Virtual thinking turns problems into opportunities

All over the world militaries are embarking on deep and enduring austerity measures. Paradoxically, this is happening at a time when global disorder and complex warfighting have reached unprecedented levels. Balancing the increasingly difficult equation of fewer resources in, for a superior (and more technologically complex) capability out, requires innovation and measured reform.

Inevitably, this has resulted in a shift of focus and investment from (expensive) live training, to (cost effective) virtual and constructive training. Progressive militaries are discovering that the judicious use of virtual/constructive simulation can achieve repeatable, relevant, high-quality training at low recurring cost, integrated across geographic nodes. Live simulation then serves to enhance and validate this training.

Enduring constraints threaten traditional approach

Certain tenets are enduring for all modern militaries as they tackle the challenge of how to invest their dwindling dollars. Foremost, is their long-held requirement to establish Centers of Excellence for highly technical and perishable skill sets (JTACs, Forward Observers, medical operators, etc). And this is where the budget problems compound:

• These Centers of Excellence are geographically fixed.
• Those requiring ab-initio and currency training are dispersed nationally and, in many instances, globally.
• The current paradigm demands that all students travel to the Center of Excellence at a significant cost and time penalty, or the instructors circulate to the trainee locations - often lacking the resources and facilities to train to the same standard.

The rise of the virtual Center of Excellence

In response to this dilemma, SimCentric has developed TrainingMate, a software application that enables any combination of IP addresses in the world to be connected for synchronized synthetic environment training in a virtual classroom.

TrainingMate enables the instructor to launch, monitor and control their virtual classroom from a single terminal, connecting instructors and trainees all over the world:

• US Artillery Instructors in Fort Sill can conduct remote skills maintenance training for Forward Observers in Iraq.
• Australian Instructors at Williamtown can conduct close air support currency training for qualified JTACs in Townsville, Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide - all simultaneously within a single training assessment or complex operational scenario.

Joint training and rehearsals can be conducted across multi-national entities, with greater speed, at a fraction of the cost, and with far superior analysis and diagnostic tools than with Live simulation alone.

TrainingMate - A toolbox full of features

But simply live streaming instructor/trainee terminals isn't enough. TrainingMate seeks to give the instructor the edge through a series of relevant tools to enhance training outcomes:

• Highlight areas of interest in 2D and 3D maps
• Draw routes and control measures to enhance learning and understanding by trainees
• Push real time text and overlays to update trainees or adjust the training scenario
• Attach any open source graphic (JPEG, PNG, GIF) to units or locations
• Turn on trail markings to identify the routes trainees and adversaries have taken during the training iteration.

And with a powerful after-action review function that can utilize all of these features - even after the training instance - TrainingMate facilitates geographically dispersed training with vast horsepower and flexibility.

Operational Situational Awareness

TrainingMate also facilitates enhanced operational situational awareness. When utilized for a battle commander, it allows their screen to draw live feeds from any and all terminals within their Command Post. Simultaneously view multiple ISR feeds, battle maps, Watchkeeper logs, email and Sametime chat on a single terminal, completely reconfigurable with a few clicks. Whilst developed to optimize the virtual classroom, TrainingMate is also a powerful tool that enables operational commanders in the modern battlespace.

If you'd like to see how TrainingMate can deliver the virtual classroom to your organization, please visit SimCentric Technologies at www.simct.com or contact sales@simct.com.

We will also be displaying the new features and development paths for our flagship VBS3Fires and VBS3FiresFST products, as part of the co-located Future Indirect Fires Conference. Already used extensively across ABCA and NATO military centers of excellence, these accredited and cost-effective products are continuously evolving to meet operator requirements, technology shifts and doctrinal change. For your comprehensive call for fire and close air support simulation training requirements, visit the SimCentric booth at DSET for a demonstration.

SimCentric Technologies is an R&D company specializing in advanced simulation add-ons and behavior control modules. We specialize in the bottom-up development of novel and innovative products. Our product range can be divided into three categories:
1) Simulation development tools
2) Specialized simulation-based training tools
3) Pattern of life generation tools