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NEWS | Sept. 23, 2010

Combined arms tactical trainers: Supporting the reserve component

By Col. Francisco A. Espaillat, U.S. Army and Lt. Col. Jay A. Smith, Army National Guard

ARLINGTON, Va., - Almost every leader in the Army Reserve or National Guard can tell you a good news story about training aids, devices, simulator and simulations (TADSS) and how they have multiplied the effectiveness of a good drill weekend’s training. 

Those same leaders can also tell you bad news stories about how their training plans have suffered because the right training aid was not available on the weekend they needed it. 

If used correctly, a good training aid or simulator can improve a Soldier’s skills and provide vital safety training before the Soldier is in the actual situation. 

TADSS can significantly reduce time spent in the field, improve training scores, reduce the cost of training, enhance unit safety and multiply the unit’s chances of success in combat.

In fact, the Army is placing renewed emphasis on the use of TADSS in today’s demanding training environment, especially since today’s Soldiers understand the power of virtual training devices and simulators. 

The project manager for Combined Arms Tactical Trainers (PM CATT), part of the Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, takes a leading role in putting needed, high-tech TADSS into the hands of Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers. 

Guard and Reserve Soldiers have probably used many of their devices without knowing that a dedicated team of engineers, technicians and support logisticians stands behind those devices and simulators and is striving to improve each and every device as the Army’s combat equipment improves and changes. 

PM CATT’s mission is to manage the acquisition, fielding and life-cycle support of virtual TADSS, while stressing the need for continual improvement and support.

In fact, PM CATT is currently responsible for 58 TADSS systems that are either in the field or are being rapidly developed to meet the training needs of today’s Army operations.

One of PM CATT’s biggest successes has been the ongoing development and fielding of the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000.  It is the high-tech equivalent of an old-fashioned shooting gallery. It allows the Soldier to practice individual marksmanship skills and combat leaders to improve their unit’s collective gunnery skills.  It offers a variety of engagement scenarios and records the individual Soldier’s hits and misses, which provides effective feedback in unit after-action reviews. 

All this is safely done before a single round is fired on a live fire range.  PM CATT has fielded more than 330 ESTs to Army Reserve or National Guard installations and plans to field 227 more.

Another example of PM CATT’s systems is the Call for Fire Trainer (CFFT).  This system allows forward observers from all units to practice their coordination with fires and effects from artillery, mortars, naval gunfire and close air support. 

The CFFT system can train up to 30 Soldiers in a single classroom and provide recorded feedback to each Soldier regarding his performance. 

A newer version, the CFFT II, was approved for full-rate production in June 2009 and will provide additional capabilities that allow for integration with other simulation systems, the capability to train for classified operations, and also enhance command, control, computing, communication and intelligence interoperability.

To date, PM CATT has fielded 116 CFFTs to Army Reserve or National Guard installations and plans to field 87 more.

A recent success for PM CATT has been the fielding of more than 190 HMMVW Egress Assistance Trainers (HEAT).  This system was rapidly developed and fielded in partnership with the Red River Army Depot in Texarkana, Texas, in direct response to urgent demands from units supporting the Overseas Contingency Operations. 

This device includes a full-sized M1114 HMMVW cab and simulates the roll-over of a vehicle in combat situations giving Soldiers hands-on practice in extracting themselves and their buddies from a crippled vehicle in a variety of roll-over angles. 

A key secondary safety lesson is the need for vehicle load planning and equipment tie-down; as the simulator rolls, anything that is not properly secured becomes a projectile and gives the crew a “hard-knock” lesson.  So far, 100 HEAT systems have been fielded to Reserve component units.

One key system that PM CATT has developed, and currently fielding to Army National Guard units, is the Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Crew Trainer (SCT).  The National Guard Bureau recognized a need for a unique crew trainer and approached PM CATT with a request to build a simulator. 

Live UAV missions are often difficult to conduct at homestations where the Federal Aviation Administration air space limitations do not allow actual deployment of UAVs.  This trainer allows Shadow units to virtually fly an entire mission without ever having to launch their UAVs.  

To date, eight SCTs have been delivered and another 17 are planned to be fielded.

One of PM CATT’s biggest successes has been the ongoing development and fielding of the Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT).  The AVCATT is a mobile, transportable, multi-station virtual simulation device designed to support unit collective and combined arms training.

AVCATT provides six manned modules re-configurable to any combination of attack, reconnaissance, lift and/or cargo helicopters. There are four role player stations for battalion/squadron staff, combined arms elements, integrated threat or friendly semi-automated Forces (SAF). 

The AVCATT has a robust exercise record and playback feature with a simultaneous after-action review capability. PM CATT has fielded nine AVCATTs to Army Reserve or National Guard installations and plans to field two more

A new Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC) is being fielded to a number of Active and Reserve Component locations.  The MSTC is equipped with bleeding, breathing mannequins that give combat lifesavers and medics realistic first aid training for traumatic injuries. 

The mannequin is visually striking and realistically depicts massive wounds found in combat situations.  If the mannequin does not receive proper first aid treatment, it simulates the pulmonary symptoms of a real casualty and its vital conditions rapidly deteriorate.  The skills learned in the MSTC improve a combat lifesaver’s chances to save a fellow Soldier wounded on the battlefield.

One of the fastest growing and most popular of PM CATT’s systems currently being deployed to Reserve and National Guard units is the Games for Training (GFT) program. 

Gaming technology provides training for a wide variety of individual and collective tasks improving battalion and below, individual, collective, and multi-echelon training. GFT is tailored for tactical and combined arms training configured for almost any platoon in the Army’s inventory.

Trainees move about in a shared, semi-immersive, first-person environment that supports mounted and dismounted operations, combat platforms, small arms and vehicle-mounted weapons. 

GFT allows for enhanced skills in cultural awareness, language, improvised explosive device recognition and negotiation skills. The simulation engine provides extremely realistic virtual environments with large, dynamic, highly detailed geo-typical terrain areas.

The user-generated, geo-specific terrain allows for a more accurate troop training capability that can be combined with hundreds of accurately simulated military and civilian entities. This virtual environment enables scenario creation, real-time editing, rapid terrain development and mission rehearsal with a robust 3D after-action review capability with a time scrollable review of the training from any point of view.

GFT fulfills a flexible, low-cost training solution that leverages commercial- and government-off-the-shelf games and advanced simulation technology second only to costly live training opportunities. In 2009, 16 GFT systems were fielded to the U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard.

PM CATT understands that 51 percent of the Army’s manpower is found in Army Reserve and National Guard units.  Not only should a proportional distribution of the Army’s TADSS be delivered to these units, but reserve component units have special needs. 

In recognition of the Army Reserve and National Guard’s need for input into the development of TADSS, PM CATT has established an Assistant Project Manager for Reserve Component Training Systems.

This office will be manned by Army Reserve and Army Guard personnel who understand that the homestation environment in which Reserve component units train is significantly different than the environment found at the Army’s major posts.  This understanding in turn drives the demand for flexible, mobile TADSS that can be distributed to armories and readiness centers in hometowns across America.

The mission of this office is simple: advocate TADSS that are easy-to-use and maintain at local readiness centers, provide design input to achieve realistic, Reseve Soldier-friendly devices and coordinate speedy delivery to Army Reserve or National Guard installations.

PM CATT has become the Army’s leader in providing realistic, virtual TADSS solutions to our Soldiers. As each piece of Army hardware changes, so must the training methods and TADSS that support it.

PM CATT strives to ensure that the latest virtual technologies are not only built into the current generation of TADSS, but that there is room to grow and improve these systems well into the future as the pace of today’s high-tech training needs accelerate. PM CATT is firmly partnered with the Army Reserve and the National Guard and stands ready to meet the challenges of the virtual age.

 

 

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