Military war gaming.

• Author: Marion, Peter B.
• Position: LETTERS - Letter to the editor

As a member of the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps, I would like to respond to the December 2006 article, "Industry has yet to crack government market code."

Those of us responsible for providing training solutions to the military are constantly seeking new, better and more effective ways to train the war fighter. As members of the Department of Defense training community, we recognize commercial game technology as a valuable tool that could be used through all phases of training, to include decision making.

The Army program executive office for simulation, training and instrumentation (PEO STRI) and others are using game technologies as training solutions. PEO STRI, the Marine Corps, and the Special Operations Command have fielded solutions using game technology to satisfy training requirements in many locations throughout the world. Training teams at the Army's Research and Development Command and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are working with promising game technology.

We understand that some training applications require high-fidelity modeling to properly represent the environment. However, there are many other applications where lower fidelity or "good enough" training devices are appropriate. In the article, Ben Sawyer suggests gaming technology is best used by the government to "challenge decision-making skills" or to teach war fighters "how to think." While these are critical skills and the...