Battle-scarred troops have message for Army training: get real.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Training and Simulation

Troops are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to an Army in transition from fighting to training.

But a decade at war has presented officials with a dilemma: The training environment now must be made even more authentic to hold the attention of soldiers who already have experienced the real deal.

The Army is dealing with troops who have deployed multiple times and know what it is like to be in firefights and vehicles rocked by roadside bombs. And officials worry that unconvincing battle scenarios could alienate these men and women.

"If it's not realistic, challenging and exciting, we'll lose the interest of these great soldiers," says Col. Mike Flanagan, project manager of training devices at the Army's program executive office for simulation, training and instrumentation (PEO STRI).

The Army's solution is to integrate its live, virtual and constructive training environments. In other words, the service is looking for the sweet spot where field exercises can be combined with simulations and computer instruction to create something like a real battle.

"We are incapable of replicating the complexity of the battlefield," Flanagan says.

Airspace restrictions in the United States prevent the military from recreating drones flying overhead. Intelligence feeds coming from a multitude of platforms are too complex for a single staged environment. Therefore, the Army is focusing on an integrated architecture that blends the three training types, Flanagan says. For example, soldiers in a live training environment could be receiving virtual feeds from unmanned aircraft systems that aren't really there.

A new mortar training system shows how the virtual and live worlds can come together. Until now, troops were unable to practice every part of indirect fire engagements from start to finish. Some literally were left standing around with nothing to do during an exercise.

"These are combat veterans who have fired thousands of rounds," says Col. Pat Connors, Army Training and Doctrine Command capability manger for live events. "When they come back and we put them in a training situation, it's incumbent on us now to challenge those soldiers."

The new mortar system allows a forward observer to call in a fire mission using an iPad-like tablet. Once a round is fired, he can view a virtual map of actual terrain and call in adjustments to the mortar crew, just like he would during a real mission. Now everyone has a role to play during mortar training, and...