International has named Air Force Brigadier General Scott Goodwin (Ret.) as executive director, simulation.

CAE has appointed Andrew Jazwick to the newly created position of vice president, Washington operations for its defense and security business unit.

Cubic Defense Australia has been selected as the primary contractor to provide a managed workforce solution for the Australian Defense Simulation and Training Center (ADSTC) Simulation Support Services (SSS). The four-year contract is valued at $18 million with options for extension. ADSTC and the contracted services are based in Canberra, Australia, but will be distributed throughout the nation and the Pacific to coalition part-ners. ADSTC designs and delivers end-to-end joint and combined training exercises using world-class simulations to enhance realism, stimulate command, control and communica-tions as well as distributed mission training for the Australian Defense Force (ADF). The SSS contract is a key enabler for the ADF’s Future Simulation Capability. Cubic continues to focus on enhancing training outcomes using simulation and by working closely with organizations, such as ADSTC, to enhance exercise delivery. Under this new contract, Cubic will support ADF’s highest-level training and simulation institutions.

Mark Horn; [email protected]

Defense Training Center Orders

Simulation SupportCompiled by KMI Media Group staffPeoPle

Lieutenant Colonel Walt Yates

James T. Blake

Vice Admiral David Buss (Ret.)

www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 20.4 | 3

As their software and visual content grows more complex, military simulation and training programs are

looking to industry for projection technology able to deliver eye-popping visuals, intense colors and, most importantly, improved training outcomes.

Manufacturers are releasing a range of new pro-jector models with 4K and 3-D capabilities and a range of colors closer to what the human eye can see than ever before. The goal is to provide the high lev-els of realism and visual accuracy needed to prepare trainees for high-risk operations in the field.

“What we’re seeing in the military market is that fidelity of the trainers is improving. It used to be just the fast-jet trainers that needed a lot of fidelity, but now more common trainers are calling for more fi-delity on display. Also, there’s more of a focus on night vision, so the projectors have to be able to simulate night vision goggles (NVG),” said Phil Laney, director of simulation and visualization for Digital Projection.

“There is a desire for a lot higher resolution, and also a much higher system contrast number. They are moving more to a high-dynamic range model, where they want higher resolution but also black level for night training. In addition, there is interest in better color space,” he added.

“As technology improves and allows for more realistic simulation and stimulation, the military’s needs for visual displays become more demanding,” observed Curtis Lingard, product manager at Chris-tie. “What was once deemed an acceptable benchmark for performance becomes antiquated and no longer adequate. The primary military need has always been to perfectly duplicate real-world situations so that negative training doesn’t occur. Any technology that moves the solutions closer to perfect simulation will help raise the bar for acceptance.

“Military trainers are typically focused on any ca-pability minimizing the variance between real life and their simulated environments. From a display perspec-tive, contrast and brightness are common barriers. The brighter the projection gets, the more cross-re-flections happen, resulting in reduced contrast. Trying

to improve both brightness and contrast at the same time is an ongoing challenge for system design,” Lingard said.

In addition, military training needs are requiring more mission-level capabilities reflecting the current operational environment, noted Dennis Hartley, prin-cipal systems engineer for Rockwell Collins Simula-tion & Training Solutions.

“Mission-level training requires interaction be-tween a diverse spectrum, including other aircraft, surveillance systems, UAVs and ground forces, as well as other partners,” Harley said. “Effective training of this type requires replicating secure data links and ensuring visual and sensor correlation among all the participants. Network bandwidth improvements and achieving a truly common synthetic environment are the key challenges to realizing the full potential of this networked training.

“There is also a desire to provide training by adaptive learning methods as opposed to traditional schoolhouse instructor-led training,” he continued. “This requires more dynamics in the trainer to allow the learning interaction, and the ability to dynamically tailor the exercise to the student’s capability.”

Digital lighting

Although Digital Projection offers nearly 100 dif-ferent projectors, all are based on digital light process-ing (DLP), which is one of three main technologies for creating imagery. The others are liquid crystal display, which is found on many home televisions but is not widely used in simulation, and liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), which is used by companies such as Sony and JVC for their high-resolution products.

DLP systems come in one- and three-chip models, the latter of which Digital Projection helped Texas In-struments develop.

“In the simulation market, most people have moved to DLP because it is so robust, and also main-tains its image quality over time, especially with the switch to solid-state light sources. With LED DLP or even laser phosphor DLP, what we see is that the

Phil Laney

Curtis Lingard

Dennis Hartley

dennis.hartley @rockwellcollins.com

[email protected]

curtis.lingard @christiedigital.com

Manufacturers evolve projectors to Meet the DeManDs of training prograMs’ coMplex software anD visual content.

By harrison Donnelly

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images stay the same for long periods of time, so the projector acts more like a monitor than a traditional projector that you might have to fiddle with and change over time.”

With the help of the solid-state light-ing, Digital Projection products also offer a much wider range of colors, according to Laney. “In the past, with a lamp-based pro-jector, you would get about 30 percent of the colors that the human eye can see. Now, with some of the LED projectors, such as the Insight offered by Digital Projection, you can see about 70 percent of the colors the eye is able to see. If you think about fidelity of trainers, color is not a component that a lot of people have focused on. But I think that now the capabil-ity is there, people will look at that more closely.

“The extra color space not only looks more pleasing to your eye, but research has shown that it looks brighter to your eye. If you have more saturated colors, the display will look brighter. Many domed displays look washed out. A lot of people blame that on system con-trast, but in many cases it may just be the lack of available colors on that projector. If it is only putting out 20 percent of the colors you can see, it will look washed out. But if you have a lot of colors to display, it will look more vibrant and realistic to your eye,” he explained.

Laney offered an example of the value of the increased color range for training programs. “If you have the nuances of color, when you have a target at a distance, such as a jet that may be about the same color as the background sky, you can see it better at a distance be-cause you have the colors that separate it from the background sky. If you have a projector that can’t separate the colors, you won’t be able to see the target until it gets closer.”

increaseD BanDwiDth

Christie offers a number of products and solutions designed specifically for the military training and simulation market, Lingard explained, pointing to the Matrix lineup of projectors, which are purpose-built for complex applications requiring high-frame rates, precise color matching, uniform images, seamless blending and perfect geometric correction.

“Our MatrixStIM projectors even offer InfraScene, which allows separate signals for the visual spectrum and the NVG stimulation us-ing infrared spectrum. Knowing that visual solutions for simulation applications require more than just a projector, Christie offers vari-ous solutions that help improve performance or reduce maintenance costs. Some of the popular solutions include Christie AccuFrame, which dramatically improves motion blur; AutoCal, which optimizes and calibrates the viewing configuration of an arrayed projection solution; and MotoBlend, which improves system contrast and opti-mizes dark scene applications,” he said.

In order to handle the increased information from 3-D and 4K signals, visual display systems also need to have a larger bandwidth, Lingard noted. “This sounds simple, but is actually quite challenging. Some try to squeeze 3-D and 4K into existing bandwidths, or they down-sample the signal at some point in their signal flow, but ulti-mately they have to sacrifice something, whether resolution, frame rates and/or color sampling.

“In order to achieve true images, display systems’ bandwidth needs to increase. This starts with connectivity, where you need to have input connec-tions that can handle the increased data rates, and flow all the way through to the imaging device. The entire signal flow needs the increased range to allow for the signal to be displayed natively without any reduced quality,” he said.

Aside from the products, Christie ac-tively engages in two-way communication with the market, such as through a seminar called “SIM U.” This multi-day seminar is offered in various cities throughout the year and covers key topics like system design considerations, design process, NVG stimulation practices and choosing the ideal visual display system components, Lingard said.

iMage generation

A complementary perspective on improving visual displays comes from Aechelon Technology, a provider of visual simulation image gen-erators, associated geospecific visual and sensor databases, realistic 3-D models and integration services for the federal government and its prime contractors.

“Military trainers are evolving away from eye-candy demos and more into a mission focus that requires a better correlation with non-visual elements, such as radar and tactical environment. For the systems to create a realistic representation, you need to introduce

elements in the databases that are able to match the increased display resolution and thus an expansion of the training syllabus into the simulators,” said Ja-vier Castellar, Aechelon co-founder and vice president, business development.

In its efforts to improve visual display of military training and simulation content, the company has fo-cused on three areas, he said. They are increasing new data layers, fidelity and worldwide coverage of databas-es; supporting site-level datacenters with large-scale unified management, storage and cyber-protection; and researching ways to use its databases within C4ISR command posts and UAS ground stations.

Late last year, the company announced its latest multi-spectral Image Generation flagship pC-Nova v7.0, which sup-ports increased data layers in visual, sensor and tactical generation.

“Another key product that keeps expanding our market is the Aechelon Nexus Unified Storage System, which was already adopted at multiple sites in the U.S. Navy and USSOCOM, and has ongoing deliveries to additional sites in both the U.S. and Australian militar-ies. These systems both increase cyber-protection and enable access to very large databases for hundreds of streams, from large multichan-nel, multispectral training and mission image generators as well as radar simulation subsystems,” he said, adding that the company has also released several types of data generators that support live stream-ing of EO/IR sensors, tactical and radar information. O

For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives

for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.

Javier Castellar

[email protected]

Digital Projection offers nearly 100 different projectors, such as this Insight 4K Laser model. [Photo courtesy of Digital Projection]

www.MT2-kmi.com6 | MT2 20.4

Special Section

Serious gaming plays a critical role in maintaining operational readiness for the warfighter, and the developers who provide these solutions are consistently using innovative technologies to meet the needs of our military. Profiles of two of the leaders in this area—SAIC and Bohemia Interactive Simulations—appear on the following pages.

Serious games are rapidly entering corporate environments in non-traditional ways. But enticing employees to follow a new cor-porate policy by rewarding their actions with points, badges or prizes can be miles apart from serious games, which simulate real-world experiences in gaming environments for training and educa-tional purposes.

Increasingly, companies are using serious games to train and educate their staff on how to solve a problem or train employees. Although these games can be entertaining and engaging, the end result is for employees to master a skill and measure performance.

As a leader in serious gaming, Science Applications Interna-tional Corp. (SAIC) has been providing training and simulation ser-vices through gaming platforms to the Department of Defense for more than a decade. Now, the company is expanding to reach other government and commercial clients through its new Serious Games Lab in Seattle, Wash.

“DoD was an early and aggressive adopter of using serious games, and the rest of the world is just coming around now to broader-scale adoption of serious games for a variety of purposes,” said Gardner Congdon, SAIC Serious Games Lab lead.

Perhaps SAIC’s most notable achievement is its role in sup-porting the development of the popular computer game franchise America’s Army. Developed under contract to the Army, SAIC sup-ports the Army Game Studio located within the Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center’s Software Engineering Directorate to develop and maintain the game.

America’s Army is a first-person game that depicts the life of a solider and is available for download to the public via the online Steam platform. The latest installment, called Proving Grounds, has more than 500,000 downloads since it was launched in 2013.

“America’s Army is a serious game at its core. When you play the game, you learn Army values, you become a soldier. You learn what it’s like to go through basic training and even learn basic medical training,” explained Congdon. “The game’s purpose is to educate civilians with an interest in the Army on what it means to be a soldier.”

Expansion and New Markets

Across DoD, agencies and military are anxious to begin rolling out broader-scale adoption of serious games for a variety of pur-poses, according to Congdon.

“Serious games can be used for education and training, but that’s really just scratching the surface of what can be done with serious games,” added Congdon.

Responding to this need, SAIC is expanding its services beyond the Army. By opening the SAIC Serious Games Lab, the company aims to pursue business opportunities across the U.S. government and in commercial markets.

“Most of our DoD customers and services want a company to build an engaging game environment that is secure and cost-ef-fective,” said Bob Kleinhample, SAIC vice president, training and simulation solutions director.

Currently, SAIC is developing serious games for prototyping, 3-D simulation and human performance for current and prospective customers. For example, SAIC links serious gaming technologies with human subjects to test their reactions in stressful situations.

According to Kleinhample, SAIC’s sport psychologists are im-proving human performance by using devices that monitor heart rates in stressful environments, such as explosions or running through a combat zone.

“We can improve a sharpshooter’s performance by building out a game that puts them under extremely stressful conditions, and then provide them with feedback on how to improve their perfor-mance,” explained Kleinhample.

In the future, SAIC will also host serious games in a cloud-based environment. “We want to bring these games into our end-user customers’ devices. Traditionally, serious games would require fairly high-end workstations and very powerful computers to be able to run the simulation. But now we’re deploying applications using cloud technologies so they can run on everyday devices.”

Serious Games Lab

In July, SAIC opened its first Serious Games Lab to create new game-based applications for DoD, homeland security, first responders and warfighter readiness, training and education and health care. This new facility will serve as SAIC’s nerve center for creation and innovation in serious game technology and methodol-ogy for customers in the government, public and private sectors. In the lab, SAIC employs a diverse group of industry professionals, including game designers, artists, engineers, animators, sound de-signers and composers.

“All our team members have worked in the gaming industry, and I believe very strongly in hiring people who have experience in this specific field because they have proven skills at shipping high-qual-ity products. They understand games; they know what’s engaging and what people want, and we are bringing that to our customers,” said Congdon. “By coupling that depth of experience with our in-structional designers, we’re able to create products which are at the same time highly engaging and highly effective at training and educating. When you create an environment where students want to learn, everyone wins.”

SAIC is in a unique position with its development capabilities, added Congdon. “You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone at a tra-ditional game studio who understands how to work with the depth and breadth of our customers,” said Congdon.

Gaming technology expands to new industries and applications with serious games.

Science Applications International Corp.


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© SAIC. All rights reserved.

We bring Serious Gaming Solutions for training and education directly to you — anytime and anywhere. See all the ways we are redefi ning ingenuity at saic.com

Ingenuity Plays Serious Games.

Committed to developing state-of-the-art “game-based” technology to solve complex problems.

Bohemia Interactive Simulations

Since 2001, Bohemia Interactive Simula-tions (BISim) has been at the forefront of simu-lation training solutions for military and civilian organizations. A global software development company, BISim is committed to developing state-of-the-art “game-based” technology to solve complex simulation and training prob-lems. BISim’s product line includes:

• VBS3, an interoperable, first-person desktop simulation

• VBS IG, which provides high-fidelity rendering for all types of simulators

• VBS Tactics, an easy-to-use interface for doctrinal control of artificially intelligent forces in VBS3, and

• VBS Gateway, the new framework for VBS interoperability.

“BISim is modularizing its products to provide our customers with simulation and training software that offers greater flexibili-ty, cost-efficiency and customizability,” said Pete Morrison, Co-CEO, BISim.

In VBS3 v3.7, the company has split the software into a separate installer, core cus-tomer-specific deployment and individual content packs. This split lessens the size of the deployment, decreases load times and allows users to focus on the content they want to use. Other products, like VBS Tac-tics, Morrison noted, extend VBS3 for new training possibilities.

Complementing BISim’s product line, TerraSim offers a range of software prod-ucts that allow customers to rapidly create complex geospatial visualizations derived

from a variety of geo-referenced source data. BISim acquired TerraSim in 2013 and has integrated their terrain products with BISim products to make important ad-vances in terrain performance and fidelity, including support for high-detailed terrain insets, massive terrains and runtime group-ings of terrain features, such as rocks, trees and other vegetation.

Currently, BISim is undertaking an am-bitious project that provides whole-planet rendering within VBS, with impressive pro-cedural detail based upon minimal source data. This project aims to expand VBS for flight and maritime virtual training exer-cises. BISim looks forward to sharing even more developments on this project in the near future.

3050 Technology Parkway, Suite 110, Orlando, Florida 32826, United States bisimulations.com•[email protected]•+1(407)6087000

BISim is undertaking an ambitious project that provides whole-planet rendering within VBS.

Come see demonstrations at I/ITSEC 2015 in Orlando, Florida. [email protected]


The next generation of warfighters will have to be prepared to operate in more complex environments, from traversing new geo-graphic terrain to conducting security missions in cities, working with coalition partners or delivering humanitarian aid in support of NGOs. Preparing for future contingencies will require a higher level of preparation to adapt to the complexities of the future battlefield.

Industry recognizes the complex environment U.S. personnel could have to operate in in the future, and companies are developing solutions to improve ground training to prepare them for that.

“Most understand that the battlefield today is very asymmet-ric. We used to train by defining friendly and enemy positions by lines drawn on the map, but those lines became blurred and now have fairly well dissolved,” said Ed Jezisek, business development capture manager, training and simulation at Saab Defence and Security USA.

“The battlefield is much more chaotic and there are a large num-ber of non-combatants interspersed as well,” he said. “In addition, vehicles no longer travel in well-defined formations. Their move-ment and maneuver is very sporadic, and therefore, unpredictable.”

To deal with this change, Jezisek added, the warfighter needs a train-ing system that allows for this fluid environment and also provides a highly capable after-action review (AAR) of the actions of all partici-pants and entities interacting within the area of operations.

For Sébastien Lozé, senior product marketing director, industrial market for D-BOX Technologies, the pressure on industry to develop new ways to de-liver training content is relentless.

“What we observed in the last year, which began as an emerg-ing trend but more and more has become the usual request, is that while the training requirements remain quite similar to the previ-ous year, the big change is in the way to deliver this training and how training transfer can be obtained with more innovative solutions, which most of the time are also more cost-efficient,” Lozé said. “We will see in the current year and the next one several programs reach-ing obsolescence, and procurements of several nations are already looking for ways to replace them with technologies that were either not present or not proven even five years ago.”

D-BOX Technologies designs, manufactures and commercializes cutting-edge motion systems intended for the entertainment and in-dustrial markets. Its unique and patented technology uses motion effects specifically programmed for each piece of visual content, which are sent to a motion system integrated into a platform, seat or other product.

The resulting motion is perfectly synchronized with the on-screen action, thus creating an unparalleled realistic immersive ex-perience that is used by leading training and simulation companies.

D-BOX offers motion solutions for training needs in construction, mili-tary gunnery and vehicle driving and civil aviation.

training on site

What industry trends mean spe-cifically for ground training, Lozé said, is that trainees will train more often on site, where they are de-ployed, on systems that take only a few minutes to deploy. In the past,

By erin flynn jay,Mt2 corresponDent

inDustry is Developing new solutions to prepare warfighters for coMplex

new environMents.

Sébastien LozéEd Jezisek

[email protected] [email protected]


they had to go to training centers to reach the same level of im-mersive training.

“Simulators can now be deployed easily outside of the training centers. All the modality of training, including curriculum, visual-ization, audio environment and kinesthetic (motion and vibrations), can now be containerized and shipped on site,” he said.

D-BOX motion systems are designed to be simple to integrate to any simulation architecture. The company delivers a software devel-opment kit with its hardware solutions, but wanted to make things even easier for solutions such as ground vehicle training.

“So we improved integration capabilities of our solution any-where it is needed. For ground vehicle simulation, we created native integration with COTS solutions like CarSIM, TruckSIM, CM Labs Vortex and VBS3 latest release,” said Lozé. “These integrations are available freely to the community to transform any desktop simula-tion application into a complete simulator, with motion and vibra-tion cues sent back to the trainees to augment the training transfer. D-BOX works with primes and end customers, delivering motion system solutions to Thales, Lockheed, DSTO from Australia, the Bra-zilian Navy and many other key customers.”

D-BOX is flexible and reacts quickly to evolving needs, Lozé said. “But this would be nothing if we wouldn’t be actively reaching out to the trend-setter groups, such as NATO ACT, PEO STRI and the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization, learning from all these groups as well as the primes and end customers. We are in constant communication, which allows us to focus on the needs

existing in the field to augment training transfer, and apply our R&D to what we can bring to the curriculum and training needs,” he said.

To better serve the fluid and mobile battlefield, Saab has devel-oped the transportable Homestation Instrumentation Training Sys-tem (HITS) Man-Portable Base Station (HMPBS).

“Using the HMPBS paired with the laptop-based HITS EXCON All-in-one, the system is very easily transported, and the footprint is so small that the entire HMPBS and HITS EXCON All-in-one system can follow the exercise in any mobile/transportable carrier, such as a backpack or on a vehicle dashboard,” said Jezisek. “This transport-ability allows the observer controller (OC) to get position location and weapons effects data for real-time exercise monitoring and full situational awareness using both exercise control (EXCON) view and direct visual view during the exercise and afterwards for the AAR.”

Prior to HMPBS, training was typically limited to a 10-kilometer radius area around the stationary HITS control tower/base station. “With HMPBS, the OC can now follow the action wherever it goes—over fields, roads, water and, if in a rotary wing platform, the OC can follow the movement of instrumented forces as far and as long as necessary. The OC can quickly set up this small but agile system in a fraction of the time typically needed to set up for a large-unit train-ing scenario,” Jezisek said.

Saab’s system represents the next evolutionary step in laser training systems, Jezisek said, describing it as soldier-friendly—easy to install and set up, easy to use and rugged. “Our system needs to be used by soldiers who are trained in realistic and often rough environments. The HMPBS is dependable—it’s able to endure and withstand vibrations and can be used in rain, cold and/or desert heat. It remains fully capable even after lots of continuous use.”

lvc environMents

“The next generation of soldiers will have to be prepared to operate in a more complex environment than ever, from traversing new geographic terrain to conducting security mis-sions in mega-cities, working with coalition partners or delivering hu-manitarian aid in support of non-government organizations,” said Jim Weitzel, Lockheed Martin vice presi-dent of training solutions for mission systems and training. “Preparing for future warfare will require a higher level of preparation to adapt to the complexities of the future battlefield.”

To address these challenges, Lockheed Martin is focused on delivering more realistic, simulation-based training that can be integrated with live and constructive environments as needed. Its ground training systems include:

• SVTurretTraining: Lockheed Martin will soon provide a new Scout Specialist Vehicle turret training system. Using realistic, immersive simulators, the training system will help prepare commanders and gunners of the Scout SV turret.

• DigitalRangeTrainingSystem: “Under the Digital Range Training System (DRTS) program, we deliver a family of digital ranges that immerse soldiers and vehicle crews in realistic live-fire training exercises. Last year, we debuted the newest DRTS

Jim Weitzel


range, the Digital Air Ground Instrumented Range, which integrates attack helicopter and ground live-fire maneuver in a digital environment and provides integrated scoring and AAR,” said Weitzel.

• AdvancedGunneryTrainingSystem: For more than 20 years, the Advanced Gunnery Training System (AGTS) has prepared U.S. and international forces to transition from simulation to live fire or combat gunnery. The Marine Corps released a study this spring that found that AGTS significantly improves proficiency while saving millions of dollars in training costs. AGTS uses the Lockheed Martin-grown Scalable Advanced Graphics Engine (SAGE), which leverages commercial gaming graphics to deliver incredible realism for warfighter training. SAGE provides detailed environments complete with dust, fog and haze; IED and artillery craters; and animated people who behave as they would in real life, using organic motion technologies.

• MultipleIntegratedLaserEngagementSystems: Instrumented systems track every player in an exercise, transmitting real-time data from the soldier or vehicle to exercise control. “This improves effectiveness of training, providing immediate situational awareness and more detailed data to use in after-action review. We deliver built-in multilingual capability so that customers have flexibility to train in any language they wish, making their training more immersive and realistic,” said Weitzel.

• U.K.CombinedArmsTacticalTrainer: Lockheed Martin helps the British Army prepare its servicemembers using the world’s largest virtual training system. Using an immersive, computer-generated environment, up to 900 military personnel can train together in real-time on a virtual battlefield.

“As deployments come to a close and our customers return to home stations, many look to us to support modernizing their exist-ing training assets and incorporating technology for more realistic and immersive training. We are also seeing increases in synthetic training to model future threats in ways that can challenge trainees so they are mission-ready,” said Weitzel.

Integrating live-virtual-constructive (LVC) training in the ground domain requires solutions that help customers maximize their training capability, he said, adding that this is especially important as customers move toward collapsing LVC and gaming-like capabilities into a single synthetic training environment for greater realism and affordability.

“For example, through our Enhanced Perception and Integrated Control system, we provide a user interface that seamlessly controls all LVC entities in a distributed training scenario. This solution is the linchpin that enables the benefits and training realism of integrated training,” concluded Weitzel. O




Trian3DBuilder 5.5, the new release of TrianGraphics’ database generation system Trian3DBuilder, is important for all users interested in roads generation and editing. Furthermore, the Havok Vision exporter will shortly be available to all Havok and TrianGraphics customers. Trian3DBuilder’s comprehensive road genera-tion features are unique on the market. Real-world navigation data are analyzed and parameters are created automatically to generate a road network with junc-tions and additional information. The software supports databases of arbitrary size, fully featured and ready to be used in driving, tank or infantry simulations. The new version, Trian3DBuilder 5.5, even goes beyond these capabilities. Generated road and crossing geometries can now easily be edited in WYSIWYG mode to fit underlying satellite imagery and exactly match each project’s visual requirement. Users may precisely change a junction’s shape or add road lanes in 2-D or 3-D view with direct visual feedback. When editing a road in WYSIWYG mode, a lane point can simply be dragged to adjust a lane’s width or to form a curb.

Felix Fürneisen; [email protected]

SAIC has opened its first serious game studio in Seattle, Wash. Serious games are applications that use gaming technolo-gies or methods for a purpose other than strictly entertainment. This new facility will serve as SAIC’s nerve center for creation and innovation in serious game technology and methodology for customers in the government, public and private sectors. SAIC has designed, developed and deployed serious games for government and commercial customers for more than a decade. Serious games offer virtual environments that enable users to learn faster and retain information longer. Currently, SAIC is developing serious games for military training, education, behavioral health care and commercial technical training. In this studio, SAIC will employ a diverse group of industry profes-sionals, including game designers, artists, engineers, animators, sound designers and composers. Products developed will run on personal computers, mobile devices and game consoles.

Gardner Congdon; [email protected]

CAE and Eurofighter Simulation Systems (ESS) have renewed their collaboration agreement related to the provision of visual systems on the Eurofighter Typhoon Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) program. Under the Eurofighter ASTA program, ESS serves as the prime contractor and design authority for the comprehensive suite of Eurofighter training systems operated by the four

Eurofighter partner nations (United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy) as well as Austria. CAE has provided the visual systems required as part of the Eurofighter ASTA program, and under terms of the renewed collaboration agreement, will continue to work exclusively through ESS on the provision of visual systems on Eurofighter ASTA devices. The comprehensive visual solution

offered by CAE for the Eurofighter ASTA program includes the next-generation CAE Medallion-6000 image generator as well as display systems and database development tools.

Chris Stellwag; [email protected]

New Release of Database System Aids Roads Generation

Serious Game Studio to Develop Military

Training Tools

Visual Systems Support Eurofighter Aircrew Training

Data PacKetS


The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Intific, a subsidiary of Cubic Global Defense, to develop a virtual test bed for the agency’s Tactical Technology Office. The virtual test bed is intended to provide a realistic virtual training environment for the evaluation of squad-level-focused technologies to be developed under DARPA’s Squad X Core Technologies program. In addition, the test bed would enable a cost-efficient and effective way to test concepts and systems in order to support combat and capability devel-opers. It would also assist research and

development programs. Intific received the first-phase award to begin devel-oping a prototype/proof of concept of the virtual test bed. If successful, Intific in subsequent option phases would build in gamification features, increased capabilities and scalability. The overall effort has a potential value of more than $5 million over approxi-mately 33 months. Leveraging Intific’s extensive background in commercial software development, the new virtual test bed would adapt the latest innova-tions in first-person gaming engines and add defense-specific scenarios and technology-generation systems.

VT MÄK has released VR-Vantage 2.0.1, a significant maintenance release that adds new features, makes improvements and fixes bugs. The release includes a lot of perfor-mance improvements, many of which help scenes using streaming or direct from source terrains. The way features such as buoys and SpeedTrees are loaded into the scene has been greatly improved. Features containing lights can be instanced and point features are more efficiently clustered and instanced. For maritime customers, the buoyancy model has been improved to allow for a configured LOD, which turns off the model to improve performance. Scenes with large numbers of DI-Guy characters perform much faster. The PVD is faster, with more efficient HAT line drawing. They have made several improvements to their CIGI connection that enhance performance. In addition, SensorFX support for Linux has been restored. SensorFX now features greatly improved intensity modulation, which makes scenes using on-the-fly material classification look significantly better by blending imagery with material classification from vector data. VR-Vantage 2.0.1 now supports a monochrome camera configuration out-of-the-box, even without SensorFX.

Jim Kogler; [email protected]

Virtual Test Bed to Provide Realistic Training Environment

Simulation Software Adds Performance Improvements

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

The Army is pushing knowledge to the point of need by making e-publications (EPUB) available for download to soldiers’ mobile devices. Doctrinal publications are accessible as PDF files on personal computers and some mobile devices, but viewing them on mobile devices is less than optimal. The Army has converted many Army doctrinal publications to an EPUB format, making them easier to read on computer tablets and smartphones.

“E-publishing represents a new era for the Army,” said Helen Remily, TRADOC capability manager for the Army Distributed Learning Program. “It enables the Army to deliver training and educational materials to soldiers and Army civilians where and when they need them.”

Some soldiers currently spend their own money purchasing publications from online services or find out-of-date Army publications on the Internet.

“Soldiers deserve to have the most current authen-ticated material at their fingertips when it’s needed and without spending their hard-earned paychecks,” said Remily, who leads the Fort Eustis, Va., organization responsible for the move to electronic publishing.

In addition to EPUBs, select doctrinal manuals will be available as e2Book Doctrine Supplements. The doctrinal publications were natural first candidates for e-publishing, as the information is essential, unclassified and non-sensitive.

Preparing publications for e-publishing is a compli-cated task. Remily’s team had to ensure that the publica-tions were compatible with Android, Apple and Windows devices. The e-publishing effort will greatly increase the accessibility of publications and will reduce printing costs as e-publication gains more readers, Remily said.

Army Doctrine Converted to Electronic Publishing

[Image courtesy of Cubic Corporation/Intific]


General Frank J. Grass serves as the 27th chief, National Guard Bureau and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In this ca-pacity, he serves as a military adviser to the president, secretary of defense and National Security Council, and is the Department of Defense’s official channel of communication to the governors and state adjutants general on all matters pertaining to the National Guard. He is responsible for ensuring that nearly 460,000 Army and Air National Guard personnel are accessible, capable and ready to protect the homeland and to provide combat resources to the Army and Air Force.

Prior to his current assignment, Grass served as deputy com-mander, U.S. Northern Command and vice commander, U.S. Ele-ment, North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. As deputy commander, U.S. Northern Com-mand, Grass helped lead the command to anticipate, prepare and respond to threats and aggression aimed at the United States, its territories and interests within the assigned area of responsibility and, as directed by the president or secretary of defense, provide defense support of civil authorities, including consequence man-agement operations.

Grass enlisted in the Missouri Army National Guard in Octo-ber 1969. He attended the Missouri Army National Guard Military Academy Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in the Engineer Corps in 1981. He has served in a variety of command and staff positions as a traditional National Guard soldier, in the active guard and reserve program and on active duty. In his first general officer assignment, he served as deputy director of the Army National Guard in Arlington, Va.

Q: You recently completed an international trip to meet with Guard members and foreign military leaders. What is your overall assessment of the role of the National Guard in the current U.S. defense stance?

A: It’s clear that after nearly 14 years of combat, the National Guard can handle any complex mission it’s assigned, anywhere in the world. I couldn’t be more proud of the soldiers and airmen I met and observed during my recent overseas visit. Throughout the nine-day, six-nation visit, I met with deployed guardsmen from more than 25 states and territories who were performing in roles that are having a strategic impact on the battlefield. They are also building upon relationships with dozens of our foreign partners. In one location, Guard members were rebuilding a runway that will

be used by all branches of the armed forces and U.S. allies. Others were helping oversee the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and training with partner nations. The best part was that you couldn’t tell the difference between a guardsman and an active component soldier or airman. This illustrates the need to keep the National Guard an operational force.

Q: After overseas deployments of some 770,000 personnel in the past decade and half, the Guard’s operational tempo is changing. How has the reduction in international assignments changed the organization so far, and how do you see it continuing to evolve?

A: The availability of international assignments varies by service and mission, but on the whole, National Guard soldiers and airmen have always been remarkably adaptable and resilient.

This operational force has proven itself on the battlefield and built outstanding readiness along the way. It’s the best I have ever seen in my career. To allow that to decline would be a tragic loss to the nation. As we look to a very uncertain future, it’s critical that we retain an experienced National Guard through dynamic training opportunities and real-world missions so we can continue to provide capable forces to the Army and Air Force. Whatever the nation requires next, the National Guard is all-in.

General Frank J. GrassChief

National Guard Bureau


Guard ChiefCombining Dynamic Training and Real-World Missions

Q&AQ&A

Q: You have warned that budget cuts could result in the smallest National Guard since the Korean War. What are you doing to prepare the Guard for possible sequestration in the short run, and for tight budgets stretching into the future?

A: Sequestration will adversely affect the ability of the entire De-partment of Defense to provide ready forces. This current fiscal cli-mate provides the nation an opportunity to maintain a Guard that is proven on the battlefield and in the homeland. The National Guard gives America a great value for its defense dollar. Maintaining an op-erational National Guard gives the nation necessary combat capacity for the least possible cost.

Q: What are your goals for the Guard in the realm of cyber-defense, and what role do you foresee for the recently established cyber-teams?

A: The National Guard currently has cyber-capabilities in several states, which are transitioning or standing up over the next sev-eral years in support of the DoD effort to expand its cybersecurity force. Our goal for cyber-defense is to train, equip and provide highly skilled forces responsive to the needs of the nation. Through our cyber-squadrons and teams, we’ll provide trained and ready soldiers and airmen to support requirements established by the services and U.S. Cyber Command. Additionally, when authorized by proper au-thority, we will continue to support governors and state adjutants general for homeland-related missions.

Q: What role do Apache helicopters play in Guard operations, and what outcome do you expect for the Army’s Aviation Restructure Initiative?

A: The Army National Guard serves as the combat reserve of the Army. Our Apache units, pilots and maintainers have proven them-selves in combat and have provided immense strategic depth of experience, capability and value to the nation. In today’s budget-constrained environment, it’s especially critical to maintain com-bat-ready forces that can integrate seamlessly with the active com-ponent in the event of war or national emergency.

The National Commission on the Future of the Army is con-ducting a comprehensive study to assess what is best for the na-tion in terms of the size and structure of Army active, Guard and Reserve forces. We are confident they will do what’s best for our nation, including the future construct of Army National Guard aviation.

Q: What impact have you seen from the State Partnership Program (SPP), and how in general are you working to promote communication and cooperation between the Guard and those in other countries with whom they might have to operate in the future?

A: Through the SPP, we’ve developed deep and trusting ties that reas-sure, strengthen and motivate foreign friends and allies. When you

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have foreign partners who grew up together in their careers and fought together—and now are leaders in their respective countries—that’s pretty powerful. SPP events focus on interoperability with partner countries. This interoperability has enabled 15 states to success-fully co-deploy National Guard forces with their respective partner countries in 79 rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan. States and their foreign partners engage several times per year, which enables them to develop long-lasting, trusting relationships—some as old as 22 years. In fiscal year 2014, there were 617 SPP events conducted between 68 partnerships, which average to 12 engagements per week. Ultimately, these mutually beneficial exchanges, where we train together and learn from each other, strengthen both forces.

SPP is a low-cost, small-footprint, high-impact program, and it’s growing; we added two new partnerships this year, bringing the total to 70 partnerships with 76 countries. The enduring quality of the SPP, along with its ability to engage in certain cases with non-defense personnel, allows us greater leverage and broader engagement than any other security cooperation program. It also maximizes our impact to meet combatant commanders’ security cooperation goals and objectives.

Q: How would you define the National Guard Bureau’s overall role in ensuring that National Guard members have the training they need?

A: The primary purpose of the National Guard Bureau (NGB) is to ensure that more than 455,000 Army and Air National Guard per-sonnel are accessible, capable and ready to protect the homeland and to provide combat resources to the Army and Air Force. We are also responsible for disbursing federal funds in accordance with policies and guidance from the secretary of the Army and the sec-retary of the Air Force. Stated very simply, I believe the NGB’s most important job is to maintain the National Guard as an operational force. If we do that, we will get the leadership development experi-ences that our soldiers and airman want and need.

Q: How are the National Guard’s training responsibilities and goals changing as a result of changes in deployments and defense posture?

A: After 14 years of conflict, our soldiers and airmen know what “real” looks like. They will not accept anything other than realistic training, but they also have the responsibility to train the new gen-eration using that experience. Whenever I meet with guardsmen across the globe, they tell me they’re not tired; they want to remain engaged. So our task now is to continue to offer opportunities for realistic, relevant and meaningful training, such as Combat Train-ing Centers and Red Flag exercises.

The National Guard’s training strategy focuses on supporting a training environment that preserves the operational Guard’s ability to provide ready forces to support both state and federal missions. We will continue to focus on leadership development at all levels and to provide progressive, challenging and realistic training. Addition-ally, as units convert from the legacy force structure into emerging new missions, school slots and the funding to meet the influx of students will become even more critical. And I don’t believe we can understate the importance of continued integration with the active component and reserves in all major training exercises to enhance our interoperability and expand leader development opportunities.

Doing so will ultimately produce flexible, adaptable leaders for years to come.

Q: National Guard personnel can operate as warfighters in other countries, or as first responders in domestic emergencies. How can the Guard balance and manage such diverse training needs?

A: Balancing these roles is not difficult for the National Guard, be-cause it’s exactly what we’re trained and organized to do. We’ve been doing this for 378 years. In fact, we do three things extraordinarily well: We fight our nation’s wars, we protect the homeland and we build global and domestic partnerships.

Q: What role does the NGB play in acquisition of simulation and training technology? If that is all at the state level, can you influence decisions, and if so, in what direction do you think training technology acquisition should go?

A: The Army and Air National Guard, respectively, are equipped by the Army and Air Force acquisition and requirements processes. They use a competitive acquisition process instead of relying on a single vendor. In cases where the Guard has unique requirements, we procure simulation and training devices at the national level with National Guard Reserve Equipment Account funding, provided an-nually by Congress in support of validated requirements. Acquiring simulation and training devices at the national level ensures sustain-ment funding, and technological upgrades and is compliant with the Defense Acquisition System’s best practices.

Q: You have spoken of the Guard’s advantage in having personnel who are also on the cutting edge of innovation in industry. What policies can encourage the combination of civilian and military skills in Guard operations?

A: Cyber is a great example of a mission that requires cutting-edge skills. Based in nearly 3,000 communities, the National Guard re-mains a very attractive option for patriotic-minded cyber-profession-als who wish to pursue civilian careers, but also serve their state and nation. Additionally, we offer exciting opportunities to practice cyber-skills in ways they cannot in civilian life, for example, through exercises such as the recent CyberGuard.

There are many other civilian and military career fields that transfer well or complement each other. Innovative commanders often look for ways to utilize civilian acquired skills in domestic and deployed environments. There are a variety of programs used by the services to attract and retain personnel in fields that are highly com-petitive with civilian industry or hard to fill. However, perhaps the best policy to highlight is that we are the combat reserves of the Army and Air Force: We provide a mature, flexible, uniquely skilled force that bridges the gap between Main Street and the war fight.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

A: No other U.S. military component possesses our dual-mission ca-pabilities and authorities. Additionally, we provide proven combat and domestic-response capabilities at a fraction of the defense bud-get. I wish every American fully understood the extent of what our National Guard does for our states, territories and nation, because it is truly inspiring and impressive to see. O


Training is a necessity to remain a versatile and relevant fighting force. For soldiers in the Army National Guard (ARNG), this train-ing time is usually limited to a couple of days each month and a few weeks during the year. With this reduced training time, it is key to maximize the amount of collective training a unit conducts in order to maintain its proficiency and readiness.

The 35th Infantry Division (ID) recently did this when conduct-ing its Santa Fe Exercise 2015, an internal command post exercise (CPX) carried out earlier this year. While these types of exercises are typically conducted during a two-week annual training or other extended period of time, the 35th ID conducted this exercise over a two-and-a-half-day inactive duty training (IDT) period, more com-monly referred to as a drill weekend.

The Global Simulation Capability (GSC), a section of the Na-tional Simulation Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., assisted with this exercise. Partnering with the GSC allowed for a constructive simulation to be utilized in order to stimulate the 35th ID’s Mission Command information Systems (MCiS)/Army Battle Command Sys-tems (ABCS) and to better train its staff sections.

A CPX is the preferred method of training for the division’s staff, and it enabled the staff to focus on multiple training objectives si-multaneously over the course of the drill weekend, maximizing the small window of training time. This was the first time this type of exercise had been completed with the GSC over a condensed period of time such as a drill weekend.

This exercise was conducted utilizing Warfighter Simulation (WARSIM), a multi-resolution federation of simulations, which is the optimal simulation tool for divisions and above. While it enables stimulation of all the division’s MCiS/ABCS, WARSIM often carries a large overheard of personnel and systems due to the extensive na-ture of these constructive exercises.

The 35th ID and GSC were able to mitigate this overhead through a thorough review of what was required to support the exercise and extensive planning up to and including execution of the exercise. The 35th ID also coordinated with the 130th Field Artillery Brigade (FAB), one of its in-state aligned-for-training units, for support. The 130th FAB utilized its own soldiers and ABCS to man the response cell for the FAB within the exercise. This lessened the burden on the division’s fires cell while also allowing for additional training for the 130th FAB.

MoDifieD scenario

The 35th ID also utilized a scenario that was derived from a previ-ous Warfighter Exercise Decisive Action Training Environment 2.0 sce-nario. This scenario was modified in order to meet the commander’s training objectives, which saved time from developing a completely

new scenario. In similar fashion, the previously published opera-tion order from the scenario was utilized and revised in line with the changes made for the Santa Fe Exercise. Since the military decision-making process was not an item of emphasis for this exercise, this pro-cess along with orders production was abbreviated in order to utilize time elsewhere in the exercise planning process.

While this exercise was conducted over a drill weekend, the plan-ning process spanned six months, with an exercise life cycle starting in September 2014. After initial coordination with the GSC and the Mission Training Complex-Leavenworth (MTC-LVN), planning con-ferences and in-progress reviews were scheduled in order to design the scenario and properly plan the exercise.

Planning and coordination were critical to the success of this training exercise. The ARNG has a very limited amount of time each month with all unit soldiers simultaneously available. While much of the planning and coordination was conducted by the unit’s full-time support staff, it was critical to have leadership and staff from across the division involved in this process, many who were traditional IDT ARNG soldiers. This required forward thinking, scheduling and re-sourcing in order to ensure all involved personnel and entities were able to meet and plan for this event. Additionally, as the GSC had pre-viously worked with active duty units rather than the ARNG, it was a learning experience for all to better understand the funding, manning and time constraints that ARNG units have compared to their active duty counterparts.

The key to success with any constructive exercise is communi-cation and coordination with the supporting agencies and activities, such as the GSC and the local MTC. These organizations have many tools and personnel that can assist the unit being trained as long as the proper coordination is made ahead of time. The Santa Fe Exercise was the beginning of many constructive simulation exercises for the 35th ID to prepare for its warfighter exercise in June 2016. These ex-ercises will be conducted over both drill weekends and ADT periods.

The 35th ID intends to continue to partner with the GSC and the MTC-LVN in order to utilize constructive simulations to better train and prepare its staff. In a similar fashion, all brigades and above, wheth-er active or reserve components, should consider how they utilize con-structive simulations to better train their staffs. This will become in-creasingly important in today’s resource-constrained environment. O

Army Reserve Major Jason M. Inskeep is a training officer for the 35th Infantry Division G-3.

By Major jason inskeep

the arMy national guarD’s use of constructive siMulations will BecoMe increasingly iMportant in toDay’s environMent.




This article provides an overview of the Department of Defense’s investment approach for military training technology research, iden-tifying key focus areas in which efforts are being concentrated and, where appropriate, highlighting areas that are promising works in progress.

These investments are a direct result of a combination of drivers, including fiscal realities that impact both DoD’s mission sets and the manpower and personnel assets available to conduct those missions, advances in the weapons platforms being fielded and under develop-ment and the changing global security landscape.

Over the past century, we have witnessed a profound shift away from the conventional warfare models typical of the First and Sec-ond World Wars, where the United States had an active force of more than 10 million warfighters, many of whom were drafted, towards a full-spectrum warfare model typical of today’s engagements. These are characterized by irregular and asymmetric engagements, uncertainty and cognitive complexity at all levels, joint and coalition mission re-quirements and reliance on rapidly evolving technologies—supported by an active force of just more than 1 million volunteer warfighters.

Not surprisingly, this shift brings with it unique operational chal-lenges: Fewer warfighters are available to perform a growing number of complex tasks, which require them to be as cognitively prepared as they are physically ready. Our warfighters must be comfortable coor-dinating and working across service and national boundaries, which requires preparation for flexible, creative decision-making at every lev-el—strategic, operational and tactical. Modeling, simulation and dis-tributed training technologies that enhance the cognitive readiness of our warfighters to attain a decisive advantage over our adversaries are critical components of the DoD approach to meeting these challenges.

Delivering effective training is essential for human capital man-agement in the U.S. military. Unlike other sectors, which can directly hire talent into the level of capability and competency they require, from mailroom clerk to CEO, the U.S. military must grow its talent through a process that requires a long-term cycle of classroom/in-structor-led and on-the-job training. There is no easy way to “direct hire” a ship’s captain or a battalion commander.

From a science and technology (S&T) investment perspective, training—along with its close cousins, personnel selection and classi-fication—is one of four elements, or sub-areas, of the DoD human sys-tems research portfolio. The other three are protection, sustainment

and warfighter performance; systems interfaces and cognitive pro-cessing; and human aspects of operations in military environments.

Together, these elements focus on providing innovative, human-centric science solutions to enhance the readiness and reduce the cost of our all-volunteer force. While the latter three elements have the potential to enhance a warfighter’s performance capabilities at dis-tinct points within a mission, only training provides a way of raising a warfighter’s overall performance potential to new and higher levels at every point within a mission.

s&t areas

Currently, DoD’s training S&T activities focus on four areas: the science of learning, which drives innovation and is key to assuring training effectiveness; personalized training, which emphasizes tech-nologies that adapt training content and instructional strategies to each students’ particular needs; integrated training, which enables effective “anytime, anywhere” training beyond the level of the indi-vidual, scaling to service, joint, and coalition levels; and affordability/return on investment, which focuses on approaches for validating the cost- and performance-effectiveness of the training technologies be-ing developed and demonstrating their value.

Science of Learning. Just as the characteristics of the operations in which we engage are evolving, so, too, must our approaches for training warfighters evolve. Luckily, the foundational paradigms upon which the learning sciences are based continue to evolve as well, providing deeper insights into how to structure training techniques, design and develop training techniques, and measure their effective-ness. In the past, the science of learning has focused on applying a single theory or approach to the challenge of delivering effective train-ing. Today, DoD’s science of learning efforts emphasize a blended ap-proach, synthesizing repetition and reinforcement with information processing management and active, authentic problem solving to de-liver personalized and integrated training that is tailored to the needs of the individual or group.

Personalized Training. The main focus of research activities sup-porting personalized training rests on a three-step approach. Step one focuses on model development—dynamic, evolving models that rep-resent an individual student’s learning processes, progress and needs; models that identify and apply instructional techniques that maximize

By coMManDer joseph v. cohn

DepartMent of Defense science anD technology training efforts focus on Delivering quality anD effectiveness.


the learning progress and attainment of individuals; and models that simulate the interactions between expert instructors and individual students to provide a one-on-one tutorial experience. Step two concen-trates on driving down the cost of generating training content, focusing on tools that allow for easy elicitation of training domain knowledge and the rapid creation of training scenarios from that domain knowl-edge. Step three centers around implementing these capabilities in a software and hardware framework that will support the current suite of training technologies and is able to integrate future technologies.

Integrated Training. This area expands the research efforts covered in personalized training efforts to a larger training audience—crews, teams and operating units of warfighters working across different plat-forms, services, and even international boundaries. The focus of these efforts includes ensuring that training content is accessible and shar-able across these different domains, thus enabling an “anytime, any-where” training capability, developing learning management systems that can accommodate a wide and diverse range of training applica-tions and developing performance measures to assess readiness at the individual, team and larger aggregate levels.

Training Value. Perhaps the most important, but frequently over-looked, aspect of developing training technologies is a demonstration of their value, measured as the long-term return on the initial S&T investment. This is likely a result of confusion over the distinction be-tween “lower cost” and “value.” A system’s value is more than just the sum total of its components’ cost. Rather, it is measured in terms of the monetary and operational value that the resultant training brings to the organization. The issue is not cost alone. Training S&T invest-ments must be judged in terms of their monetary and operational or mission-effectiveness returns. This applies whether it is reducing the time needed to train students to some standard, increasing the level of student competency over a fixed time, or a mix of the two.

Consider a training system that costs $50 million and five years to develop, and then has an annual support cost of $1 million—but also reduces by a factor of 10 the time needed to train to standard. The upfront costs certainly appear prohibitive. Yet if the training system can reduce by tenfold the time needed to train multiple cohorts of students—often numbering in the thousands per military specialty per service per year—to a set of standards, then these upfront develop-ment costs lead to significant monetary and operational returns. This is a result of moving more capable warfighters into the operational environment sooner, reducing instructor and other overhead-related costs, and avoiding on-the-job training and operational costs associ-ated with requiring mentors to delay their own tasks in order to guide their mentees.

next steps

Of course, there is still work to be done. We must treat seriously front-end analyses to determine training requirements and objectives. These analyses form the basis for developing any kind of training tech-nology and also provide the basis for conducting effective return-on-investment assessments. We need to develop approaches and tools to support tradeoff analyses between training and other approaches for enabling and improving human performance—for example, looking at tradeoffs between training versus selection, training versus system design, and training versus job-performance aids—and all of these to-gether. More broadly, we must also better understand how to integrate and optimize our investments across the full suite of activities intended to sustain and enhance warfighter performance.

Training technologies are an important tool in the department’s toolbox for enhancing and sustaining warfighter performance. Yet, the department also recognizes that there is more to delivering effective training than simply connecting various hardware and software com-ponents. Delivering effective training, especially against the backdrop of a smaller all-volunteer force executing increasingly complex, joint and coalition missions, requires a fundamental shift away from a one-size-fits-all, task-based focus to a tailored, personalized and integrated approach that provides our warfighter with a cognitive advantage over our nation’s adversaries. O

Navy Commander Joseph V. Cohn, Ph.D., is deputy director, Hu-man Performance, Training and BioSystems Directorate, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not re-flect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.

Joseph V. Cohn




Sustainment of assets is an ever-larger portion of the military budget and needs to be done as efficiently as possible. Among other things, that means maintenance must be performed to the highest standards. But the military personnel that do maintenance turn over much more frequently than their civilian counterparts, and training is a huge burden.

As a result, training programs for aviation maintenance work-ers must be extremely efficient, enabling personnel to reach high levels of competence quickly and with the least expenditure of scarce money and other resources. Training the maintainers requires smart combinations of the latest technologies with hard-won experience in instruction.

Defense forces are thus eager to enhance live opera-tions with simulation-based, virtual training, integrat-ed with interactive courseware and advanced learning management systems, noted Chuck Morant, vice presi-dent of strategy and business development at CAE.

The company’s aviation maintenance training com-bines the latest simulation technologies with highly experienced instructors. For example, CAE recently delivered 10 classrooms of Simfinity Virtual Mainte-nance Trainers (VMTs), totaling more than 100 work-stations, for C-130Js flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). VMTs are fully interactive with aircraft courseware and compatible with the RCAF’s integrated learning environment.

Moreover, some VMTs are coupled with hardware-based part-task trainers that familiarize trainees with aircraft systems and diagnostics and let them do hands-on diagnostics and testing on these part-task trainers. The RCAF had specifically required all maintenance training be done virtually or on maintenance trainers, with no training on ac-tual aircraft. The VMTs’ blended approach enables this approach.

In developing training solutions, CAE partners with aircraft OEMs such as Lockheed Martin and Airbus Defense & Space. For RCAF C-130J training, the company worked closely with Lockheed. CAE also recently delivered cockpit operations maintenance simulators for the Airbus A400M Atlas.

In June, CAE agreed with the U.S. Navy to provide the Royal Aus-tralian Navy (RAN) with an MH-60R Seahawk composite maintenance trainer. This MH-60R CMT will be a modified MH-60R that was pro-vided to CAE by the government. CAE will use the modified aircraft to create a hardware-based mechanical maintenance trainer for the MH-60R.

The MH-60R CMT will train RAN mechanics to perform me-chanical, electrical and hydraulic system maintenance. It will include

instructor-controlled malfunctions that facilitate training mechanics in fault isolation and the removal and replacement of failed compo-nents. CAE has already delivered an MH-60R avionics maintenance trainer to RAN for transition and readiness training on the rotor-craft’s avionics.

CAE’s primary military customers for maintenance training are thus air forces that operate C-130Js and A400Ms and operators of he-licopters such as the MH-60R. But Morant said military customers also benefit from CAE’s extensive civilian training. For example, the U.S. Air Force uses CAE Simfinity Boeing 737 VMTs in a classroom at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., to train maintainers of C-40 Clippers,

the military variant of the 737. Any training solution must integrate well with the

training environment, Morant emphasized. Simula-tion, though highly economic and safe, must always meet customer objectives. For RCAF C-130J main-tenance training, thorough analysis of training tasks determined the mix of virtual and hands-on training. One CAE solution was a self-paced, game-based interac-tive learning module for repair of airframe composite structures that incorporates virtual equipment, process animations and scoring.

For the A400M, CAE’s simulator trains on the most difficult maintenance tasks for the aircraft. The com-pany has also been designing a generic avionics virtual

maintenance trainer for initial training. For this task, CAE has pro-duced a flexible, virtual trainer that addresses the four most demand-ing avionics systems and includes procedures, virtual tests and tools.

“Next-generation maintenance training will use actual aircraft-portable maintenance aids for training,” Morant predicted. Combin-ing these aids with shared learning content and electronic publications will enable CAE to continually enhance its Virtual Instructor Toolkit.

The building-block approach, using a suite of devices, flexible envi-ronment and tools to facilitate scenario development and instructional delivery, allows CAE to combine the latest technology with training experience, Morant said, thus enabling the company to offer blended training worldwide.

high-fiDelity interaction

L-3 Link Simulation & Training offers total training solutions for both operators and maintainers of complex military platforms and sys-tems. This includes aviation maintenance training that produce fully qualified military mechanics, according to Vice President of Engineer-ing Frank Delisle.

By henry canaDay, Mt2 corresponDent

inDustry offers new virtual, visual anD siMulation technologies for Developing aircraft Mechanics.

Chuck Morant

[email protected]


L-3’s services include turnkey schoolhouse operations that com-bine instructors, management, sustainment and support staff.

The company’s products include L-3’s Maintenance Training Inte-grated Development Environment (IDE). This IDE is a real-time virtual maintainer environment that provides high-fidelity interactive aircraft structures and virtual avionics, support equipment and tools. IDE also offers representations of maintenance manuals and L-3’s RITE-Train suite of instruction capabilities. L-3 can provide full-scale aircraft rep-resentations for training tasks requiring practice on hardware.

L-3’s maintenance training covers all types of aircraft: fast jets, wide-body aircraft, rotary wing and unmanned vehicles. “For example, we are currently developing the [MQ-1C] Gray Eagle maintenance training system for the U.S. Army, on contract through General Atomics, and have a long history providing F-16 [Fighting Falcon] mainte-nance training solutions,” Delisle explained.

L-3 training is provided for every maintenance skill code, including electrical/electronic, propulsion sys-tems, avionics, composites, refueling systems, fuels, hydraulics and structures, he added.

The company has recently been exploiting advances in 3-D scanning and processing virtualization to im-prove the fidelity of its training systems and transmit rich training content to multiple tablet devices wire-lessly and securely. This reduces training acquisition, operations and sustainment costs, Delisle said.

The L-3 engineer pointed to the value of L-3’s RITE-Train integrated and adaptive capability, saying it accel-erates training by more effectively engaging students and giving instructors real-time data on performance of individuals and groups. This prompt feedback enables timely, task-relevant coaching.

“Our technology immediately alerts students and instructors when a procedural step from the manual is skipped, done incorrectly, out of order, or in a man-ner not recommended by subject-matter experts and instructional analysts,” he said, adding that L-3 is see-ing significant interest in taking this training solution to maintenance hangars for just-in-time use.

virtual environMent

Behind every great virtual training system is a superb virtual en-vironment. But making it easy for students to learn virtually is a lot harder than the virtual wizards make it look.

Those truths are part of the philosophy at Disti, whose name has long been virtually synonymous with creating virtual environments for aviation maintenance training, according to Scott Ariotti, the com-pany’s director of global marketing.

“We’ve perfected the process of constructing these demanding vir-tual environments by producing a software development kit that man-ages a database-centric content creation architecture,” Ariotti said.

Disti’s VE Studio is the commercialized version of the suite that manages virtual environment development. It starts by identifying and analyzing project requirements and continues through source-data collection, automatic code generation, software-build automation and automated regression testing.

Disti virtual environments are preferred solutions for almost a doz-en aviation-maintenance training platforms, Ariotti noted, including

jet fighters like the F-35 Lightning II and F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets, patrol or cargo aircraft like the P-8 Poseidon and C-130 Her-cules, and rotary-wing aircraft such as the CH-47 Chinook and UH-72 Lakota.

Disti virtual environments also support maintenance training for the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, AH-64 Apache and MQ-1C Gray Eagle.

The richness and complexity of Disti’s virtual environments en-able training on hundreds of maintenance procedures, and in the case of the F-35, more than 1,000 procedures. “These virtual aircraft serve

as direct computer-based surrogates for the real-world aircraft,” Ariotti explained. “They facilitate operational checks, troubleshooting and removal and replacement down to line-replaceable units. The environments have hundreds of pieces of virtual support equipment.”

The functionality of Disti’s virtual environments depends on training requirements and which proce-dures need to be taught. Procedures dictate which virtual doors need to open, which virtual panels must be removable, which cables disconnect, which pins to probe, which support equipment is displayed and which system schematics function. “Our software provides traceability of this data all the way to the fin-ished system, ensuring functionality meets require-ments,” Ariotti said.

For a decade, all these capabilities of VE Studio were available only when Disti engineers were under contract to develop virtual environments for main-tenance training. At last year’s Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, however, Disti made VE Studio available as a com-mercial tool. Ariotti noted this was partly in response to requests from nations that wanted virtual mainte-nance training but could not export aircraft data to the United States.

Similarly, Disti’s graphically intense 3-D envi-ronments have traditionally been delivered through

high-end, gaming-style computers at training facilities. But the com-pany has recently been working with Amazon to deliver its applica-tions from Amazon’s cloud-based rendering solution AppStream. This new service delivers an encoded video stream to user devices. “Essentially, it’s an interactive streaming video feed that runs on any Web-connected device, including low-end desktops and laptops, tab-lets and phones,” Ariotti explained.

Combining Amazon’s infrastructure as a service and VE Studio will allow trainers to easily produce and distribute virtual mainte-nance training in the form of “training as a service,” he said.

The virtual environment development process enabled by VE Studio is critical to making training more effective than just a bunch of game engines, pretty pictures and wow factors. “The picture is just the last phase of a complete virtual maintenance training applica-tion,” Ariotti said.

Doing it all right begins with requirements analysis and contin-ues with content development, on-demand and automated builds and automated regression testing. VE Studio manages the entire produc-tion pipeline. It parses procedures and populates its database with all the needed objects, such as doors, cables, hoses and line-replaceable units, as well as required actions, such as removals, installations, probes and connections. VE Studio then associates behaviors and

Scott Ariotti

Frank Delisle

[email protected]

[email protected]


constraints with the objects and manages the automated building of the virtual environment.

visualization platforM

The developers at NGRAIN offer a 3-D visualization platform used in development and deployment of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies for industry, according to Product Marketing Manager Jonathan Hornsby.

The company’s products include the NGRAIN SDK, a 3-D volumet-ric rendering engine available under license for creation of custom-ized AR and VR applications. There is also NGRAIN Vergence, a COTS product that allows subject-matter experts and technical leads to create custom AR or VR and interactive 3-D content without writing a single line of code.

Finally, NGRAIN’s industrial applications offer AR and VR benefits to specific enterprise activities. For example, NGRAIN’s Consort en-ables teams to quickly and accurately conduct visual inspections and damage assessments on vehicles, heavy equipment and other complex assemblies.

For operations support, NGRAIN’s Envoy provides just-in-time access to enterprise information and live-data feeds required for crucial field decisions. And Scout delivers real-time data and analytics to factory workers optimizing manufacturing quality and minimizing pro-duction risk.

Although not restricted to aviation, NGRAIN tech-nologies support several aircraft maintenance func-tions, including training, in-field repair and inspections. “By visualizing operational data at the point of need on tablets, mobile devices or wearables, the NGRAIN plat-form allows maintenance technicians to interact with their physical environment in a way that was previously impossible,” Hornsby said.

Whether running though refreshers on maintenance procedures in the field or visualizing reference data on part availability, repair re-cords and procedures, NGRAIN software can connect users to informa-tion they need to act quickly and efficiently.

Lockheed Martin has used NGRAIN Consort to transform damage assessment and repair processes for the F-22 Raptor and F-35. Consort provides a visual reference that enables technicians to quickly identify, catalogue and annotate damage done to the fuselage while it was in flight. “When reconciled with aircraft records, maintainers are able to easily determine airworthiness and mission readiness before aircraft release,” Hornsby said.

NGRAIN has recently made several improvements in its core COTS platform, Vergence, and introduced its industrial applications suite. This suite was developed in collaboration with industry leaders, in-cluding aerospace and defense officials. NGRAIN plans to expand its industrial applications to address additional business challenges and introduce new features.

The NGRAIN platform provides a wholly new and unique way for end-users to interact with organizational data, Hornsby noted. “Rather than present records in a static form or table, the software delivers in-teractivity that converts data into actionable information and retain-able knowledge. By displaying data on tablets, mobile devices or wear-ables, NGRAIN redefines what it means to learn on the job.”

Organizations using NGRAIN reduced training time by up to 30 percent and increased first-time-right job performance by 75 to 96 per-cent, he reported.

Maintenance siMulator

Finmeccanica’s Alenia Aermacchi unit both makes and maintains a variety of civil and military aircraft and components. Military models include the C-27J Spartan, MC-27J Praetorian and M-346 advanced jet trainer. The company has partnered on the Eurofighter Typhoon, the F-35 Lighting II, the AMX fighter-bomber and the Tornado GR4.

For the C-27J, MC-27J and M-346, Alenia Aermacchi offers cus-tomers a complete training package for maintenance. This package includes computer-based training (CBT), a virtual maintenance trainer (VMT) classroom to learn maintenance tasks and procedures through virtual instructor-led lessons on a traditional PC and maintenance sim-ulator. All training devices are linked with technical publications and maintenance manuals and driven by training needs analysis so techni-cians are trained in compliance with their technical duties.

Alenia Aermacchi developed its maintenance simulator in the past 18 months. It is a full 3-D environment where the trainee can apply

what he or she learns on CBT and VMT, just like on-the-job training. Moreover, the trainee can navigate into the aircraft structure and system, or section it and remove all the skin and discover what will not be visible when working on the aircraft.

More training options are on the way for military utility aircraft. TRU Simulation + Training has es-tablished an aircraft-maintenance training facility at Textron Aviation’s Mid-Continent campus in Wichita, Kan., due for completion this summer. The facility has over 35,000 square feet of climate-controlled space, five individual classrooms, an avionics test lab and a sepa-rate exam room. Courseware features the latest 3-D modeling and animation.

The first class, scheduled to begin in early October, will train me-chanics on new King Air 350i/ER turboprops with Pro Line Fusion avi-onics, explained Vice President and General Manager Kyle Crooks. By mid-October, he added, a second course will provide avionics training on the same aircraft.

Before the end of the year, the curriculum will include training for McCauley propeller aircraft, and in 2016 will expand to include new King Air 250 and C90GTx turboprops. In 2017, TRU will train on ad-ditional Cessna aircraft.

The curriculum will feature classroom lectures, lab training and hands-on instruction. “Over 54,000 hours of courseware is being de-veloped to support maintenance training on all major mechanical sys-tems, engine run and taxi, and so forth,” Crooks said.

The company expects to train Textron employees and customers and private fleets initially, later serving defense aviation customers.

Crooks stressed that courseware developers and instructors will have direct access to the Cessna, Beechcraft and McCauley engineers and production teams that build the aircraft, ensuring continuous up-to-date instruction. And students will have access in climate-controlled adjacent hangar space to actual aircraft systems.

“In combination with the latest touch screen technology and elec-tronic materials, this produces an optimal learning experience com-pared with what is available today,” Crooks said. O



Jonathan Hornsby

[email protected]


The Army is consolidating soldier edu-cation under one roof as part of the recent-ly initiated concept of the Army University.

While not a “brick and mortar” univer-sity, ArmyU will maximize the educational experience that soldiers are already getting in the Army through the Army Training and Doctrine Command. The plan for Ar-myU is to organize the Army’s professional military education programs into a uni-versity system to increase academic rigor, create greater opportunities for accredita-tion and enhance the quality of the force, according to leaders of the Combined Arms Center (CAC) on Fort Leavenworth, Kan., who will administer the program.

ArmyU will integrate the education al-ready provided in the Army for enlisted sol-diers, officers, warrant officers and Army civilians of all components. Included in Ar-myU are all the Army “centers of excellence”: aviation, cyber, fires, intelligence, maneu-ver, maneuver support, mission command and sustainment. ArmyU also includes the Army Sergeants Major Academy, Defense Language Institute, the Western Hemi-sphere Institute for Security Cooperation, Army Management Staff College, Warrant Officer Career College, Army Command and General Staff College and Army Press.

“We will work with them, and we are looking at how we can make the instruc-tors better and make the curriculum as rel-evant and as current as possible in order to meet the need of the operating force,” said Colonel Michael J. Harlan of the CAC.

The new university will coordinate with the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Army War College, Cadet Command, initial military training, Army Reserve Schools, Army National Guard Schools, Army Medi-cal Department Center and School, Judge Advocate General Legal Center and School and the Special Warfare Center and School.

Sergeant Major of the Army Daniel A. Dailey, who signed the university’s char-ter along with Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno, said ArmyU will be nationally ac-credited, and will eventually provide a “uni-versal transcript” to make it easier for civil-ian colleges and universities to understand the education and training soldiers have received in the Army, and help them build a degree program. The Army and other mili-tary services currently offer a Joint Services Transcript (JST), which provides to civilian universities a description of military school-ing and work history in civilian language.

Dailey said the JST will not be eliminat-ed, but will be augmented with a transcript from ArmyU. “Our goal is to have the Army transcript have the same value as any other university [transcript] in America,” Dailey said. “It’s long overdue. The soldiers are ex-cited about this too.”

Harlan said a universal transcript, along with ArmyU accreditation, will mean that many, though not all, of the types of training soldiers receive in the Army will be able to be converted into civilian educa-tion credits. One of the goals of ArmyU is to ensure that the training provided across the Army meets the rigor required in the civilian academic world.

This will make it easier for ArmyU to provide accredited courses, which in turn means it can provide universal transcripts of soldier education that document course-work credits that civilian universities will be more willing to accept. When that hap-pens, the education soldiers complete in the Army will save them both time and money when they transition out of service.

“When they walk in to that school, they have this universal transcript from the Ar-myU that shows legitimate accredited cred-its, and they can take those and apply them

towards a degree program of their choos-ing,” Harlan said. “It’ll save them money ideally if that soldier, now a civilian, doesn’t have to pay a second time for training they already possess. It may get them a degree faster because they don’t have to take as many classes, because they have already gotten that training and experience and the civilian university will acknowledge it.”

Harlan also described what he called a “degree engine,” which would be part of ArmyU. The degree engine would use the universal transcript and compare it to the requirement for getting a particular degree at a particular university, and could help soldiers determine what other courses they would need to take to achieve that degree, and even possibly the cost of attaining that degree. “It’s a tool to help that soldier un-derstand how close they are to getting a degree they want from an institution they want,” Harlan said.

In a tri-signed letter, McHugh, Odierno and Dailey described the creation of ArmyU as the next logical step in the continued professionalization of the Army. “Under-standing the historical importance of this effort, we are committed to transforming one of the largest academic systems in the United States into a premier university sys-tem that harnesses the tremendous energy, experience and intellectual capacity in our Army to produce the professionals that the nation will need for a complex and uncer-tain world tomorrow,” they wrote. O

C. Todd Lopez writes for the Army News Service.

By c. toDD lopezarMyu seeks to raise the acaDeMic rigor of the service’s Many professional Military eDucation prograMs.

For more information, contact MT2 Editor Hank Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.mt2-kmi.com.


Amid the growing concern over cyber-attacks, whether on private corporations, government or the military, Team Orlando member University of Central Florida (UCF) recently announced the addition of a graduate certificate in behavioral cybersecurity as part of the UCF Modeling and Simulation graduate program, which is one of the most respected programs in the country.

The graduate certificate in modeling and simulation of behav-ioral cybersecurity is a 13-hour certificate program that provides students with specialized training and knowledge in M&S funda-mentals, techniques and applications toward the behavioral aspects of cybersecurity, with a special emphasis on proactive planning, as well as reactive strategies to minimize damage.

“At University of Central Florida, we focus on human-centric modeling and simulation,” said Peter Kincaid, Ph.D., co-director of UCF’s M&S graduate program. “This new certificate is similar and pays particular attention to the behavior that characterizes and con-tributes to this kind of activity, in addition to the traditional aspects of cybersecurity, such as firewall protection. Our entire M&S pro-gram is highly interdisciplinary, and this certificate will be as well. We will use modeling and simulation as a major tool for analysis.”

UCF is considered one of the premier academic institutions in the United States to offer truly interdisciplinary graduate studies in M&S. It was initiated in 2001-2002 with directions from university officials to create a multidisciplinary program, and although most of the modeling and simulation graduate programs are part of the computer science or engineering departments, the program cur-rently draws classes and faculty from a dozen or more academic areas.

“The certificate is being offered on a part-time basis, requiring one course each semester for four semesters,” said Sabrina Kalish, M.A., coordinator for the M&S graduate program. “We hope to at-tract a mix of working professionals and students from a variety of other programs at UCF.”

National market research has identified a demand in supply for certified specialists, Kalish noted. “The recent headlines about major hacks into large corporations are making everyone aware of how vulnerable they might be; now, we need educated specialists to help mitigate that.”

One of the unique features of the program is what surrounds its home at UCF in Orlando. The Central Florida region is the world’s epicenter for modeling and simulation, and an important part of that ongoing and growing success is the partnership between the university and Team Orlando, one that dates back many years.

Pair that with the M&S expertise that surrounds them in the Central Florida Research Park, a campus-like environment adjacent

to UCF that houses hundreds of M&S companies, and the result is a strong university program sup-ported and complemented by insti-tutions and corporations providing real-life experience.

“Cybersecurity is an emerging area in which we need to grow our

workforce, and we are always looking to improve the skills of our workforce,” said Team Orlando’s Captain Wes Naylor, commanding officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division. “This is good for Central Florida and our Team Orlando partners. Cyber-awareness and cybersecurity are issues the Department of Defense will continue to press, especially with the recent hackings within the government.

“Team Orlando has the opportunity to partner with UCF, look at the road ahead and conduct real-world research on emerging issues affecting not only DoD, but also the economy and the world of cyber,” said Naylor. “What we learn together, whether that’s with regard to course development or research, will bring qualitative and quantitative academic rigor to understanding and learning about cyber-defense, and that’s a good thing.”

“We expect those who complete the certificate will be more marketable,” Kalish said. “And because we anticipate students with a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, earning the certificate will accomplish different goals for each of them. For example, we have a few cybersecurity professionals enrolled because while they are strong with technical skills, they are hoping to gain more ex-perience with identifying behavioral aspects, such as motives for cybercrime and possible insider threats.”

“On the other end of the spectrum, we have folks in other pro-grams at UCF, such as criminal justice, who want to learn more about the technical aspects of cybersecurity so that they can help to inform policy,” Kalish said.

As an interdisciplinary program, students will be assigned to work on complex, hands-on projects as interdisciplinary teams, so they will be encouraged to form groups with others whose back-grounds are different.

“These groups give our students the opportunity to consider challenges from many perspectives, and utilize that spectrum of perspectives and information to arrive at a conclusion,” Kalish said. “We feel this is one of the biggest strengths of the certificate.”

The first graduate class in the behavioral cybersecurity pro-gram begins in August. For more information about the program or to apply, visit www.ist.ucf.edu/grad. O

UCF Looks to Team Orlando Partners for Cyber Graduate Program By Dolly rairigh glass




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Meggitt Training Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2www.meggitttrainingsystems.com

SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9www.saic.com

SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4www.saic.com

Simthetiq . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27www.simthetiqestore.com

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

Col. Walt Yates

2015 Top Simulation & Training Companies

America’s Longest Established Simulation & Training Magazine

NEXT ISSUESeptember 2015

Volume 20, Issue 5

Insertion Order Deadline: August 28, 2015 • Ad Material Deadline: September 4, 2015

SpECial SECTioN

Program ManagerPM TRASYS

FEaTurESVirtual Marksmanship

image Generators

part-Task Trainers


W. Garth SmithPresident and Co-Owner

MetaVR

W. Garth Smith co-founded MetaVR with Richard M. Rybacki in 1997. Smith holds the position of chief operating officer of MetaVR, overseeing all corporate opera-tions, new business development and prod-uct development strategy.

Q: Your company recently released new versions of your Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VSRG) and Scenario Editor. How will the changes and enhancements benefit users?

A: Our move to the 64-bit platform means that users can run ultra-high resolution (sub-inch per-pixel) terrain databases with culture-dense scenes at 60 Hz for much larger areas than previously available. VRSG’s new NVENC-based H.264 stream-ing plugin takes advantage of the H.264 now encoded on the GPU of NVidia graphic cards, and provides a superior-quality video for a given data rate over our previous vid-eo plugins.

VRSG has had persistent track/wheel impressions for a while, but we improved this feature so that users can now specify track impressions for single-track entities (motorcycle tracks, human and animal footprints) and modulate the intensity of the track impression. Scenario Editor has new tools for scripting the movement of behavior entities, which include creating looped paths and grouping an entity’s way-points. The latter is useful for moving the entity and its entire path as a single unit.

Our 3-D content libraries that are in-stalled with VRSG continue to grow to meet customer requests and CAF DMO require-ments. For VRSG version 5.10, we added more than 310 new models for a total of over 5,100 models in our model libraries.

Q: Your business partner, Close Air Solutions, recently announced the successful (full-day/night) accreditation of its Immersive Close Air Support Simulator (iCASS) training system as part of the U.K.’s FAC/JTAC Training Program. What role do your company’s products play in that system?

A: We added features to VRSG and our content libraries and provided VRSG de-velopment licenses, all at no charge, to meet Close Air Solutions’ requirements over a one-year period. Their iCASS has been adopted by the Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standardization Unit at the RAF Station Leeming, North York-shire, England. This partial-dome trainer uses 12 VRSG channels for the projected (out-the-window and sensor) views and for a simulated laser target designator and range finder. The system also uses our 3-D content. The iCASS will be used to fulfill the U.K. Ministry of Defense’s forward air control training requirement. The facility is analogous to the U.S. Joint Terminal At-tack Controller (JTAC) schoolhouse at Nel-lis Air Force Base, Nev., which also uses VRSG in its JTAC training simulators.

Q: What are some other innovative capabilities your company is delivering to military training programs?

A: We continue to improve the realism to our military models. For example, we re-cently added several new models of U.S. and U.K. ships to our military model library. The texture resolution of these models is 2 centimeters per-pixel for the body, and 1 centimeters per-pixel for the deck. The realism is such that one can walk around

the ship exterior in VRSG’s first-person-shooter mode and oversee deck activities such as aircraft takeoffs and landings, the unloading of cargo, or disembarkation of vehicles. These model features are crucial for amphibious training operations.

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges to effective use of georealistic visual simulations for military training?

A: The biggest issue is countering the marketing misinformation that claims products from game companies can ren-der 3-D terrain larger than a small play box to meet the simulation requirements of military training exercises. At ITEC this year, we saw the presentation of one such game company of a multi-channel system that could not maintain 60 Hz and had vis-ible and significant texture and structural anomalies. Their ads, videos and marketing messages claim much to the contrary. It is difficult to prevail in a merit-based man-ner when your competition advertises such misrepresentations.

Q: What results have users achieved with your technology for collecting and processing sub-inch per-pixel resolution aerial imagery for geospecific real-time terrain?

A: We recently delivered to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at NAS Fal-lon, Nev., high-resolution geospecific ter-rain of two target ranges on the Fallon Range Training Complex that are used for field training in the facility’s JTAC qualifi-cation course. The 2-centemeter per-pixel imagery of the ranges was captured by our remote-controlled portable aircraft. With this source imagery, we compiled full-resolution (2-centimeter) terrain of the ranges with our Terrain Tools for Esri Arc-GIS. During simulation training, students can readily see on the 2-centimeter terrain such details as bullet holes in vehicle tar-gets, small shrubbery and small craters left from ordnance. O

[email protected]

inDUStry interVieW military training technology


For more information contact:Lindsay Silverberg, Associate Publisher at 301.670.5700 x139 or [email protected]

MILITARY TRAINING TECHNOLOGYIMPORTANT 2015 ISSUES

DON’T MISS OUT ON MILITARY TRAINING TECHNOLOGY’S BIG 3 ISSUES AT THE END OF 2015!

• September (20.5) Cover Q&A with Lt. Col. Walt Yates, Program Manager PM TRASYS for our 14th Annual Top Simulation & Training Companies Competition

• October (20.6) Cover Q&A with Sen. John McCain for our 20th Anniversary Issue

• December (20.7) Cover Q&A with Maj. Gen. Jonathan Maddux for our Annual I/ITSEC issue

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