Mix of live and virtual training will result in savings, Army says.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: TRAINING & SIMULATION

For the most part, Army training has taken place in three separate realms: out in the field where soldiers stage mock fights in the dirt and the dust; in front of screens where the real world is simulated with computer-generated graphics; or on desktop computers where officers can populate battlefields with friends and foes and play virtual war games.

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By July 2012 at Fort Bliss, Texas, the service will blend all three in the first exercise that uses its live-virtual-constructive integrated architecture.

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Army officials are calling this mix of the three different training methods the wave of the future, and they tout its potential for saving precious funds. All four services and the National Guard have been pursuing the concept, but the Army is the first to have a program of record.

In one scenario, a battalion of about 1,000 infantry will be maneuvering through a mock village. Nearby, Apache pilots or Bradley fighting vehicle crews will be in simulators providing support. At a headquarters, officers will see these elements on the "command post of the future," a network which is widely used in real battlefields today. Ahead of the battalion are the red teams, or enemy forces. Some of them might be real soldiers, but most are computer-generated icons. The officers "can't tell the difference between who's in the live environment and who's in the virtual and constructive," said Col. Mike Flanagan, project manager of training devices at the Army's program executive office for simulation, training and instrumentation.

Soldiers in the field may be told there are enemy forces 20 miles ahead. As they approach, live soldiers portraying the red team could be inserted. Allies fighting nearby could be computer generated as well.

"The live guys can see their buddies in front of them but when they look on their screen for situational awareness they may see an adjacent unit that's a constructive unit," Flanagan said.

The idea behind the program is to save time, money and space, all things that the Army has little to spare lately.

Col. Karen Saunders, project director for constructive simulation at PEO STRI, said reductions could come in the amount of time it takes to plan and set up an exercise, and the number of personnel needed to run the operation. All this will result in less money being spent as well, she said. How much depends on the exercise. The Army is hoping for about a 20 percent reduction in the cost...