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“As I have made clear since

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Features

3rOtOrCrAft GuNNeryLike the platforms on which they ride, helicopter guns have a wide range of missions. Training helicopter gunners is thus both vital to effective airborne operations and challenging in its variety and scope. Similarly, training systems for rotorcraft weaponry also vary across several dimensions.By Henry Canaday

19virtuAl trAiNiNG AiDS vehiCle MAiNteNANCeOne of the top priorities of maintaining military ground vehicles is to make sure there are enough properly trained mechanics, but providing easy access to hands-on training has been a challenge. New virtual technology developed by several companies, however, is making vehicle maintenance training more accessible and effective.By Karen e. THuermer

22COMMAND PrOfile:NAvAl eDuCAtiON AND trAiNiNG COMMAND leArNiNG CeNterSThe Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is the largest shore command in the Navy, providing ready, relevant learning and education support that literally touches every sailor in the Navy. The NETC training construct is based on 12 learning centers around the country, with mission-specific schools that support essential tasks identified as requirements by the fleet.

8iMAGe GeNerAtOrS BriNG New reAliSMAs military training programs shift increasingly to simulation technologies, one result has been a greater need for realism in content, which is critical to training effectiveness. Aided by new capabilities derived from the gaming world, developers of image generators are rapidly advancing available capabilities.By Harrison donnelly

11trAiNiNG fOr ClOSe Air SuPPOrtA number of companies, including close air support specialists and simulation technology providers, have joined together to create integrated systems that combine simulation, eLearning and advanced classroom techniques to convey a solid foundation in needed skills to be followed by live training for final validation.By Harrison donnelly

Recent changes in the Army’s basic combat training (BCT) program cover a wide range of topics from rifle marksmanship to landmine defense. But one of the most interesting changes is the addition of evaluations of trainees by their fellow soldiers, who may be better able to judge their peers on a critical but difficult-to-train area—character.

With peer evaluation, soldiers in BCT units will evaluate each other on how they are adhering to standards and performing on tasks, and even if they shine when the drill sergeant is away in the same way that they shine when he is nearby.

“Nobody is going to know you more than the guy next to you,” Command Sergeant Major Dennis Woods, with Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Center for Initial Military Training, was quoted as saying. “If I am the instructor, all of your buddies you are with know the things you are doing that the instructor never caught. Maybe you are only spotlighting when the instructor is around. But when he’s not around, everybody has to pull your weight. This peer evaluation lets soldiers see themselves through the eyes of their peers.”

A peer evaluation pilot program has already been undertaken at Fort Jackson, S.C., and it will be implemented this fall at all four Army basic training locations: Fort Jackson; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Sill, Okla.; and Fort Benning, Ga.

The peer evaluations will primarily serve as an indicator of character for soldiers, Woods explained, thus allowing the Army to better evaluate some of the things that are important about being a soldier but are harder to measure through testing and performance.

“Some people will get all the warrior tasks, battle drills and skills, because they are physically inclined,” Woods said. “But their character may have an issue. That peer evaluation will help us uncover that character. As a result, a soldier may spend more time in basic training before he ships to that first unit of assignment.”

Harrison DonnellyediTor

Recognized Leader Covering All Aspects of Military Training Readiness

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Military Training Technology

Volume 20, Issue 6 • October 2015

eDitor’S PerSPectiVe

The U.K., U.S. and other militaries make extensive use of advanced simulation technology to train close air support controllers, who have one of the most demanding jobs in the modern era of joint operations. [Photo courtesy of Close Air Solutions. Crown copyright]

Like the platforms on which they ride, helicopter guns have a wide range of mis-sions, playing decisive roles in situations from insertions to extractions and close-in support of deployed units. Training helicop-ter gunners is thus both vital to effective airborne operations and challenging in its variety and scope.

Similarly, training systems for rotorcraft weaponry also vary across several dimen-sions. Some systems train only gunners, while others train whole rotorcraft crews. Some specialize in specific models and weapons, while others stretch across many platforms. Some devices replicate the full sight, sound and feel of chopper operations, while others focus on the critical visual images.

AVT Simulation, for example, offers rotary wing collective training and train-ing for front-seat co-pilot/gunners on the AH-64 Apache. “We make everything from lower- to high-end fidelity systems,” said Kevin Vizzarri, vice president of business development.

AVT’s Apache Gaming Peripheral repli-cates the front seat of the AH-64 using Vir-tual Battle Space gaming. It is USB-driven, with real grips, switches and triggers. The Recurring Skills Trainer-Gunner, mean-while, trains students on such front-seat

procedures as using fire-control radar, threat file-sharing, remote Hellfire engage-ment and laser designation. It lets them fly with an unmanned aerial vehicle wingman in manned/unmanned teaming mode with a remote control station.

At the top of AVT’s suite is the Combined Aircrew Mission Task Trainer (CAMTT), which trains multiple operators of AH-64s and UH-60 Blackhawks on a virtual battle-field. AVT is now integrating CH-47 Chi-nooks into CAMTT. This trainer is especially good at training mission leaders and mission rehearsal, according to company executives.

“All our training solutions are part of the same CAMTT family—scalable, interoper-able and tailorable,” Vizzarri stressed. “And they train in collective operations.”

Although CAMTT handles other helicop-ters, training Apache gunners is AVT’s spe-cialty. As a development contractor for the Army’s Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer, AVT knows most current aircraft in the inventory.

Some organizations want full-motion simulators, with hydraulics and panoramic views, but these can be extremely expensive. AVT makes more affordable simulators that use realistic interfaces and a screen that fo-cuses on the view in front of the gunner, all in a small footprint.

AVT is now getting more into the gaming approach to training, looking at laser and other technologies and developing the abil-ity to change terrain without shutting down training devices, all while staying affordable and within small footprints. The company is rolling out an Apache gunnery trainer that combines realistic gaming with training in specific skills.

Live Fire

There are also non-simulation ap-proaches to training, however, such as the one pursued by Inter-Coastal Electronics (ICE), which makes training, telemetry and test instrumentation that collects, pro-cesses, transmits and records data from live-fire training. “Our focus is live training, with modest exposure to virtual programs,” explained Gregory Kraak, vice president of business development.

ICE makes the Aviation Tactical Engage-ment Simulation System (TESS), which enables aircrews to practice live-weapon engagements and combined-arms train-ing without firing a round. Aviation TESS is used by all three Army Combat Training Centers and many home stations.

Aviation TESS provides integrated, in-strumented training for force-on-force and

SimuLated and Live-Fire training SyStemS improve weaponS perFormance by heLicopter crewS.

by henry canaday, mt2 correSpondent

www.MT2-kmi.com MT2 20.6 | 3

force-on-target collective training events. It integrates trainees into a network in-frastructure via telemetry antennas that transmit live feeds across many players and sites, and automatically adjudicates results of live, virtual and constructive fire. Com-bining TESS with onboard aircraft gun video and ICE’s advanced software yields real-time monitoring of training events and engagements.

ICE has extensive experience instru-menting different aircraft, including AH-64, UH-60, CH-47, OH-58D Kiowa and UH-72 Lakota. It is a provider of air-to-ground in-strumentation and live-training for aviation crews. The company’s Modular Smart On-board Data Interface Module (MSMODIM) interfaces with air and ground vehicles and is the primary component of TESS.

MSMODIM interfaces electronically with aircraft weapons to simulate weap-ons engagements, monitor performance and locate positions. It tracks, records and transmits data for real-time observation and after-action reviews. It computes solutions for Hellfire missiles, semi-active lasers, 30 mm guns and rockets. Targets are selected from an onboard database, and each weap-on’s impact footprint and effects are judged probabilistically. ICE is now developing an advanced SMODIM compatible with MS-MODIM but significantly enhanced.

The Army is now adding offensive ca-pabilities to opposing-force UH-72s at its Combat Training Centers. UH-60 and CH-47 crews are asking for offensive capabilities, specifically door gunners, so ICE is self-funding prototype development for this capability. It is focused on instrumenting M240H machine guns, which are standard-issue for UH and CH door gunners.

ICE intends to expand its solution to other platforms, weapons and capabilities. “Our solution will include a gun-mounted camera that measures weapon effectiveness and records effects of rounds on ground-based targets,” Kraak noted. “A mechanical design has been developed and initial testing on the M240H has been performed.”

viSuaL, auraL and tactiLe

CAE offers comprehensive door-gunner training with visual, aural and tactile cues, explained Global Business Development Director Phil Perey. Its reconfigurable gun-nery trainer provides both window- and ramp-gunner positions with a single display system. For integrated crew training, CAE

also offers gunner training as part of its rear-crew trainer.

“Both solutions provide direct, trans-ferable training for gunner/scanner crew positions,” Perey said. “Integrated gun-nery trainers provide real-time, designated normal aircraft scanning and gunnery procedures.”

CAE services include analysis of training needs and media analysis, designing visual databases and integration of gunnery train-ers with other training devices.

The company’s trainers can simulate the operational environment of any helicopter and be configured for any gunning position or cabin environment, Perey said, adding that the company recently delivered a CH-47 gunnery trainer to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

CAE’s gunnery trainers are designed with pilots, co-pilots, gunners and other rear crew in mind. They can be networked with other state-of-the-art simulation de-vices to enhance mission training. For ex-ample, the CH-47 gunnery trainer is rou-tinely networked to a full-mission simulator, a fixed-base training device and a deployable tactical flight trainer.

CAE gunnery trainers work with night-vision displays, night-vision goggles and multi-ship operations. They include a range of simulated weapons to help train for weap-on malfunctions and simulate drag effects of weapons protruding into slip streams. CAE is considering incorporating vibration and motion cues and wind simulation in its gunnery trainers.

Acme Worldwide Enterprises was part of CAE’s CH-147 Integrated Gunnery Trainer (IGT) team for the RCAF. Acme provided the reconfigurable fuselage and enclosure, lighting, replica weapons and mounts. The IGT includes the company’s high-fidelity replica machine guns and all-electric recoil system, which feel and function like actual guns with full recoil.

rear cabin training

Havelsan’s Rear Cabin Trainer (RCT) combines modular hardware, virtual reality and simulation software in a cost-effective training system, according to Program Man-ager Hakan Karapinar. The RCT has a mock-up of the rear cabin of the AgustaWestland AW139, operated by about 18 militaries, and NHIndustries NH90, flown by many Euro-pean forces. It can be reconfigured for differ-ent training tasks such as apertures, weapon

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mounts and communications, and can be moved as needed.

For training rear crew, the RCT has two visual systems: a head-mounted display for up to two rear-crew stations, and a 180-by-40 degree out-the-window field-of-view dome for training in crew-served weapons.

The RCT offers a range of door gunnery options, and Havelsan can simulate different weapons with a high degree of fidelity. Train-ing can be done in virtual-reality-only mode or with the aid of 80-degree dome projec-tion. Both systems use customized software for tracers, ground effects and gun models.

For crew-served weapons training, the RCT has a dummy weapon with compres-sor-powered recoil or simulated recoil. The shoot-on-screen projection dome offers bet-ter peripheral vision and unobstructed oper-ation of the simulated crew-served weapon. RCT’s realistic weather effects include wind, rain, dust, brownout and fog. It simulates night-vision and thermal images and many terrain types.

Havelsan also offers a long-range missile system simulator, LORAMISS, for training

pilots in firing air-to-surface missiles from helicopters to surface targets like tanks and buildings. LORAMISS simulates the com-plete missile system with a partial helicopter simulator.

The partial helicopter simulator has sim-ulated aviation instruments such as pedals and multi-functional display (MFD) screens

that display pitch, roll, bearing, speed, alti-tude and remaining fuel. LORAMISS’s mis-sile controls simulate selecting missiles, searching targets, locking to targets, break-ing locks and firing. It uses an out-the-win-dow view with the help of image generators that also generate an infrared seeker view of the missile on an MFD screen.

Kratos Training Systems products train gunners by simulating multiple weapons and their ammunition. [Image courtesy of Kratos Training Systems]


Havelsan is currently acquiring a com-pany called Quantum3D, which will ini-tially offer the parent firm’s products, in-cluding LORAMISS, RCT and Armament System Simulation, according to Scott MacDougall, a company spokesman. Over time, the combined firms will offer many new training products.

LORAMISS includes an instructor/op-erator station (IOS) console, MacDougall noted. “Using IOS, the trainer can design the scenario and let the pilot play it. Tar-gets and own-ship can be placed anywhere on the simulation area.”

Stand-aLone or networked

Kratos Training Systems offers a range of gunner-training tools to achieve the right fidelity for each train-ing phase, said Senior Vice President Jose Diaz. It makes systems for many rotorcraft, reconfigurable for helmet-mounted displays, as well as projection-based and motion-based training. Solutions can be stand-alone gunner train-ing or networked full-crew systems.

Kratos systems train gunners by simu-lating multiple weapons and their ammu-nition, and train in communication and crew coordination through all flight phases. Kratos makes fully integrated systems for the H-60, H-53 Stallion, H-47 and UH-1 Iroquois that train in gunnery using either projections or helmet-mounted displays.

In 2014, Kratos was on a team chosen to deliver four MH-60R Seahawk Naval Aircrew Training Systems and four MH-60S Aircrew Virtual Environment Trainer devices for the Naval Air Systems Command. The devices train MH-60 crew in several tasks, including gunnery.

Kratos is now adding augmented reality to gunnery training, Diaz explained, so that “artificial information about the environ-ment and objects in it can be overlaid onto the real world.” It has integrated augmented reality into helmet mounted displays, allow-ing trainees to immerse themselves in high-er-fidelity environments and perform tasks not feasible or realistic in virtual reality.

Kratos will expand helmet-mounted dis-plays from single to multiple positions and operate them in networked distributed mis-sion operations environments. It is looking at virtual databases and image generators in

commercial markets, and is enhancing real-ism with odor simulation, climate-changing environments and vibrations.

Pathfinder Systems Inc. (PSI) offers high-fidelity trainers for initial and contin-ued-proficiency training for rotorcraft crew chiefs, gunners and loadmasters. PSI train-ers support multiple aircraft, so crew can train for different platforms in one simula-tor. Engine sounds, aerodynamic noise and weapon fire are used for realistic training.

The Army contracted with PSI to build a Non-rated Crew Member Trainer (NCMT) for UH-60 and CH-47 crews. The NCMT has two trainers in a 53-foot expandable tractor-trailer and does gunnery training, among other tasks. PSI has delivered crew trainers

and simulation to the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and several European na-tions.

PSI’s Coast Guard Air-crew Weapons Trainer is a motion-based simulator training for various weap-ons on either MH-60Cs or MH-60Js. Its Marine Com-mon Aircrew Trainer-Pro-totype 2 is used by Marines

to train CH-53E, MV-22B Osprey and UH-1Y gunners and other crew.

PSI is now making it easier to convert trainers among aircraft and improving

weapon simulations, noted Sheila Jaszlics, the company’s president.

SimuLation FideLity

Thales pioneered military-helicopter training, and its product portfolio ranges from task trainers to full-mission simula-tors, said Joël Flinois, helicopter simula-tion line manager, adding, “More than 110 helicopter simulators have been delivered to customers in 25 countries.”

Thales offers three main helicopter trainers. Its Full-Mission Simulator (FMS) trains gunners in technical and tactical skills and mission preparation. FMS provides the highest level of fidelity in weapon and sen-sor simulation. Sagittarius Evolution offers simulation-based training for door gunners in gunnery skills and communication. Trac-ers, ballistics and down wash are included in simulations. Finally, the Helicopter Mission Trainer is a multi-platform tactical training system that trains gunners and other crew very cost-effectively in tactical skills.

Thales also helps operate French, Ger-man and Australian schools for Tiger attack helicopters, a U.K. school for the Westland Lynx and a German school for the NH90. Thales trainers support all type of combat helicopters, including Chinooks. Sagit-tarius equipment supports CH-53s, CH-47s and other rotorcraft. Tiger FMSs replicate

Live-fire training is the focus at Inter-Coastal Electronics, which makes training, telemetry and test instrumentation that collects, processes, transmits and records data from live-fire training. [Photo courtesy of Inter-Coastal Electronics]

Jose diaz


many different rockets and missiles, includ-ing Hellfires and laser-guided missiles, and are used in a virtual environment managed by Thales Computer’s Generated Forces system.

Sagittarius trainers ac-count for the effects of mov-ing platforms on ballistics and can be combined with other simulators to jointly train dismounted soldiers and helicopter gunners, Fli-nois said. FMS trainers simu-late all motion, vibration and visual cues with a large field of view (240 by 90 degrees). Thales can generate visual databases for any country needed and simulate tactical environments with hundreds of actors.

Flinois predicted that the future will see more networked simulators to train gunners collectively in realistic environ-ments, as well as better integration of hu-man factors in simulators. Augmented real-ity for live training will also become more important.

kineSthetic cueS

D-BOX makes a motion system for simulators that gives helicopter gunners

the feel of their aircraft. “Kinesthetic cues enable helicopter gunners to know how aircraft are behaving and understand their state,” explained Senior Marketing Director Sébastien Lozé.

Relying on physical sen-sations in training is essen-tial, Lozé noted, especially in patrolling at low altitudes and complex tactical situa-tions. Trainees develop re-flexes to communicate when visual and audio communi-cations are degraded by loud noise, explosions, night or rotor wash. Gunners rely on balance and their feel for he-licopter movements.

D-BOX motion system has been inte-grated by Thales, BlueDrop and other part-ners for helicopter gunner training. “There is no limit to the type of helicopter we can support,” Lozé stressed. “If your software can generate movements and vibrations accurately, we can bring them to the real world and make gunners feel them. Trainees anticipate movements of aircraft and keep their aim efficiently.”

D-BOX systems are easily deployed and have small footprints. Thales used D-BOX equipment to bring a new level of realism to airborne gunner training. “The benefit of

D-BOX is that all you need is a very simple mount with a gun on it and you’ll be up and running. That can’t be done with a clas-sic hexapod platform because it lacks the deployability that D-BOX offers,” observed Marco Zender, Thales product manager.

“We bring finesse to motion systems that is very hard to obtain otherwise,” Lozé said.

D-BOX’s integration with Presagis’s HeliSIM delivers realism not found in other COTS motion simulators, said Stephane Roy, president of Roy Aircraft & Avionic Simulation.

“D-BOX vibrations bring the mechani-cal feel of the helicopter. When we flew the Blackhawk and the Chinook in this simula-tor, we could even tell which type of aircraft we were piloting based on the subtlety of motion and vibration cueing. D-BOX is the only small simulation motion solution that can provide the accuracy and frequency to mimic the movement of a helicopter up to 100 Hz of vibration,” Roy said. 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.

The Thales Helicopter Mission Trainer is a multi-platform tactical training system that trains gunners and other crew in tactical skills. [Photo courtesy of Thales]

sébastien lozé

[email protected]


As military training programs shift increasingly to simulation technologies in order to keep down costs, one result has been a greater need for realism in content, which is critical to training ef-fectiveness. Aided by new capabilities derived from the gaming world, developers of image generators (IG), which support the immersion of trainees in realistic environments, are rapidly advancing available capabilities.

Image generators create the “picture” of the environment sur-rounding the trainee, with the simulator’s computer sending commands to the image generator based on what is occurring in the simulation, such as air or ground maneuvers and trainee ac-tions. The most noticeable use of image generators is for “out the window” (OTW) scenes in aircraft and ground vehicle simulators.

“In the past, simulation and training budgets al-lowed for ‘big iron’ solutions, with price being second-ary. Today, our industry is routinely asked to do more with less,” observed Brian K. Overy, vice president of marketing and sales for Diamond Visionics. “Higher requirements, increasingly limited budgets and fewer acquisitions have created much fiercer competition for large and small business alike. Additionally, there is also a growing requirement to reduce simulator fa-cility operational costs associated with maintenance, power consumption and cooling.”

In response, he continued, “Diamond Vision-ics’ advanced technology consolidates IG hardware resources considerably, allowing for up to eight inde-pendent channels to be driven from a single 4U PC system. This greatly reduces the installation footprint and power requirements compared to traditional sys-tems. The elimination of database generation saves our customers millions and further reduces the over-all cost of ownership of the system.”

The need for greater realism has resulted in op-portunities for MetaVR in ways the company could not have predicted 10 years ago, noted W. Garth Smith, president and co-founder. In addition, “The develop-ment of commercial portable UAVs and the improvements in digital camera technology have allowed us to collect sub-inch resolution im-

agery with our own portable UAV for building high-resolution, geo-specific terrain databases, and improve our IG to render the sub-inch resolution terrain.”

Gaming technology, meanwhile, has greatly influenced the de-sign and lowered the cost of graphics processor unit (GPU) archi-tectures. “Diamond Visionics works closely with GPU industry lead-ers that have enabled fundamentally different approaches for scene generation using parallelism to perform tasks that were previously impractical. Because of this shift in the underlying design of the GPU, traditional scene-graph designs that operate on pre-compiled databases are unable to fully leverage modern graphics hardware,” Overy said.

Moreover, gaming technology has raised expecta-tions for simulation. “While the 3-D realism in games don’t always scale to larger simulations with IGs, the competition from the game market makes IG provid-ers work harder, thus improving the IG market,” said Smith.

“Also, the gaming technology infrastructure has positively affected the advancements of IGs,” he con-tinued. “Years ago, an IG was an expensive component of very expensive simulators. Gaming technology, with its huge consumer market, has forced continu-ous improvement and lower prices for 3-D graphics

cards and tracking devices, and even head-mounted displays with the advent of the Oculus Rift. The

competition of such components has had a great ef-fect on driving the technology innovation that we in the simulation market have benefited from greatly. The 3-D art pipeline of the gaming world has also had a very positive affect on simulation, giving us access to a large community of artists to build real-time models for simulation.”

Another key trend in this field has been efforts to achieve synthetic environment re-use and commonal-ity, which along with hardware obsolescence has been a key cost driver associated with long-term life cycle support of simulator visual systems, according to Nick

Gibbs, senior director, simulation and training solutions products, Rockwell Collins.

by harriSon donneLLy, mt2 editor

Image Generators

W. garth smith

aided by capabiLitieS From the gaming worLd, deveLoperS are rapidLy advancing avaiLabLe capabiLitieS.

Bring New Realism

Brian K. overy

[email protected]

[email protected]


Current military efforts are fo-cused on strategies to create larger common synthetic environment da-tasets that will support all synthetic environment needs for all levels of training, Gibbs noted, pointing to the Navy’s Naval Portable Source Initiative as well as the Army’s goal of establishing One World Terrain within a decade.

“The challenge for industry is that all of these ‘common’ initia-tives are independent of each other, which requires any industry part-ner interested in supporting mul-tiple government initiatives to work in multiple data sets—exactly the problem the initiatives are intended to avoid,” he said.

In response to the obsolescence management challenge, Gibbs con-tinued, there is movement toward cloud-based rendering from com-mon server centers. “These server centers would then deliver image rendering to full-flight simulators as well as point-of-need devices for traditional desktop type training from the same common environ-ments. Allowing sharing of ren-dering resources and single-location maintenance and obsolescence management would significantly reduce the overall cost of ownership of image gen-eration for the military services as well as individual clients/programs.”

out the window

Diamond Visionics provides a full range of tech-nologies for image generation, from a software devel-opment kit for end-user IG development to turnkey systems complete with hardware and installation support. The GenesisRTX family of products includes GenesisIG for out-the-window (OTW) scene generation, GenesisSN for night-vision goggle (NVG) scenarios (both simulation and stim-ulation), and EO-IR and GenesisRDR for a complete radar solution.

The approach taken by the company is superior to traditional visual systems, which require off-line processing of source data to generate pre-computed levels of detail, Overy explained. The time required for this process can often be measured in weeks or months, depending on the extent and complexity of the source data, with the resulting database consuming significantly more storage space than the source data used to create it. Additionally, individual databases are required for OTW, NVG and radar content, driving costs up.

The GenesisRTX family of products eliminates the need for tra-ditional off-line database generation, Overy noted. “By leveraging the parallelism of modern CPUs and the GPUs, they are able to dy-namically construct OTW and correlated sensor scenes at run-time

directly from standard GIS-source data formats. By breaking down the wall between database generation and visualization, much higher per-formance and fidelity are achieved in far less time than is typically required.

“The ability to drive higher resolution displays at higher frame-rates and with greater scene com-plexity enables tactical training that would otherwise not be possible in a simulator,” he added. “The fact that GenesisRTX products run di-rectly from the source allows our customers to rapidly update and deploy simulation scenarios in min-utes that traditionally take days or weeks.”

Another company in this area is Aechelon Technology, an indepen-dent vendor that designs, produces and delivers IGs, multi-spectral geo-specific databases, large data centers and integration services for training, UAS ground stations and mission rehearsal applications. It offers the Aechelon pC-Nova for image and data generators and Aechelon Nexus for data centers to

customers in the defense, homeland security and for-eign military markets.

“Our systems are unique because they were de-signed from inception to manage large quantities of multi-spectral data in a sensor-independent fashion, therefore supporting not just NVG, EO and IR, but also radar and tactical environments with one-to-one correlation,” explained Javier Castellar, company co-founder and vice president of business development. “When a new sensor payload is deployed on a new or existing platform, our systems are ready for their new physics-based sensor response. In addition, our focus is on providing a complete image and data genera-

tion solution within the system, serving not just OTW and sensor simulation, but also tactical systems and radar-derived data flows.”

Looking at the benefits and return on investment of such sys-tems, however, Castellar also made clear that visual systems alone are just “eye candy” if not properly integrated with other subsys-tems, or if the system design as a whole is not balanced.

A key question to ask in analyzing the ROI of display systems, he suggested, is this: “Do your pixels have the proper balance of database content behind the image generator?

“Balancing requirements implies that if you invest in a 4K pro-jector system, you need to be sure that the 3-D content and ren-dering on the image generator use all those extra pixels. In other words, pixels for pixels or polygons for polygons makes no sense unless the combined requirements of display system, image genera-tor, database and tactical environment are balanced and taken into account,” Castellar said.

As depicted by MetaVR’s VRSG image generator, a CH-53 helicopter flies over virtual Juneau, Alaska. [Image courtesy of MetaVR]

Diamond Visionics provides a full range of technologies for image generation, including this synthetic aperture radar image. [Image courtesy of Diamond Visionics]

Javier castellar

[email protected]


controLLer training

The biggest percentage of MetaVR’s customer base uses its IG for UAV pilot/sensor training and joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) training.

MetaVR’s real-time 3-D visualization software, Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG), is a PC-based render engine that enables us-ers to visualize geographically expansive virtual worlds with the latest commercial 3-D graphics accelerators. VRSG provides high-perfor-mance single- or multiple-channel visualization of synthetic environ-ments, dynamic moving models and special effects, and is delivered with extensive 3-D content libraries of more than 5,300 models.

The Army uses VRSG in its Shadow Crew Trainer, and in Grey Eagle, Aerosonde, and Hunter trainers in portable, classroom and em-bedded configurations. A key feature of VRSG is its ability to stream real-time HD-quality simulated UAV video with KLV metadata using the H.264 protocol, which is indiscernible in composition from the actual sensor video feed. In this way, VRSG is used to mimic the ther-mal sensors that scan the terrain at night and depict objects based on their heat signatures.

“MetaVR has also become one of the largest suppliers of commer-cial licensed 3-D visualization software for UAV simulation training in the U.S. military, with nearly 2,000 active VRSG licenses used for UAV simulation in the field. VRSG is used in settings ranging from classroom training at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and other sites to portable ground control stations in the field,” Smith said.

Since 2009, the Air National Guard (ANG) has been using VRSG in JTAC simulation training in various configurations, ranging from laptops to desktops and immersive training dome systems, to simu-late the functionality needed for JTAC training in close air support (CAS) exercises. In addition to the ANG, Air Combat Command has purchased VRSG licenses for use in both desktop and dome JTAC training systems.

VRSG is used in three JTAC dome training solutions: the Advanced Joint Terminal Attack Controller Training System (AJTS) installed at the JTAC schoolhouse at Nellis AFB, Nev., and 20 other sites; the Im-mersive Close Air Support Simulator (iCASS) training system used at the U.K.’s JTAC schoolhouse, the Joint Forward Air Control Training and Standardisation Unit, Royal Air Force Station Leeming, U.K.

Early this year, Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev., began using VRSG in its Combined Arms Virtual Environment (CAVE) training dome and desktop systems for the simulation portion of the JTAC quali-fication course at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center. As in the other dome systems, the VRSG visual channels in the CAVE system provide OTW and sensor views for the dome, instructor station and role-player stations, as well as views for full-motion simulated UAV sensor video feed for external targeting information on a ROVER-type device, and laser range finding and target designation in simulated military equipment.

The coupling of VRSG with Battlespace Simulations’ (BSI’s) Mod-ern Air Combat Environment (MACE), used in all three training dome simulators listed above, is also at the core of the BSI/MetaVR JTAC desktop training simulator. This low-cost desktop simulator is used for training JTACs at Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command, and Air National Guard units.

This privately funded COTS solution enables JTACs to train on a virtual battlefield with CAS interfaces.

“In the case of training JTACs, instead of requiring the availabil-ity of multiple aircraft, with trainees traveling to a training site from

many different locations, trainees can train on a virtual range in the U.S. or on a virtual site of any location in the world, independent of weather and their real-world location while conserving airframe hours,” Smith said.

LiFe cycLe coStS

Rockwell Collins earlier this year introduced the EP-8100 image generator, which is designed to reduce life cycle costs and preserve existing customer investments in host interfaces and synthetic envi-ronments. It and the previously released EP-80 both run the same EP2 run-time software.

“The common application of the run-time software across mul-tiple IG platforms allows customers to mix IGs at various price and performance points for different aspects of the same simulation exer-cise without requiring additional host integration,” Gibbs said.

Unlike PC-based image generators, the EP-8100 product line is based on graphics technology designed by Rockwell Collins. This de-sign allows for simulation solutions that are customizable for each customer and that can be rapidly updated in the factory, in the in-tegration center or in the field. Updates can be made at any time to support customer schedules, and do not require a commercial vendor update of graphics cards or drivers to get new features.

The company’s products are designed to address the military’s hardware obsolescence and life cycle support issues, Gibbs empha-sized. The EP-80 image generator, for example, uses commercially available graphics cards, which offer the advantage of quick technol-ogy advancement funded by the gaming industry, even as they cre-ate obsolescence management challenges for the military simula-tion market. The high-performance EP-8100, on the other hand, is designed for the long life cycles required by the military simulation market, with critical technology availability in excess of seven years.

Another company in this field is VT MÄK, whose line of visual products includes VR-Vantage IG.

“MÄK has always promoted a COTS-based approach to delivering technology to our government and industry customers,” according to Rob Hamilton, marketing communications specialist for the com-pany. “We have always believed that there is a place for a flexible op-tion that lets customers build the simulation with their own priorities in mind. Flexibility begins with a product that is designed from the ground up as an API, so you can customize and extend the system to achieve the balance you desire. Flexibility used to come with some compromise—in the past, a flexible option couldn’t give you the con-tent of a quality-prioritized system or the frame rate of a performance-optimized system.

“VT MÄK recognized this, and we have developed VR-Vantage soft-ware that provides the flexible IG solution—fully flexible software that is capable of 60 Hz performance on 4K displays well as a stunning ar-ray of content and an agile terrain strategy to satisfy any point on the quality–performance scale. We take advantage of graphics-rendering technology that is subsidized by the gaming industry and deliver it in a completely customizable software framework,” Hamilton continued, adding, “With VR-Vantage, instead of being locked into what your ven-dor has prioritized, you have the freedom and control to tune the soft-ware to meet your specific needs for your particular simulation.” 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.


Close air support (CAS) personnel—who coordinate ground and air attacks to achieve maximum effectiveness while avoid-ing harm to civilians and friendly forces—are increasingly vital elements in joint operations as envisioned by military planners around the world. It is widely considered to be one of the most complex and critical jobs in the military.

Yet training forward air controllers (FAC), or joint ter-minal attack controllers (JTAC) as they are known in the U.S. military, is exceptionally difficult and expensive to do in a live environment.

As is true with many other aspects of military training, the demand and cost constraints for CAS training have spurred the use of simulation technology. Even there, however, the complex-ity of the systems involved has made it difficult for many orga-nizations to put together their own complete training programs using “best of breed” components.

In response, a number of companies, including CAS special-ists and simulation technology providers, have joined together to create integrated systems that combine simulation, eLearning and advanced classroom techniques to convey a solid foundation in needed skills, to be followed by a relatively brief period of live training for final validation.

Integrated JTAC training systems currently on the market include:

• Advanced Joint Terminal Attack Controller Training System (AJTS), developed by QuantDyn Corp. and incorporating technology from MetaVR, Battlespace Simulations Inc. (BSI) and other companies. The AJTS encompasses high-fidelity visual displays, geospecific visual databases, equipment emulators, and associated hardware and software. The training system is designed to meet the requirements for unit training at air support operations squadrons and special tactics squadrons, and is accredited by the U.S. Joint Fire Support Executive Steering Committee memorandum of agreement and the NATO standardization agreement for replacing live training for control types 1, 2, 3 for both day and night, and for laser target designation with simulated military device. Throughout 2014 and 2015, QuantaDyn has been fulfilling a production contract for the installation of 21 AJTS at several Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command and Air National Guard units. An additional system was installed last year at the Adazi Military Base, Latvia.

induStry createS integrated SimuLation SyStemS to deveLop highLy SkiLLed controLLerS oF joint air/ground attackS.

by harriSon donneLLy, mt2 editor

MT2 20.6 | 11 www.MT2-kmi.com

• Immersive Close Air Support Simulator (iCASS), developed by Close Air Solutions using technology such as Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) from MetaVR and Modern Air Combat Environment (MACE) from BSI. The system has been certified by the U.K. Ministry of Defence as ensuring that JTAC students receive the most realistic levels of scenario-based training.

• Joint Fires Integrated Training Environment (JFITE) from Cubic, which leverages the company’s Universal Immersive Training System as well as PC-based solutions from SDS International and Nova Technologies. Available for a variety of missions, the JFITE system is optimized for JTAC training.

joint attackS

The growing need for trained JTAC personnel springs from the central role that close air support and joint fires play in modern military thinking. The con-flict in Afghanistan, for example, saw a total of 123,665 CAS sorties flown and 18,740 weapons brought to bear by TACs between 2008 and 2012, while 50,471 sorties and 2,768 weapons releases occurred in Iraq.

Coordinating those missions requires special skills, noted Mike Squires, business director for Close Air Solutions.

“The role of the FAC/JTAC is to coordinate ground and air assets to avoid politically damaging conse-quences to civilian and friendly forces,” Squires said. “Close air support, it can be argued, requires the highest levels of integration with ground forces, indirect fires and other assets. Trained soldiers and aircrew operating in high-stress environments must be trained to think effectively before they engage the enemy, and to be proportionate with the weapons they choose to employ.

“Training a soldier to think three-dimensionally is a challenge. The understanding and exploitation of complex air space is often a new concept to the JTAC student. To be effective, he or she must be able to manage disparate air assets and ordnance in order to seam-lessly integrate combined effects on the battlefield. The result of effec-tive integration is civilians and friendly troops protected, with only the intended target engaged,” he continued.

The growing need is to reduce costs and supply flexible, custom-designed training, while coping with difficulties in aircraft availability, Squires observed. “The U.S. military, NATO and other national regula-tors are intent on accrediting the more comprehensive use of simula-tion for training packages to address these issues.

“The mantra today is use ‘the best tools for the job,’” he added. “However, there is as yet little capability, either within national air forces or from sub-contractors, to provide the full package of JTAC training using advanced simulation to reduce and supplement the use of aircraft for training.”

Simulation training for JTAC is highly effective when supported by appropriate scenarios, Squires said. “Our training objective is to place the student into a state of ‘flow’—complete focus and a loss of inhibitions, where the trainee is operating very close to but not exceeding his or her perceived maximum level of skill. Flow allows maximum training transfer to occur. We prefer to talk about immer-sion versus technology; flow leads to true immersion, and immersion leads to effective training.”

But while improvements in technology can help, they don’t yet stand on their own for immersive training, he acknowledged.

“Technology can enable learning of processes and low-level skills, but not for the thinking task, and JTACs must be experts at problem solving. We take the software advancements made by MetaVR and Battlespace Simulations and exploit them to their maximum poten-tial for the purpose of immersive training.”

terrain reaLiSm

In a close air support simulation exercise, the virtual environment must have a high degree of terrain realism, and the ability of an image generator such as MetaVR’s VRSG to handle vast geospecific terrain and present it accurately from air to ground, with believable, detailed ground-level activity, is vital for training effectiveness.

MetaVR’s round-earth Metadesic terrain format was originally based on customer needs for whole-Earth coverage in a training database, explained W. Garth Smith, president and co-founder. “A credible JTAC simulation includes manned aircraft and UAVs, operating at dis-tances and altitudes where earth curvature is a factor in accurate line-of-sight calculations. CAS simulations require very large areas at very high altitude down to the ground level.

“VRSG’s physics-based IR sensor modeling ca-pability has real-time computation of the IR sensor image directly from the visual database, with a mate-

rial classification system that emulates the proper heat signature of the terrain and the structures and

people found on it,” Smith continued. “The higher the resolution of the terrain imagery, the better the resulting simulated sensor view. With sub-inch resolution database imagery compiled from imagery captured with our own MetaVRC remote controlled aircraft, users can create a physics-based IR profile of their terrain with a very high de-gree of realism.”

Comments collected by the company from users support the idea that the technology achieves desired results. An instructor at a site that uses VRSG and MACE in multiple JTAC simulators, for example, offered this observation: “We can create immersive irregular warfare scenarios that help reinforce mandated Joint Mission Essential Task Lists, but more importantly, we can keep the students engaged and interested in their training. They learn the hard lessons early and with no risk to aircrew or to themselves. The systems can operate as stand-alone systems or can be networked together for more complex scenarios. They can be configured as cockpits or as JTAC trainers, JFO stations or OPFOR. We use these new JTAC simulators far more than we ever did before with our past simulator, and we’re introduc-ing new devices and more complex CAS scenarios than we have had in the past.”

One MetaVR customer summed up the benefits this way: “Seismic shifts are changing what is allowed in the JTAC training world. Live training controls are being reduced in favor of simulation, partly out of necessity, but primarily due to the fidelity of the JTAC simulation training technologies available now. And that fidelity has been driven largely by MetaVR and Battlespace Simulations.

“Simulation training is not a 100-percent replacement for live training, but now it is as good as we have a reason to expect it to be. It’s proven to be incredibly valuable as a near replication of a real-world close air support training environment. As result, all coalition partners are currently increasing their emphasis on close air support simulation training,” stated a MetaVR and BSI customer.

[email protected]

mike squires


“Close air support is one mission set where live-virtual-constructive training isn’t a unicorn; it’s achievable today with VRSG and MACE,” a JTAC instructor observed. “There are some caveats to that. You need aircraft telemetry data that encapsulates orientation as well as time-space-position information, but most military aviation training ranges have such data available. I think very shortly we’ll see a synthesis of live and virtual training, both for aircrew and for JTACs.”

hoLiStic SimuLation

BSI’s MACE, meanwhile, is a full-spectrum computer- generated forces/semi-automated forces (SAF) application capable of simulating a contested battlespace in the air, land and sea operational domains, as well as the electromagnetic spectrum. Over the last few years, MACE has been used in the A-10, F-16, AC-130 simulators, as well as in more than 60 JTAC simulators.

“MACE’s virtual controls have been designed to be video game-like,” explained Kenny Duck, BSI vice president, who added, “We know of no other competing product that can simulate the battlespace as holistically as we are striving to do with MACE.”

MACE development is currently being helped by the company’s JTAC clients: the Air Force Research Lab, with which it has a coopera-tive research and development agreement; the Distributed Training Operations Center and Distributed Mission Operations Center; and the Polygone Electronic Warfare range in Germany.

One factor that separates MACE from its competitors is the ability to simulate the electro-magnetic spectrum, which is key for simu-lating contested battlespaces, Duck noted. “A fighter aircraft’s main beyond-visual-range sensor is its radar. Does your SAF articulate radar scans or simulate a simple ‘scan volume’? Or does it not even simulate the airborne radar at all? Can you define the radar beam, scan and pulse patterns?”

A second advantage is in the system’s ability to switch entity control between constructive (computer) and virtual (person-in-the-loop), he added. “You can take control of and fly an F-16, and seconds

later, you can be an insurgent with an SA-7 missile attacking that same F-16, which is now back under constructive control.

“MACE is the environment that moves or controls everything realistically, as well as the instructor’s interface to create, execute and modify the scenario,” Duck continued. “MACE’s true strengths are its ease of use, software performance, and full-spectrum abilities in land, air, naval and electronic warfare environments. The JTAC simulator has to be able to realistically execute first-person firefights, tank battles, artillery, air-air engagements, air-ground engagements and ground-ground engagements, all while operating in a contested electromagnetic environment. MACE can easily execute those types of missions with hundreds if not thousands of entities.” O



MetaVR VRSG creates a real-time screenshot of a virtual JTAC team with a LAV-25 A2 vehicle. [Image courtesy of MetaVR]

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Release Enhances Simulated Human CharactersVT MÄK has released version

13.1 of its DI-Guy line of simulated human characters. The feature release adds many new characters, signifi-cant performance improvements, superior configuration and rendering enhancements to the entire product line. This release provides improved performance for large scenarios, with advancements to how entities are updated and reductions in the time needed to update entities that are far away or not in the scene. The company is now taking advantage of the Intel Threaded Building Blocks to multi-thread character updates. For users of Open Scene Graph, further improvements have been made in the way information is sent to the GPU, so there can be more characters in the image generator. MÄK is also taking advantage of advanced photogrammetry to produce high-fidelity characters

directly from photographs. This technique has produced many new heads and several new body types, which can be combined in DI-Guy to create hundreds of unique characters.

Data PacKetS

Lockheed Martin has launched Prepar3D v3, which allows users to build or experience advanced simulation environments and tools that simplify development and augment the training experience.

Prepar3D v3 enhancements simplify training scenario creation by employing a SimDirector drag-and-drop technique. The user interface is also improved, with expanded gauge and panel training through Autodesk Scaleform support. A new avatar mode enables users to experience the simulated environment in the third or first person for increased realism and situational awareness.

Prepar3D continues to partner with hundreds of third-party developers and partners in an active community that continuously enhances the soft-ware. Prepar3D v3 features memory and performance improvements to provide greater fidelity and increased realism. Users can now utilize next-generation hardware to achieve a heightened expe-rience that was never before possible.

From novice learners to military service members, Prepar3D provides a realistic training environment for crit-ical mission readiness. First launched in 2010, Prepar3D is a full earth simu-lation platform through which users can create training scenarios anywhere in the virtual world—from underwater to suborbital space. It offers immer-sive, experiential learning for private pilots, commercial organizations, mili-taries and academia. Prepar3D exists at the core of many of Lockheed Martin’s complex flight simulators.

The Virtual Heroes Division of Applied Research Associates has released “HumanSim: Sedation and Airway,” a 3-D virtual trainer for administering emergency anesthesia and managing breathing. This marks the first time the software, which Virtual Heroes developed for the Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, is available to the public. The software couples an immersive 3-D training environment with an advanced physiology engine. It enables physicians, nurses, medics, and other emergency personnel to practice rapid sequence induc-tion and moderate sedation, techniques for quickly sedating and intubating critically injured patients. Trainees are challenged by 10 separate scenarios, with patient compli-cations such as airway trauma and multiple drug interactions, covering a very wide variety of patient situations. The single-player PC-only software is free to all govern-ment employees with a valid .gov or .mil email address.

3-D Virtual Software Trains for Emergency

Anesthesia

Enhancements Simplify Training Scenario Creation


The new Advanced Fire Fighting (AFF) simulator for ship-board incidents from VSTEP enables participants to experience and train any incident onboard a ship firsthand, and is built to fully support and comply with Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) AFF courses.

The RescueSim AFF Simulator includes functionality, envi-ronments, emergency equipment and objects that are common to specific types of shipboard incidents and essential for STCW-compliant AFF training, including watertight doors, fire flaps and many more.

The compact and modular form factor of the simulator allows it to be used almost anywhere and can be set up according to training requirements and team size. A typical setup includes an instructor station and training stations for the on-scene commander and fire team leaders.

During simulator training, the participants in the simulator assess the situation and determine the best response strategy. They then implement it and immediately observe the conse-quences of their decisions in real-time in the simulator. The simulator allows users to try out different response strategies for an incident in a safe, controlled environment.

An instructor is in full control during the training and can influence the scenario for the participants in the simulator during the exercise. Instructors can also build any on-board incident scenario using the instructor toolbox.

As an additional feature, the RescueSim AFF simulator can also be linked with VSTEP’s Nautis ship bridge simulators for additional incident command training of ship bridge personnel.

C-17 Training Site Supports Air MobilityL-3 Link Simulation & Training

has commenced operations at a new C-17 Training System (TS) site located at Martinsburg Air National Guard Base (ANGB), W.Va. L-3 Link—prime contractor for the Air Force’s C-17 TS program—will conduct more than 750 simulator missions each year in support of the 167th Airlift Wing’s C-17 pilot, loadmaster and main-tenance engine run technician training requirements.

“This new C-17 schoolhouse establishes the 15th training center operated by L-3 Link under the C-17 training system program and is the fourth new site we’ve activated since beginning the program in June 2011,” said Lenny Genna, president of L-3 Link. “Our team at Martinsburg is highly experienced, skilled and fully dedicated to providing training that comprehensively supports the 167th Airlift Wing’s global air mobility mission.”

Pilots, loadmasters and maintenance engine run technicians from Martinsburg ANGB will receive refresher, upgrade and currency training provided by L-3 Link instructors using classroom and hands-on operations training in a highly realistic C-17 weapon systems trainer and C-17 loadmaster station trainer. In addition, L-3 Link and C-17 TS team member TRU Simulation + Training will provide contractor logis-tics support and maintenance of the site’s training devices.

The C-17 TS is the largest aircrew training system within the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, spanning both aircrew and maintenance training conducted at 14 installations in the United States and one at a Royal Australian Air Force base in Queensland, Australia. Annually, the C-17 TS trains more than 1,500 pilots and loadmas-ters using 23 variants of aircrew and maintenance training devices.

The Armory-Based Unstabilized Crew Gunnery Trainer (UGT-C) from Raydon is the latest member of the UGT family and capitalizes on the 590 Unstabilized Gunnery Trainer-Individual (UGT-I) trainers who are currently being fielded by the Army National Guard to all states and territories. While the UGT-I allows the individual gunner to bring his own gunnery skills to an expert level using a synthetic driver, commander and instructor in a self-paced training environment, the UGT-C allows the now-proficient gunner to train with a live crew, bringing proficiency to their live-fire events. UGT-C’s addition of driver, commander and I/O provides invaluable crew training at a fraction of the cost of traditional non-modular systems and was specifically designed for space-efficient armory deployment.

Simulator Prepares for Shipboard Fire Fighting

Unstablized Gunnery System Enables Live-Crew Training

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff


John McCain entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954. He served in the Navy until 1981, achieving the rank of captain. A naval aviator, he was shot down on a bombing mission over North Vietnam in 1967, and was held as a prisoner of war until 1973.

McCain was elected to the House of Representatives from Ari-zona in 1982, and first elected to the Senate in 1986. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for president in the 2008 election.

He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Q: Early in your tenure as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, you listed five key priorities for your work on the panel, beginning with oversight of national security policy. What do you see as the most effective ways of bringing about your goal of laying “as much groundwork as possible so that [the next president] can quickly adopt better national security policies”?

A: Over the past several months, the Senate Armed Services Com-mittee has received testimony from many of America’s most re-spected national security experts and military commanders, who all agree that America is now facing the most diverse and com-plex array of crises since the end of World War II. While President Obama appears unwilling to change his national security policies, I believe that Congress, and the Senate Armed Services Commit-tee in particular, can lay the groundwork for future presidents to lead more decisively and restore America’s military as the greatest fighting force in the world.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the Senate passed by a 71-25 vote, is an important step in that direc-tion. The bill makes critical reforms that will enable our military to rise to the challenges of a more dangerous world. Specifically, it tackles acquisition reform, military retirement reform, person-nel reform and headquarters and management reform. In addition, the bill identifies $10 billion of excess and unnecessary Pentagon spending and reinvests those savings in enhancing the military capabilities of our warfighters. I am currently working with chair-man of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thorn-berry (R-Texas) on the conference agreement of the bill, which I am confident will deliver the reforms needed to prepare our ser-vicemembers for missions all over the world.

Q: Your second priority was to end sequestration and put in place strategy-driven defense budgets. How would you define the latter concept, and what is needed to achieve it?

A: As I have made clear since being confirmed as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, it is my top priority to repeal sequestration, which continues to inflict lasting damage on the capabilities, readiness, morale and modernization of our military. Each of our military service chiefs and countless national security experts have testified before the committee that if we continue on the dangerous path of sequestration, American lives will be put at risk.

Unfortunately, the Senate-passed NDAA does not end seques-tration. The committee would absolutely have done so if the legis-lation was capable of it, but it is not. It is a policy bill that provides the Department of Defense and our servicemembers with the au-thorities and support they need to defend the nation. Though we could not end sequestration, the NDAA fully supports President Obama’s budget request of $612 billion for national defense, which is $38 billion above the spending caps established by the Budget Control Act of 2011. I continue to believe that putting an end to mindless sequestration should remain our top priority, and will keep working to repeal it once and for all.

Q: A related priority is to curb wasteful military spending. Why is it so hard to eliminate apparently misguided projects, numerous examples of which you have identified within DoD?

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)Chairman

Senate Armed Services Committee


Defense ChairmanMeeting the Challenges of a Dangerous World

Q&AQ&A

A: Unfortunately, due in part to the Pentagon’s exploding civilian workforce’s broken acquisition system, it has become more prone to wasting limited tax dollars on outdated and unnecessary pro-grams. Between 2001 and 2011 alone, DoD spent $46 billion on at least a dozen programs that never became operational.

Providing for our common defense is the highest duty of the federal government, but at a time of crippling resources under se-questration, DoD cannot waste limited resources on unnecessary projects. As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am exercising rigorous oversight of Pentagon programs to en-sure it better prioritizes and manages its budget so that we can di-rect savings to programs that enhance our military readiness. For example, the Senate-passed NDAA makes critical reforms to our acquisition system that demands accountability and introduces new incentives for our services to deliver programs on time and on budget. And we plan to hold several hearings in the coming months on costly Pentagon programs, such as the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, which new estimates indicate is now $520 million over budget.

Q: Why do you think the defense acquisition system has failed, and how would you describe your overall approach to your fourth priority, acquisition reform?

A: In the last decade, while America’s adversaries have been in-vesting in modern weapons systems and increasingly sophisticated

technologies, the Pentagon has grown larger, more complex and less innovative and more vulnerable to emerging global threats. This is all due to a broken acquisition process, which takes too long and costs too much to access and modernize critical technologies. We cannot hope to maintain a technological edge or deter our en-emies if we continue on this dangerous path.

That is why the Senate Armed Services Committee worked to develop critical reforms to the defense acquisition system. The bill establishes a new streamlined process for rapid prototyping and rapid fielding within two to five years. It also streamlines the process for buying weapon systems, services and information technology by reducing unnecessary requirements, reports and certifications. And it establishes an expert review panel to iden-tify unneeded acquisition regulations. Most importantly, the bill demands greater accountability and creates new incentives for the services to deliver projects on schedule and on budget.

Q: After three decades, what is your assessment of the management system created under the Goldwater-Nichols reforms, and do you think that law needs to change in order to achieve your goal of improving the structure, roles and missions of civilian and military organizations within DoD? What would you expect to see from these changes if implemented?

A: The Goldwater-Nichols reforms that Congress enacted 30 years ago required increased collaboration among the services that at

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the time were revolutionary and greatly needed. However, there remain serious questions about how Goldwater-Nichols has been implemented over the last three decades and the unintended con-sequences that may have resulted. In addition to introducing new reforms as part of the Senate-passed NDAA, I am also using my chairmanship to exercise oversight of these roles, structures and missions and identify reforms that will enhance the readiness of our military.

Q: Will those and other changes in acquisition prevent the types of massive program cost overruns on major defense systems that you have repeatedly criticized over the years?

A: While I believe these reforms will help to change the culture of waste within the Pentagon, there is much more that needs to be done to reign in the unacceptable cost overruns that have plagued DoD over the years. The fact is, many of our military’s challenges today are the result of years of mistakes and wasted resources. According to one recent study, the department spent $46 billion between 2001 and 2011 on at least a dozen programs that never became operational. In today’s vast acquisition bu-reaucracy, where personnel and project managers cycle through rapidly, everyone and no one is accountable for such cost in-creases and wasted resources. That’s why the Senate-passed NDAA includes major changes in the acquisition process, providing the service chiefs with greater decision-making authority while

also increasing accountability. By introducing greater account-ability, I believe we can start to make serious progress and cut-ting unnecessary spending and reinvesting limited dollars into successful programs.

Q: What should DoD be doing to encourage industry innovation and maintain the U.S. lead in military technology?

A: Our broken defense acquisition system and stifling bureaucracy has forced many commercial firms to choose not to do business with DoD. That has limited our access to the most sophisticated technologies that can modernize our capabilities and give us an edge over our adversaries. As chairman of the Senate Armed Ser-vices Committee, I have made it a priority to change this culture and start making it easier for innovative businesses in Silicon Val-ley and across the U.S. to work with the Pentagon.

The Senate-passed NDAA includes significant reforms that would do just that by incentivizing commercial innovation and removing barriers to new entrants into the defense market. By adopting commercial buying practices, the bill makes it easier for non-traditional firms to do business with the Pentagon. The bill also ensures businesses are not forced to cede intellectual property developed at their own expense to the government. Furthermore, the bill expands rapid acquisition authorities to cut through red tape and better support U.S. military operations around the world. The bill also streamlines the process for buying weapon systems, services and information technology by reducing unnecessary requirements, reports and certifications. In addition, the NDAA seeks to reinvigorate the acquisition workforce by expediting the hiring of STEM professionals and STEM-qualified veterans. There is much more that we can do to improve the relationship between Silicon Valley and Washington, but I believe these reforms are im-portant steps in the right direction.

Q: You and Senator Jack Reed, ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, wrote to Secretary Carter this spring following a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report faulting the training of UAS pilots. What steps would you like to see toward developing and implementing a coherent UAS organizational, manpower and training strategy?

A: I am deeply troubled by the GAO’s report that DoD has no standardized training program for UAS pilots and personnel. It is widely known that UAS are an essential element in America’s warfighting arsenal, and the department’s continued training failures, inconsistent standards and critical manning shortfalls threaten the capability and readiness of our servicemembers. As Ranking Member Reed and I wrote to Secretary Carter in May, we expect DoD to develop and implement a coherent UAS organi-zational, manpower and training strategy to ensure our combat-ant commanders get the highly trained and proficient operators of these systems they need to protect our warfighters and defeat our adversaries. O

Command, Control and Combat Systems

Information andSecurity Technologies

Cyber Security andCloud ComputingTechnologies

Simulation, Trainingand Test Services




One of the top priorities of maintaining the U.S. military’s ground vehicles is to make sure there are enough properly trained mechanics, but providing easy access to hands-on training has been a challenge. New virtual technology developed by several companies, however, is making vehicle maintenance training more accessible and effective.

Accessibility was one of the top issues for Oshkosh Defense, for example, when it needed to train students on the fuel transfer proce-dures for the M978 HEMTT tanker truck.

“Having access to live equipment for demonstration purposes is a challenge on many fronts,” remarked Scott Ariotti, director of global marketing for DiSTI, which worked with Oshkosh on the program. “If you do have access to live equipment, by some miracle, it’s probably not a lot and what training you can do to it is limited. On-vehicle training in this instance is limited to crowd-ing the students around the equipment and lecturing them on how to carry out a particular procedure.”

Purpose-built hardware training devices don’t al-leviate the accessibility problem, Ariotti suggested. “They’re very expensive to procure, so the number of units is limited, and they typically have a narrow scope of functionality. They also have a tendency to break over time, leading to further shortages and logistical headaches.”

Oshkosh Defense also found that after reviewing more than 300 PowerPoint slides depicting vehicle functions and procedures, students would still gather around a truck that was destined for customer delivery.

“Fuel transfer is a hazardous procedure and therefore could not be conducted as part of the class,” Ariotti said. “And since the vehicle was destined for customer delivery, they could not pump an inert fluid, such as water, through the system. So this live portion of the class consisted of using the truck as visual aid. This method frus-trated the instructors because they knew students were not engaged with the materials and it took four times longer to train them than it should have.”

virtuaL environmentS

Oshkosh Defense was one of DiSTI’s first customers in vehicle maintenance. Since 2005, DiSTI has been creating virtual environ-ments for use in maintenance training applications, particularly for virtual training devices. The company primarily works with prime contractors to produce the 3-D virtual environment that serves as the primary student interface in the completed training system. Other times, as in the case of Oshkosh HEMTT Virtual Trainer and the Army Stryker mobile gun system, DiSTI acts as the prime.

“In the case of the Oshkosh HEMTT Virtual Trainer, we developed a comprehensive 3-D application that replaced the 300 PowerPoint slides described earlier,” Ariotti said.

The trainer includes tutorial and interactive practice modes cover-ing the fuel module overview, pre-operation steps and fueling proce-dures. These procedures include filling, bulk unloading, recirculation and dispensing.

“The application allows the instructors to cover the material in four hours rather than taking two days,” Ariotti explained. “Most of all, students are engaged. Each student has a copy of the application running on a laptop, allowing them to work through the procedures on their own.”

For the Army, DiSTI’s solution was chosen for Phase IV updates to the Stryker Maintenance Training System. “These updates add our interactive 3-D technology to the training devices for the purposes

of diagnosing and troubleshooting problems on the Stryker mobile gun system,” he said.

The materials cover more than 100 lessons. DiSTI is performing these trainer updates, along with sub-contractor Rockwell Collins, while preserving the legacy training capabilities.

“What’s unique about our offering is the holis-tic approach we take to the virtual environment de-velopment,” Ariotti said. “Today our industry seems to be enamored with game engines. While game engines provide some phenomenal rendering capa-bilities, they are essentially just the end-result of the development.”

Over the past decade, DiSTI has refined a comprehensive develop-ment process and produced a series of supporting tools for creating these environments, and late last year announced the commercially availability of the latest version of this tool suite, VE Studio.

The first tool in the process automatically analyzes the require-ments for the training device. This determines exactly what needs to be built, modeled and simulated, as well as what doors to open, cables to probe and components to remove. These data are stored in DiSTI’s Fidelity Matrix relational database and becomes the central repository for the project. Graphics artists and other content developers feed this repository with 3-D models, 2-D support equipment, behaviors and constraints as dictated by the requirements.

Automated build tools read from the repository and generate ei-ther nightly configuration managed builds or incremental localized updates for graphics artists to verify their new content “on the fly” in the environment. The final piece is automated regression testing, which automatically runs against the nightly builds and reports back any discrepancies to personnel so they can take appropriate action.

Rather than running an ad-hoc environment in a game engine, DiSTI produces a fully tested and verified environment with traceabil-ity back to the source requirement that drove its development.

“In conclusion, virtual maintenance training is solving that ac-cessibility challenge,” Ariotti stressed. “That’s because every student can have their own virtual vehicle to work on, either in stand-alone or

providing handS-on training iS a chaLLenge, but technoLogy can heLp StudentS Learn to be miLitary mechanicS.

Virtual Training Aids Vehicle Maintenance

scott ariotti

[email protected]

by karen e. thuermer, mt2 correSpondent


in a team-training mode. They don’t have to crowd around a vehicle and crane their necks to see what the instructor is talking about.”

Going forward, Ariotti contended, industry needs to push this material out beyond the physical schoolhouse and take it to where the learners reside.

“The challenge is that the fidelity to which these virtual environments are built often requires a gaming-level desktop computer, which is not something everyone has ready access to,” he said.

“In the past year, DiSTI has worked closely with Amazon and its new AppStream service, which serves up highly intense 3-D applications through the cloud and delivers them like a streaming mov-ie,” he continued. “So now, any network-enabled device has the capacity to run one of these intense 3-D maintenance training applications. That’s a powerful ‘plus’ in the accessibility column and one that will become more prevalent in the future.”

expanding acceSS

For Neil Wadhawan, vice president and co-found-er of Heartwood, limited access to equipment is a productivity killer. “At any given time, only a hand-ful of trainees can train on the physical vehicle, and that, too, only after they have traveled to the facility,” he said. “Increasingly, training instructors want the students to be familiar with the vehicle systems be-fore they get there, and thus be more engaged and productive at the live training session.”

Vehicle maintenance technicians could have learned routine and troubleshooting procedures for-mally in a classroom or a facility environment a few years ago, Wadhawan said. “But it’s critical to refresh that knowledge consistently without causing extensive disruption to schedules or incur high costs. There is no escaping the fact that on-the-go access to training content on Web and mobile is going to be a priority moving forward.”

To properly train mechanics on maintenance of U.S. military ground vehicles, Heartwood helps operations and maintenance workers learn complex procedures by allowing them to practice on equipment virtually, via 3-D interactive training applications.

“This fully interactive virtual training provides a modern-day al-ternative to training manuals, videos, passive e-learn-ing and hands-on experience that enables the user to learn by doing anytime, anywhere, on any platform,” Wadhawan said.

Heartwood offers classroom training for assem-bly and disassembly and step-by-step procedures; self-paced lessons on Web and mobile, often re-purposed as just-in-time and on-the-job performance aids; testing and evaluation modules whereby students perform the procedures on virtual equipment, result-ing in a pass/fail percentage; and checklist apps for quick reference to procedural steps.

“The unique factor at Heartwood is that all the above modes of training are deployed from the same content code base, which is authored just once,” Wadhawan said.

Following the level of repair analysis framework used in the Department of Defense, the company’s virtual training applications typically fall into three levels of maintenance training:

• Organizational maintenance: quick turn-around, remove-and-replace and repair-in-place procedures

• Intermediate maintenance: thorough diagnostic testing and repair

• Depot-level maintenance: equipment overhauls and modification procedures.

“What makes Heartwood unique is that we have built our training technology framework to be fu-ture-adaptive for most third-party integration,” he said. “This means we can author the content once—

and deploy from classroom to learning management system to mobile to virtual reality to augmented reality—all from the same content code base. While these platforms may not be a priority now, the tide turns fast and we want our customers to be ready, not surprised.”

Wadhawan stressed that Heartwood’s vehicle maintenance train-ing is interactive, portable and scalable.

“Our technology enables the training course to be constantly ac-cessible, allows the student to practice virtually, and can instantly be deployed globally,” he said. “This empowers companies and orga-

nizations to accelerate user learning, reduce opera-tion and maintenance training costs and decrease the need for expensive live training.”

Learning environmentS

Participants in military training programs have a lot to learn in a limited amount of classroom time, noted Dave McLin, operations manager-ground training systems for CAE USA. “Meeting this chal-lenge requires new approaches to training that in-clude repurposing existing training content, making training content available on-demand outside the

classroom and incentivizing students to invest their time in such training by, for example, providing college credits,” he said.

Neil Wadhawan

[email protected]

Heartwood helps mechanics and operators learn complex procedures by allowing them to practice on equipment virtually via 3-D interactive training applications. [Image courtesy of Heartwood]

dave mclin

[email protected]


CAE’s virtual maintenance training systems provide learning environments that allow instruc-tors and students to maximize training effectiveness through the use of virtual simulations and interfaces to tactical vehicle and diagnostic software, McLin said. Such interfaces provide high-fidelity simula-tions of key vehicle systems, without requiring the presence of the actual, often very expensive, vehicle itself. Knowledge gained in such an environment, particularly for “learning by doing” tasks, readily transfers to the actual vehicle.

CAE has successfully delivered maintenance trainers for the Army’s Multiple Launch Rocket Sys-tem, High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, Bradley fighting vehicle and Abrams main battle tank.

CAE’s maintenance trainers support system familiarization, use of technical manuals, fault di-agnosis, test equipment and remove-and-replace tasks. CAE’s maintenance trainers use interactive 2-D and 3-D vir-tual environments to provide high-fidelity training in maintenance procedures.

“The virtual environments look, act and sound like the ac-tual vehicle, and allow the student to concentrate on mastering the required cognitive skills in a safe, cost effective environment,” remarked McLin.

Each maintenance trainer consists of several student stations and an instructor station that communicates via a local area net-work. CAE introduced the concept of a virtual maintenance trainer in the mid-1990s, and has continued to update and improve the underlying technologies.

According to McLin, CAE’s vehicle maintenance training solu-tion is unique in that the same core simulation software can be used across different vehicle families.

“CAE believes that maintenance training is critical to ensuring high-readiness rates for complex and heavily digitized ground com-bat systems, which often operate in challenging conditions and ter-rain,” he said.

Designed to accelerate learning along a continuum, CAE’s ve-hicle maintenance training solutions situate learners in immersive content where they will familiarize, acquire, practice and validate critical skills in a way that leverages guided experiential learning.

“These simulations are optimized to efficiently train multiple critical tasks and emphasize learning by doing, thus minimizing development costs while ensuring training requirements are met,” McLin emphasized.

One of the challenges in developing this type of technology lies in obtaining the vehicle-specific data needed to create high-fidelity, functional simulations. “Original equipment manufacturer data is often not available or is prohibitively expensive,” he said.

To deal with this challenge, CAE has developed processes and methods for collecting the needed data from an actual vehicle.

McLin outlined the benefit of CAE’s maintenance training solu-tion in reduced life cycle costs for institutional centers of excellence, along with more efficient training.

“Maintenance trainers reduce life cycle costs by reducing the number of tactical vehicles (and associated costs) required to sup-port maintenance training activities,” he said. “Training is more ef-ficient because students can learn and practice in a classroom that can support a much higher instructor-student ratio.”

At a macro level, simulation offers a number of benefits, nota-bly cost advantages that cannot be ignored in today’s constrained defense budget environment. “The increased cost of fuel, environ-mental impacts and significant wear and tear on weapon systems all point to the greater use of simulation for training, and that includes maintenance training in addition to operator training,” he said.

tierS oF training

CAE solutions offer different tiers of training, from beginner to advanced. The company’s maintenance trainers provide a range of scenarios, and instructors can select and assign scenarios appropri-ate to the training needs of individual students.

“CAE’s approach is to select the appropriate training media for optimum training effectiveness,” McLin said. “The technical solution, whether that is a virtual system on the desktop or a life-size physical replication of vehicle, is therefore subordinated to the training objectives.”

A desktop virtual maintenance trainer can be very effective to provide system knowledge, functional representation and trouble-shooting scenarios for maintenance technicians, he observed. But the basic manual skills of using maintenance or diagnostics tools or support equipment may need to be demonstrated and performed on a representative physical device for maximum training effectiveness.

“CAE’s vehicle maintenance training solutions often combine virtual and hardware-based training media as required to meet the specific training objectives of the end-user customer,” he said.

CAE’s future programs will include supporting the Army Learn-ing Model and reaching out on an ongoing basis with foreign customers.

“While dedicated classrooms will be a staple of maintenance training, we envision providing students with the ability to access maintenance training content outside the classroom on various plat-forms and locations,” he said. “Providing the ability for instructors to repurpose classroom training materials for use in other venues and platforms will help maximize training efficiency and improve the return on investment.” O



DiSTI creates virtual environments for use in maintenance training applications, such as ones about Army Stryker vehicles. [Image courtesy of DiSTI]


commanD ProFile

The Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is the largest shore command in the Navy, providing ready, relevant learn-ing and education support that literally touches every sailor in the Navy. NETC provides training and educational support via tradi-tional classroom training and through virtual courses accessible electronically.

From boot camp to individual skills training, advanced team training and professional certifications, the NETC team has locations around the world. At any given moment, there are more than 31,000 officer, enlisted, foreign military and government civilian students enrolled in over 4,500 different courses at more than 220 NETC ac-tivities and detachments. In fiscal year 2015 there were more than 157,000 graduates.

Manned primarily by select fleet sailors and Marines who return to the schools bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience, the training commands live up to the NETC motto: “Fleet Readiness Starts Here.”

The NETC training construct is based on 12 learning centers around the country with mission-specific schools that support es-sential tasks identified as requirements by the fleet. The centers use a blended solution that combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience in labs, as well as simulators and trainers. The following are brief overviews of center operations.

center For navaL aviation technicaL training (cnatt)

CNATT, the largest of the NETC’s learning centers, is based in Pensacola, Fla., with sites located throughout the U.S. and Japan. CNATT is responsible for curriculum, educational tools, developing training solutions and professional development for: 19 Navy en-listed aviation ratings, enlisted aviation professional apprentice ca-reer track, aviation maintenance officers, aviation ordnance officers, aviation fuels, aircraft launch and recovery equipment and crash and salvage. They also oversee initial training for student naval aviators and naval flight officers, student naval flight surgeons and equivalent Marine Corps aviation officers before they transition into actual flight training. Eighty Marine Corps enlisted military occupational special-ties are also trained through CNATT schools.

center For SurFace combat SyStemS (cScS)

Located in Dahlgren, Va., CSCS provides the specialized train-ing for officer and enlisted sailors required to tactically operate, maintain and employ shipboard and shore-based weapons, sensors and command and control systems. This includes the Aegis Ashore Team Trainer, developed by CSCS, working with the Surface Training

Naval Education and Training Command Learning Centers


Systems Program Office at the Naval Sea Systems Command and Na-val Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division. The trainer support crews operating the new Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System, which was installed at Naval Support Facility Deveselu, Romania, earlier this year. CSCS also provides the fleet with highly trained officers and enlisted fire control men, electronic technicians, interior commu-nications electricians, sonar technicians (surface), gunner’s mates, mine men, operations specialists, and boatswain’s mates to support integrated air and missile defense, undersea warfare/anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare, Navy integrated fire control-counter air, and seamanship operations.

center For inFormation dominance (cid)

CID, located in Pensacola, Fla., leads, manages and delivers Navy and joint-force training in information operations and information technology, including creating and maintaining computer systems and networks. The center is also the lead for naval cryptology and intelligence training. The heart of cyber training for the maritime forces, CID works closely with U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and de-ploying units to ensure sailors and Marines are provided with the lat-est training to support their mission. mobile training teams (MTT) also support training for carrier strike group and amphibious ready group information dominance teams prior to deployments, ensuring they are ready to provide leadership predictive analysis in support of missions. The Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture

is a directorate within CID that provides individual training as well as MTTs to deploying units, ships and squadrons preparing to partici-pate in maritime partnership missions or combat deployments.

SurFace warFare oFFicerS’ SchooL (SwoS)

SWOS in Newport, R.I., is the hub for surface warfare training for officers and enlisted personnel. Their courses cover surface naviga-tion, firefighting and damage control, seamanship and ship handling skills. They also train sailors in the use of air defense, information

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An information systems technician student at the Center for Information Dominance learns with the artificial-intelligence-based Digital Tutor. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy/by Thomas Seith]


operations, undersea warfare and expeditionary warfare. Engineer-ing courses focus on the capabilities, use and maintenance of ships engines and auxiliary and electrical systems. SWOS also conducts courses for prospective commanding officers, executive officers, de-partment heads, navigators and division officers. Enlisted training includes apprentice, journeyman and master-level sailors such as electrician’s mates, damage control men, enginemen, hull techni-cians and quartermasters.

Submarine Learning center (SLc)

The SLC in Groton, Conn., develops and delivers submarine in-dividual and team training to achieve Undersea Warfare Enterprise mission readiness and undersea warfare superiority.

SLC is accountable for all undersea curriculums, training deliv-ery methodologies, and for developing and maintaining professional development continuums for all submarine warfare officers and enlisted ratings to include electronics technician (communications and navigation), fire control technician, sonar technician, machin-ist’s mate (auxiliary and weapons), missile technician and all nuclear training ratings. They also provide specialized submarine training for service support and medical specialists such as culinary specialists, yeomen and hospital corpsmen. During the summer of 2015, the first enlisted women began attending training at the Naval Submarine School in Groton in preparation for duty in submarines.

center For expLoSive ordnance diSpoSaL and diving (ceneoddive)

CENEODDIVE in Panama City, Fla., provides oversight and con-trol of the career progression of Navy EOD technicians and divers. The two main CENEODDIVE learning sites are the Naval School of Explosive Ordnance Disposal at Eglin AFB, Fla., and the Naval Dive and Salvage Training Center (NDSTC) in Panama City. The EOD School trains members of the U.S. military services, partner nations and other government agencies in high-risk environments to qualify as explosive ordnance disposal technicians. This includes specialty training in defeating IEDs.

The Dive School trains military divers from all services and more than 1,200 students train each year in 23 courses. Students include candidates for submarine SCUBA, Navy deep sea divers, Seabee un-derwater construction divers, joint service diving officers, explosive ordnance disposal officers, diving medical technicians, diving medi-cal officers, Army engineer divers, Marine Corps combatant divers, Coast Guard divers and Air Force pararescue operators and combat controllers. A limited number of U.S. law enforcement and govern-ment agency students, as well as those from allied and coalition na-tions, also train at NDSTC.

CENEODDIVE recently developed and implemented three new courses of instruction—joint diving officer, MK16 underwater breath-ing apparatus and surface supplied mixed gas diving—in response to requests from the fleet and field in accordance with its single man-ager responsibility for joint military diving technology and training.

center For Security ForceS (cenSecFor)

CENSECFOR, located in Virginia Beach, Va., prepares naval se-curity force personnel to meet the training requirements for anti-terrorism, security and force protection fundamentals for security

officers, enlisted master at arms and selected others. It also provides basic expeditionary warfare combat skills training to support rapidly deployable and agile expeditionary forces to warfare commanders in support of maritime security operations around the world. Addi-tionally, CENSECFOR provides “code of conduct” training specific to personnel serving in positions designated as having a high risk of capture, to impart the necessary knowledge, skills and techniques for surviving behind enemy lines, evading enemy capture, resisting exploitation and escaping from captivity. Adding additional skills to fleet commands, the center also provides visit, board, search and seizure courses. Sailors are taught tactical team movements, boarding, climbing and rappelling techniques, self-defense tactics, and weapons handling to prepare them for interdiction of pirates, smugglers or terrorists at sea. The CENSECFOR trains more than 28,000 students each year at 14 locations across the U.S. and around the world.

center For Service Support (cSS)

CSS in Newport, R.I., provides sailors in the naval administration, logistics, culinary, music and media services the knowledge and skills needed to support the fleet’s war-fighting missions. Enlisted ratings include culinary specialists, logistics specialists, musicians, yeomen, mass communication specialists, personnel specialists and ship’s ser-vicemen. Officer training supports Supply Corps officers attending

A CNATT instructor and trainee study safety wire techniques. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy/by Bruce Cummins]


the Naval Supply Corps School in Newport, and public affairs officers who attend the joint training provided through the Defense Informa-tion School at Fort Meade, Md.

center For SeabeeS and FaciLitieS engineering (cSFe)

CSFE, located in Port Hueneme, Calif., develops and delivers training solutions for Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers, enlisted construction or Seabee ratings, Navy facilities engineers and envi-ronmental professionals. The CEC Officers School provides profes-sional training to facilities engineers, public works officers, naval construction force command elements and environmental profes-sionals. Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Port Huen-eme supports accession mechanic training for Navy and Air Force students, advanced training for all Seabee ratings and blasting and quarry and water well drilling. NCTC Gulfport, Miss., supports acces-sion builder and steelworker training for Navy, Army and Air Force students and advanced training for all Seabee ratings.

Like other NETC commands, the training includes the use of technology when feasible to support classroom instruction. The Seabee school uses a PC-based welding simulator to teach how to maintain a proper arc, rod angle and speed while welding. The CSFE Detachment on Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., supports accession train-ing for the equipment operator and engineering aide ratings and is hosted by the Army. The CSFE Detachment on Sheppard AFB, Texas, supports Seabee accession training for the utilities man and electri-cian ratings and is hosted by the Air Force.

navaL chapLaincy SchooL and center (ncSc)

The NCSC, located on Fort Jackson, S.C., trains chaplains and en-listed religious program specialists (RPs) to provide professional re-ligious ministry in the sea services. All chaplains and chaplain candi-dates participate in the same seven-week course of instruction. They learn the fundamentals of providing religious ministry and support to those of their own faith, facilitating the religious requirements of those from other faiths, caring for all servicemembers and their fami-lies, including those subscribing to no specific faith, and advising the command in ensuring the free exercise of religion. RPs receive train-ing in preparing devotional material, organizing faith-based events and maintaining religious records. They are also provided with the skills to serve as the personal security for Navy chaplains, who do not carry arms. At intermediate and advanced levels, chaplains and RPs return to NCSC for additional training and education designed to better equip them for increased responsibilities on the operational and strategic levels.

center For SeaL and Swcc (cenSeaLSwcc)

The CENSEALSWCC, located in San Diego, Calif., is the learn-ing center aligned to Naval Special Warfare Command, the maritime component of U.S. Special Operations Command. The center focuses on three lines of effort for SEAL (sea, air and land) and SWCC (special warfare combatant-craft crewman) personnel: professional develop-ment, advanced education and career management. CENSEALSW-CC provides uniquely tailored training and professional development to more than 3,600 SEAL and SWCC operators. They work with the Naval Special Warfare Command on assessments of the strength

of the community conducting modeling and simulation to moni-tor personnel numbers and capabilities. They also tailor positional leadership courses to senior enlisted personnel and senior officers preparing them to take on leadership roles in the fleet.

engineering duty oFFicer (edo) SchooL

The EDO School, located in Port Hueneme, Calif., is dedicated to improving the professional proficiency of engineering duty offi-cers through training in the research and development, acquisition, maintenance and modernization of ships and ship systems, combat and weapon systems, ordnance and electronic systems. EDO School serves as a focal point for the development of engineers, enabling them to apply practical knowledge and experience to integrate sci-ence, technology and design into affordable ships and systems. EDO School’s staff of eight convenes four basic courses and three senior courses during the year, each with an average of 22 students.

War-fighting readiness, innovation and efficiency are essential to maintaining modern and capable naval forces. Fleet readiness begins with the quality training at the learning centers of Naval Education and Training Command. O




As they marvel at the training and simulation technology breakthroughs on display on the show floor, attendees at the upcoming Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Edu-cation Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Fla., will also have an opportunity to hear warfighters’ real stories about the impact of training.

Each day of the November 30-December 4, 2015, gathering will include “Warfighters’ Corner: From the Tip of the Spear,” a widely attended annual event that features recently deployed panel mem-bers from each military service.

The stories told during these 90-minute panels help bring real-ism to the fascinating and innovative training products highlight-ed on the I/ITSEC floor. Through these individuals, Team Orlando members and other attendees can gain an understanding of the impact of the training products and services they deliver. Panel members chosen by their respective services share their personal training experiences and reflect on whether it was or wasn’t effec-tive and why.

Commander Robert “Diesel” Salvia of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training System Division, military deputy for cross-warfare programs, is a past participant in the Warfighters’ Corner panel. He describes himself as a big advocate of the program, and feels it is important that I/ITSEC hosts the event to support its overall mission to showcase the newest and greatest training technologies created for the warfighter.

“The opportunity to hear stories directly from soldiers, sail-ors, airmen and Marines sharing what they did, how they did it and how each training system prepared them helps us understand more clearly the importance of the Team Orlando mission and how we’re impacting them,” Salvia said. “They remind us why it’s criti-cal to get it right.”

Not all deployments are created equal, but today’s military must be ready to deploy at a moment’s notice to anywhere in the world and for any mission—whether a peacekeeping effort, combat operations or humanitarian relief.

“Gone are the days when we trained for a single mission and deployed to perform that particular task,” explained Salvia. “Added to that, the equipment we rely on to achieve mission success has increased in complexity as well. All of this presents a challenge to deploy highly trained sailors capable of performing complex mis-sion sets in a technically advanced environment.”

When Salvia was deployed, he was the commanding officer of a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan, facing many chal-lenges as he worked to ensure his personnel were capable of not only operating in the environment, but also of excelling in it. Dur-ing their three-month training, team members used simulators and training systems suited for various situations.

One of the training systems they used was the “Small Arms Virtual Trainer,” which provided a safe environment for those who had never fired a rifle or crew weapon. Users had the chance to

familiarize themselves with the weapons and achieve a level of comfort prior to going to the range to shoot with live ammunition.

For more experienced soldiers, other immersive training sys-tems were used with a higher level of decision-making scenarios to test their ability to adapt to the threat. At the conclusion of the training, the team possessed a wide range of ability and skills for “boots on the ground” combat scenarios and mounted patrols.

“The combination of all of these systems is what is needed to ensure that everyone, no matter their starting skill set, is trained adequately, challenged throughout the training, and ultimately sent forward ready to respond to any and all threats,” Salvia said.

Dan Torgler, deputy director for the Joint Training Integration and Evaluation Center, believes Warfighters’ Corner panelists help drive home the importance of training.

“It’s all about the warfighter, no matter what organization, be-cause everybody has the same mission,” Torgler said. “If we don’t provide our warfighters the training they need and improve their readiness, we haven’t done our job. To have the opportunity to be able to hear the stories from the warfighters who have experienced the training firsthand, it’s really motivating as we look to move forward and continue to improve.”

Salvia said this feedback loop offers first-hand knowledge of how the battlefield has changed and also identifies what new chal-lenges might need to be addressed. “For those who build the sys-tems, this is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to training effectiveness.”

The session also allows military personnel to share how they overcame and adapted to new threats and previously unknown environments not addressed during their training. “Sharing that knowledge at I/ITSEC gives industry the opportunity to design training systems to fill those gaps,” Salvia said.

As an operator, Salvia never knew the effort involved in devel-oping the training systems; he just asked for capabilities and they arrived. “Having now seen the tireless efforts of so many dedicated to ensuring the warfighters are getting the best training, I have a greater appreciation for our industry.”

“It is a great relationship that requires the technical expertise of so many, plus the operational experience of the warfighter to make sure that the training systems for tomorrow’s warfighters are the best they can be,” he said. “As the missions become more com-plex and integrated, and platform and weapons technology con-tinues to increase, high-fidelity, immersive training systems that effectively match the technology to the required task will continue to be in high demand.” O

Warfighters’ Corner Highlights Training’s Impact




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CalendarNovember 30-December 4, 2015I/ITSEC 2015Orlando, Fla.www.iitsec.org

March 15-17, 2016Global Force Symposium & ExhibitionHuntsville, Ala.www.ausa.org

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Lenny GennaPresident

L-3 Link

Q: Please describe Link’s history and evolution.

A: L-3 Link has long served the military training and simulation industry. In fact, 86 years ago, Ed Link filed a patent for his first “Pilot Maker” training device. Fast-forward to today, and we’re marking our 15th year as a division of L-3, which has enabled us to maintain strong investments in our military training business lines. To appreciate where we are today—a world leader in military flight simulation—it’s worth taking a look back at how we have evolved.

The Link organization made small, but significant, strides during our first 15 years in operation. During World War II, Link sup-ported our war effort, producing 10,000 pi-lot trainers that were vital in training U.S. and allied pilots. Not only was this a proving ground for Link, but also it represented the creation of a new aviation simulation market.

Over the ensuing decades, Link’s train-ing technologies would expand into other markets, including medical procedures, shipboard operations, civil aviation and space travel. From a company known for its unique simulation and training technolo-gies, we became an organization that adapt-ed COTS technologies to meet customers’ emerging program requirements. Today, we’re a world leader in fixed-wing, rotary-wing and unmanned aircraft simulation and training that focuses both on individual and team training aimed at optimizing collec-tive battlefield operations.

Q: What are some of your key products in the DoD training and simulation industry?

A: We provide our DoD customers with solu-tions ranging from high-fidelity immersive simulations to total training solutions. L-3 Link’s high-fidelity trainer solution employs our HD World integrated simulation product line. This solution combines high-resolution geo-specific databases and multi-spectral physics-based processing technologies with state-of-the-art image generation, sensor and out-the-window display systems. Our total training solutions provide adaptive immersive environments that can be deployed simulta-

neously to any training medium. From de-livering instruction via handheld devices to conducting in-flight training, we provide a full range of pervasive, persistent and acces-sible training options.

Q: What are some of the new training/simulation technologies Link is developing for 2015?

A: L-3 Link’s portfolio represents solutions that include advanced training devices, comprehensive training system solutions and a full range of support services. Across this base of solutions, we continue to make strategic enhancements. Our investment in live-virtual-constructive (LVC) training, for instance, is designed to reduce set up time, provide the customer an opt-in/opt-out ca-pability and deliver improved multi-level security between newer and older platforms participating in LVC exercises. From a vir-tual training standpoint, we’re providing crews and units with specialized training to help them successfully manage complexity, friction, chaos, confusion and clutter sce-narios similar to those they’ll experience in operational environments.

Q: How are you positioned for the future within the U.S. military?

A: We have a strong presence on many of the nation’s leading manned and unmanned aviation platforms, including the F-16, F/A-18, F-22, EC-130H, AH-64, UH-60, CH-47, UH-72, C-17, E-3, E-6B, T-1A, B-2, C-27J, E-8, MQ-1C Gray Eagle, MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. Our goal is to strategically expand this footprint to include other U.S. military platforms.

Q: What is an example of your success in the military and what are some of your goals over the next year?

A: Our primary successes have been the ability to maintain our market share in the U.S. military flight simulation market and broaden our presence on international training programs. For instance, we’re en-tering integration phases on three UH-60L operational flight trainers for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command. We won the Royal Saudi UH-60L program in 2014, a year which also saw L-3 Link meet its ready-for-training milestones for two Pakistan Air Force F-16C aircrew training devices and deliver an F/A-18D tactical op-erational flight trainer to the Royal Malay-sian Air Force. In 2014, we also announced an award from BAE Systems to develop the Hawk Oman training system for the Royal Air Force of Oman.

Regarding our near-term goals, we will continue to focus on our customers’ training requirements and develop disruptive tech-nologies that deliver enhanced training capa-bilities. We are laser-focused on maintaining and growing our military training market share. To accomplish these and other goals, we’re putting a special emphasis on making L-3 Link a great place to work and look for-ward to our team’s ongoing contributions.

Q: How do customers benefit from Link’s varied resources and expertise?

A: We develop training solutions that im-prove mission and operational readiness. Our training solutions provide complex, immer-sive training environments that military ser-vices consider essential to conduct effective training. In fact, the environments we devel-op in the coming years will be so immersive that they will blur the lines between live and simulated training.

U.S. military services also are benefitting from total training system solutions we’re developing to remove barriers that inhibit learning. We’re blending courseware content with advanced simulation technologies to provide a full range of immersive, adaptive and accessible training options. O

inDUStry interVieW military training technology


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