Battle Ground Simulations

Traditional medical training may not adequately prepare doctors in times of war. A unique study by human factors/ergonomics researchers in Norfolk, Virginia, concluded that virtual reality-based simulators can provide a safe venue for training military medical personnel in high-stress, high-workload conditions such as combat.

Simulations provide safe and controlled environments, immediate performance feedback, and practice for skills under unique or dangerous conditions.  Virtual environments have proven to be effective in training dismounted soldiers and military checkpoint guards, for example.

In this study, 15 medical students had to perform an emergency chest tube thoracostomy incision and insertion of a tube in the chest to permit fluid to drain on a mannequin in a CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) while surrounded by visual and auditory depictions of gunfire, explosions, and a virtual sniper. They performed the surgery under both daytime and nighttime combat conditions. When tested again four months later, they demonstrated that they retained the necessary skills for the procedure.

The students’ completion times demonstrated that they could perform the surgery efficiently, but the quality of their work suffered. Those who performed the procedure faster were more susceptible to “sniper” fire. Furthermore, stress created by the simulated environment may have caused some students to engage in inappropriate and dangerous behavior that would likely result in their being killed in a real combat situation.

This study is possibly the first to test performance with a standard mannequin-based medical simulator within a fully immersive virtual environment.

Story by: Lois Smith of HFES.ORG

Even though Navy budget cuts mean nondeployed sailors can expect to spend about a third less time at sea this year, that doesn’t mean they’ll spend less time at their duty stations aboard ships. In fact, they could spend more.

Commanders are trying to make up for that lost sea time — and a lack of available ships to play the “bad guys” — by relying more on “synthetic” training, in which sailors practice using their equipment aboard their ships in port.

Big Navy is so confident about synthetic training that commanders on the East Coast plan to deploy about one of every three carrier strike groups without them having completed a joint task force exercise, which traditionally has been the capstone to pre-deployment work-ups. Instead, those ships will do it virtually.

“Today we have limited live opposing forces we can bring to it,” said Adm. Jonathan Greenert, head of Fleet Forces Command, in a May 4 presentation near Washington, D.C. “It’s not just an issue of Navy forces — remember, it’s a joint task force — but a limit of total joint forces we have available. We need an efficient and effective alternative to make sure we have these forces ready.”

That alternative, Greenert said, is to simulate many of the things that sailors have traditionally practiced at sea. Although he and other Navy officials concede that some things still must be learned at sea, Greenert said synthetic training can be as good as, or better than, traditional time underway.

The Navy’s first big experiment with that principle is taking place now: In February, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group became the first flotilla to run an entirely synthetic JTFEX, having trained earlier at sea in a traditional composite training unit exercise. So far, Ike’s deployment to the Middle East has been routine.

However, skeptics worry that depending too much on synthetic training will backfire. Sailors without real experience operating their ships and systems in such intensive and realistic “final exam” scenarios could have more mishaps, they say. More broadly, the skills of sailors whose jobs can’t easily be artificially replicated — engineers and boatswain’s mates, for example — could atrophy.

Officials haven’t decided yet how much more synthetic training sailors will get to make up for the time they would have spent at sea, but the Navy should have no problem scaling up the practice time, said Eric Seeland, Fleet Forces Command’s top synthetic training manager.

“We will support whatever the numbered fleet commanders and strike group commanders desire for training,” Seeland said. “We can [dial] up and down different warfare areas, different levels of difficulties; we can tailor to different strike groups to make sure each one gets what they want.”

Rear Adm. Garry White, commander of Strike Force Training Atlantic, said strike groups will go with a combination of synthetic and real training, depending on what works for that specific group.

“Whether a JTFEX or a [fleet synthetic training-joint] is conducted as the certifying event will be dependent on a number of factors including experience, proficiency, type and level of training needed, and whether live or synthetic will be the most effective at accomplishing that training,” he said. “Tailoring the training for the specific strike group could lead us to an FST-J, a JTFEX, or possibly a hybrid that includes a modified combination of both.”

When it comes time to train, Navy computers can integrate the instruments aboard surface ships, aircraft, shore stations and submarines so that sailors thousands of miles apart can work together as a virtual strike group.

For example, a P-3 Orion air crewman sitting at a console on the West Coast might call a fire controlman in a destroyer in Norfolk, Va., to tell him about a new contact picked up by his sonobuoy. The destroyer and the airplane would work together to hunt a submarine in the virtual training world, even though the sailors are thousands of miles apart.

Seeland said synthetic training is best used to practice high-level command and control decision-making.

“You’re looking at the tactical link picture, you’re going forward and making command decisions on who to engage and who not to engage,” he said.

From the perspective of the sailors at their consoles in a combat information center, everything about the scenario would be the same as it would be if the ship were at sea, only with no motion of the deck.  Synthetic training also works well to integrate international allies into U.S. exercises. Fleet Forces Command has brought together American sailors in Yokosuka, Japan; Royal Navy sailors at their base in Great Britain; and German pilots and sailors at their bases in Germany.

The Ike strike group’s synthetic version of its JTFEX included the command staffs from the Eisenhower, the Enterprise and the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, according to 2nd Fleet officials. Eisenhower’s command staff dialed into the Navy’s training network from their ship at the pier. Enterprise was in the shipyard at the time, so its staff joined from a simulator at Tactical Training Group Atlantic at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dam Neck, Va. And de Gaulle’s staff trained from a simulator in Toulon, France.

Doing the drills synthetically meant Big E and de Gaulle could keep their shipyard work on schedule and save French and U.S. taxpayers $25 million worth of steaming days, White said. The synthetic version of the exercise cost $500,000.

“The cost difference is obviously significant, and in these fiscal times that’s a consideration,” White said. “We’re not going to let any fiscal driver impact on our readiness, but we’re going to maintain the same level of readiness while conserving energy, if you will.”

He also said one strike group would not be “more ready” than another because it did the physical JTFEX.

“We assess and evaluate to the same standard whether the certifying event is live or synthetic,” White said. “The combination of live and synthetic training provides the best possible training because each venue has distinct advantages that may be unobtainable with the exclusive use of one or the other.”

The cost and time savings aren’t just things that admirals and bean counters can appreciate: Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) 2nd Class (AW/SW) Pablo Rodriguez, a fuel depot supervisor at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., told Navy Times he liked the individual focus in the shift to more synthetic training.

“Instead of paying someone or using someone’s time to come and train us as a group of people, [it] can be avoided by using virtual training. We can be self-trained with an automated system that lets us know all our personal training requirements,” he said.

For as much potential as top Navy officials credit to synthetic training, skeptics see just as much to be concerned about. Greenert, Seeland and other officials are quick to acknowledge that sailors still need to spend time at sea learning to do underway replenishments, taking off and landing, and generally being stressed and challenged.

“There’s never really a substitute for being underway for six or seven days, knowing you’re going to be underway for several more days, and this is your fourth mid-watch, and you got two hours of sleep the night before, and seaman Johnny has an issue, and you’ve got to work on your own personal qualifications, and you’ve got to write a message for the captain — and, oh by the way, you have to go stand watch,” Seeland said.

“All of those things going on in the back of your head,” he said. “We can simulate that a little bit, and that’s not a huge factor in the area of training, but is there a one-to-one correlation? No, not completely. We still need that underway flavor.”

And it can go even deeper than that. Sailors in ships at the pier can get so inured to synthetic scenarios that they start to tune out drills that have life-or-death consequences on deployment.

“It’s hard to pretend you’re tracking aircraft or surface contacts when you have regular daily 1MC calls blaring in the background,” said Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 1st Class (SW) Andrew Dunn, who recalled virtual training in the combat information center of a docked ship. “The realism factor is lost pretty quickly. One minute you have a contact inbound and the next minute you hear ‘mail call’ over the 1MC.”

Expand that phenomenon to an entire ship’s company, and even routine jobs could become dangerous, said two retired commanding officers. Both, a retired submarine commander and a retired cruiser commander, have experience with synthetic training but asked not to be named because they still work closely with the Navy. They agreed that unless crews can take their training seriously, they may not be ready for the real thing.

What’s more, the retired sub commander said synthetic training takes away trainers’ ability to see a ship fight “hurt,” if its gear breaks, weather interferes or other unpredictable events crop up during an exercise. Scripted exercises can lock ships into performing to the script, he said, even though they’re easier to grade.

Seeland said engineers in particular benefit from the experience of running the propulsion plant of a ship that’s underway on the ocean because it can also include experiences that can’t be replicated in a schoolhouse.

“Having been an engineer, there is nothing more embarrassing than being that guy on watch, walking into the wardroom after you lost power and the ship went cold and dark out at sea, and knowing everybody was looking at you,” he said. “You don’t really quite get that same feel, when it’s just an ‘oops’ in the trainer.”

By Philip Ewing – navytimes.com

New simulator, called “Virtual Sphere”, helps SWAT troopers optimize their combat operations in cyberspace. The simulator makes the process similar to real life training. Virtual sphere looks like an ordinary hollow ball with 3 meters in diameter, connected to a computer. When a man enters the ball and puts on special virtual vision glasses, he dives into virtual reality. Glasses show changing images, and computer programme models environment with any kind of buildings.

Physical sensation in the ball is similar to that of a real mission, since trainee in the ball has to move and shoot from a virtual gun. Special sensors monitor trainee’s body state during virtual sessions.

Source: RIA Novosti (with video, in Russian).

The Lockheed Martin Virtual Combat Convoy Trainer (VCCT) provides convoy training for drivers, shooters, communicators, and decision-makers – each according to the unique requirements of their position, tactical circumstances, and unit or service standard operating procedure. VCCT is a full-scale training system designed to improve the convoy crew’s ability to identify and react to threats in the contemporary operating environment.

The VCCT is a realistic, joint training system designed to constantly test the warfighter’s ability to maintain vigilance, identify and assess the threat, and take appropriate action. Crew members learn to coordinate actions in a single vehicle, between multiple vehicles, and with higher headquarters, air & ground fire units, and medical evacuation support. They gain familiarity with objective terrain conditions and perform the procedures they’ll employ under combat conditions. The system portrays accurate weapons effects, and demands advanced driving skills for a wide range of conditions. Crew members face shoot/don’t shoot situations and take action to avoid man-made obstacles, direct and indirect fire, and improvised explosive devices.

Supports Multiple Missions:

Full family of trucks in the U.S. military inventory

• Helicopters
• Boats
• Armored vehicles
• Artillery
• Call for Fire
• Close Air Support

After Action Review (AAR):

• Event tagging creates focused after action review
• Reverse view angle allows Soldier to see enemy eye-point

Replicates the Contemporary Operating Environment:

• Realistic convoy environment
• Multiple manned and un-manned vehicles
• Realistic weapons engagement training
• Mission rehearsal capability
• Scenario generation feature allows instructor to rapidly create new scenarios as required to support Soldiers in the field
• Multiple systems can be networked together to provide collective training

Saab has received a contract to produce and field the Instrumented – Tactical Simulation Engagement System (I-TESS) for the U.S. Marine Corps. Within the frame of the contract, that has a possible value of approximately $29 million USD, a first order, valued at $22 million USD, has been placed.

“We are pleased to be able to continue to support the US Marine Corps and the US war fighting capabilities,” says Lars Borgwing, President, Saab Training USA. “I-TESS will significantly expand the current base of instrumentation systems already fielded by Saab for the U.S. Marine Corps. The system will provide many of the specialized urban warfare training skills required in today’s asymmetric warfare.”

Saab was selected in a competitive procurement, requiring a detailed technical proposal and field demonstration of capabilities at the Marine Corps Base (MCB) Quantico, Virginia.

The same instrumentation system is fielded with the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy SEALs and five major armies in Europe.

About I-TESS
I-TESS is a modular and mobile integrated range instrumentation system with modern laser simulators that provide greatly improved training capabilities over currently fielded devices used in urban warfare training exercises. I-TESS provides exercise control, battle tracking, data collection and rapid After-Action Reviews (AARs) for live training events. The real-time situational awareness, exercise control capabilities, and adjudication of indirect fire engagements maximize the training exercise benefits and reduce the amount of time needed for live training. Additionally, I-TESS interfaces with virtual and constructive simulations for an integrated training program at multiple locations and command levels.

The system leverages Saab’s military training and communications technologies developed under the U.S. Army’s Deployable Instrumented Training System (DITS) and major instrumented combat training centers in Europe. Saab’s rapid production capabilities were proven with the first deliveries of the same systems to the U.S. Army in Iraq in 2004.

Large unit tactical exercises are instrumented by I-TESS to provide command and control in tracking all Marines and weapon systems, simulation of direct fire and indirect fire of artillery and naval gunfire and the collection of data for after action reviews. The system provides the self-contained infrastructure for all communication and simulation. The systems will be fielded at various Marine Corps bases and installations for the USMC Pre-deployment Training Program and other type of individual and company level training.

A state-of-the-art computer simulation center in Butte is one step closer to fruition after a local business signed a contract with the Air Force.

Earlier this month, the Butte-based National Center for Health Care Informatics signed the agreement to produce the advanced computer-simulated training environments for Air Force combat rescue specialists.  Informatics would design virtual worlds made to resemble real-world environments, run on the new Butte supercomputer, which could serve as simulated training scenarios for the pararescuemen.  Retired Air Force Pararescue Sgt. Rod Alne is the operations superintendent with The Peak Inc., a local company that focuses on training for the military’s Special Forces.  His company will work in conjunction with Informatics as the “subject-matter experts,” he said.

“We’re there to make sure everything they design is real world stuff.” Alne said the simulations are important to good training and make good economic sense for the military.  “It’s a huge thing right now, especially in personnel recovery,” he said. “It’s a huge undertaking to design these training exercises.”

He said the virtual worlds could be as varied as rescuing a man out of a confined space –such as a blown-up building –to a jump at 10,000 feet.

“This thing will be able to change from a jungle to a desert in no time flat,” he said.

The actual training would be done in a large room where the 3-D world conjured up by the designers will appear.

“It’s basically virtual reality,” Alne said. “You walk into this big room and you are totally immersed into this environment.”

The initial efforts will focus on developing simulation training environments for the pararescuemen. But the simulation center will eventually expand to incorporate training scenarios for a variety of emergency and trauma care providers throughout the United States, with a special emphasis on rural health care.

Informatics is a certified “center of excellence” of Rocky Mountain Supercomputing Centers, which runs Big Sky, the Butte supercomputer.  Alex Philp, chief operative officer for RMSC said, “having IBM Deep Computing as one of its technology partners enhances the capabilities” of the company, and makes highly technical projects such as this possible.

Reporter Tim Trainor

This virtual terrain is available in MetaVR’s round-earth and flat-earth formats for use with Virtual Reality Scene Generator™ (VRSG™) for simulation and training, with particular emphasis on identifying and defeating IEDs using resources from combined military branches and nations. The terrain is also delivered with correlated SAF databases in CTDB and OTF formats. Unlike the simplified, flattened terrain used to simulate urban environments in most image generators and video games, MetaVR’s Afghan village is set within mountains, complex terrain of varying elevation, and cave complexes enabling realistic training scenarios for operations in mountainous villages. This virtual terrain, built with MetaVR Terrain Tools for ESRI ArcGIS, includes 1,120 square kilometers of 60-cm Digital Globe commercial satellite source imagery and 90 meter elevation posts and features a highly detailed 2 x 2 km inset terrain patch of a geospecific Afghan village. The effective terrain elevation resolution is much higher in the village areas as the construction of inferred cultural features from the geospecific imagery such as roads, buildings, courtyards, tree line, and crops further define the elevation relief. This terrain is built entirely from commercial, non-export controlled source data. Using MetaVR’s new terrain work flow process, additional terrain areas can be readily constructed.

The modeled village is based on the village of Khairabad in the southern part of the Kabul province. Khairabad, situated at an altitude of 1,843 meters, is located approximately 10-15 kilometers south of the Kabul city center, next to Qalai Naeem in the Char Asiab district. This virtual village and its surrounding mountainous terrain give users the ability to conduct ground combat simulations, such as sniper and forward air controller (JTAC) exercises, with a high degree of realism. Real-time recordings of a JTAC exercise scenario and other warfighter training scenarios based on the Afghanistan virtual terrain, can be viewed on MetaVR’s web site. MetaVR’s Afghanistan 3D terrain, built in collaboration with Simthetiq and VR Group, is available free of charge in MetaVR’s terrain formats and SAF formats to all U.S. Government and NATO agency and contractor customers (for official use only) on active software maintenance (VRSG version 5.5 required).

As a leading technical and integration services company, SAIC solves customers’ most important mission-critical challenges through innovative applications of technology and domain knowledge. They showcase SAIC’s expertise in live, virtual and constructive training and simulation solutions at SAIC stand E-153 at ITEC 2009. Here are highlights of key featured solutions.

• Test fire the next generation of wireless, state-of-the-art Tactical Engagement Simulation System (TESS) Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) technology using M16s in the Shooting Gallery and learn how this system supports live tactical training exercises with high-fidelity detection for real-time casualty assessment.
• See the new capabilities in One Semi-automated Forces (OneSAF®) that integrate with Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) to provide next generation, composable simulation inside special areas of interest within larger multi-resolution federations, and enable representation of predefined and ad hoc high interest units at the entity level.

Next-Generation, wireless Tactical Engagement Simulation Systems (TESS) Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) laser-based products and M16 Test Firing  SAIC’s state-of-the-art TESS training technology is the next generation MILES laser-based products for large scale, live military tactical training exercises and mission rehearsal. The wireless, modular, MILES, state-of-the-art, laser-based systems are easy to install and adaptable to the user. The lightweight, interoperable components help to minimize interference with training and weapon systems and allow for combining different wireless components to fit training needs. This makes the TESS MILES one of the most adaptable and flexible systems available today for the dismounted and mounted soldier.

The Individual Weapon System (IWS) is wireless, making it transparent to the warfighter. It is quick and easy to install, eliminating the distracting cables and harnesses associated with other MILES systems. The Instrumented MILES Combat Vehicle System (IMILES CVS) interoperates with the IWS System. The interoperable components that make up the IMILES CVS system are highly adaptable to other combat vehicles and weapons systems.

Through its modular design, the MK-19 Simulator Player Unit provides an interoperable solution that simulates the firing and actual effects of an MK-19 in a MILES environment. It provides the common approach for the Stryker Remote Weapon Station, M113 pintle mount, AAV, Humvee (HMMWV), and ground mount.

The lightweight, low power MILES components are interoperable from the dismounted warrior (IWS) to mounted Combat Vehicle Systems (CVS) and scalable to large live exercises at military training ranges. The modular design of the IWS and IMILES CVS facilitate lower life cycle costs and flexibility of use. Major components of the wireless MILES IWS and CVS are designed to support the U.S. Army MILES, One Tactical Engagement Simulation System (OneTESS), and Operational Test – Tactical Engagement System (OT-TES) programs and will meet current and future EU and international combat training center and home-station training needs.

“SAIC TESS MILES products represent a significant step toward our goal of embedding training and achieving convergence in live, virtual and constructive offerings,” said Beverly Seay, SAIC senior vice president and ASSET business unit general manager. “SAIC is uniquely positioned to provide governments across the globe with tactical, engagement simulation systems containing current and next generation products and technologies. We are transforming the live training industry by successfully fielding an advanced wireless system for laser-based tactical training, substantially reducing the life cycle logistics cost for those systems. We are very excited about these products and the capability they bring to SAIC’s live training simulation solutions.”

The chance to test fire the next generation of wireless, state-of-the-art TESS MILES technology using M16s in SAIC’s Shooting Gallery at stand E-153 ITEC 2009 and learn how this system supports live tactical training exercises with high-fidelity detection for real-time casualty assessment was offered.

New OneSAF capabilities and integration with Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) brigade and above SAIC is integrating OneSAF with JTLS to provide OneSAF’s next generation, composable simulation capabilities and technology to expanding domestic and international audiences. By establishing a functional interface between OneSAF and JTLS, OneSAF can now be employed inside special areas of interest within a much larger multi-resolution federation. This enables representation of predefined and ad hoc high interest units at the entity level.

OneSAF is the computer-generated forces system that addresses short comings within the current multi-resolution federation while representing a wide range of operations, systems, and control processes–from individual combatants to brigades and above. Standards-based and adaptable, OneSAF is designed to flexibly incorporate new components and evolve with new technologies. SAIC can also expand OneSAF capabilities beyond current forces to include models of future forces that do not yet exist. OneSAF provides a comprehensive, composable, extensible, and reusable simulation resource to meet a wide range of experimentation, analysis, and training needs for the current and future force.

See the new capabilities in OneSAF that integrate with Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS) to provide next generation, composable simulation inside special areas of interest within larger multi-resolution federations and enable representation of predefined and ad hoc high interest units at the entity level.

Canadian Defence looks to computers to slash costs and improve safety in the training battleground. In the early days of reconstructing battle scenarios, Lt.-Col. Rusty Bassarab recalls some defence computer games taking a few liberties with physics.

“On one of the old (platforms), if you held up your hand in front of your body and a (bullet) hit your hand, your hand would bleed but the round would stop,” recalls the Department of National Defence’s director of land synthetic environments.  “That’s something that used to be there, but was corrected because we said, ‘Hey, that’s no good.’ And of course, once people learn that all you have to do is put something in front, well (they’ll do it because) they’re trying to win.”

It’s an ongoing struggle to completely replicate the “theatre” of combat in a war game, a battle that at least two Ottawa firms are willingly facing as the defence industry moves to less expensive simulations to train the troops.

Acron Capability Engineering’s software is already in place at CFB Gagetown – for training on artillery procedures – as well as the Defence Research and Development Canada in Toronto, where infantry can learn their tasks in a wrap-around 3D simulator.

Even outside of defence, the simulation company is doing well. The firm just recently signed an agreement with Prague’s Millennium Gate Company to distribute Acron’s 3D modelling software in eastern Europe, and also flew down to Mexico to discuss influenza modelling in light of the current swine flu situation.

“You don’t necessarily need to be in the field shooting really expensive missiles to learn how to use them,” says John Nicol, chief executive of Acron.

“It’s not only time and money, but it’s also the safety issues. You can make mistakes with the simulator or training course without putting you or your comrades in immediate danger.”

Make mistakes and also make actual kills; Lt.-Col. Bassarab points out a soldier being trained on patrol duty can’t exactly kill his crewmates during a simulation, something a computer would have no trouble showing.

But there the technology runs into a wall. Showing an event is one thing. Actually experiencing it on the field is another, says industry observer Philippe Lagasse.

“Obviously the closer that you get to the reality of the environment, the better trained the soldier in question will be,” says Mr. Lagasse, who teaches at the University of Ottawa.

“If you do want to mitigate some … costs through simulation, it’s a very attractive model. But you can’t solely rely on that. You can’t take a soldier exclusively trained in a computer-simulated environment and ploink them into an actual war zone.”

The technology still offers a lucrative revenue stream for companies such as Calian, though. That firm specializes in replicating situations that would take hundreds of soldiers to achieve, such as an all-out scale battle.

Its software is deployed at Canadian Forces bases in Kingston, Quebec City, Gagetown, Edmonton and Petawawa.

“When we started (in 1995) it was organizational training, sort of typical training within (defence); how you bring the next commander along,” says Jerry Johnston, vice-president of outsourcing at Calian.

“But in the last few years, it’s really become a mission rehearsal type facility. It’s been used by the teams that go to Afghanistan; it’s one of the standard training steps they now take before they actually deploy.”

Before long, full-scale simulations may be a standard training step for budding businesspeople as well, says Lt.-Col. Bassarab.

Already the forces have the capability to run a 3D simulation or computer game in the classroom rather than go over a procedure with a few PowerPoint slides – and Lt.-Col. Bassarab has already participated in two virtual conferences in platforms such as Second Life.

From his conversations in this virtual world, he says he knows schools outside the drama of defence are looking to use the technology in their own way.

“We ask people what is it are you trying to achieve and what are their training needs for your experiment, to meet their objectives,” he says.

“I think there’s a lot of (non-defence) professors and classrooms starting to do the same thing.”

Capt. Heather Bautista (standing) checks the operation of a virtual reality software for returning veterans with combat post traumatic stress disorder at the David Grant USAF Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., April 17. Captain Bautista is a social worker at the center's mental health clinic. (U.S. Air Force photo/Lance Cheung)

Mental health therapists and social workers at the David Grant USAF Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., are currently using a virtual reality program to treat servicemembers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, after returning from combat operations.

“PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs sometimes after a person has experienced a traumatic event,” said Capt. Heather Bautista, a social worker in the Mental Health Clinic.

“Not everybody who experiences trauma is going to develop PTSD but if this traumatic event is something that you witnessed either yourself or vicariously and you thought that your life was in danger or others were in danger you can develop this. We are helping the patient deal with avoidance. Avoidance is the key to PTSD.”

To help deal with the patient’s avoidance to their situation medical professionals use the virtual reality software, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Application for Post Traumatic Stress. The program includes a motion-inducing platform, headphones, a cued-smells generator, a mock M-16 with directional controls/game controller and a virtual reality visor to help veterans relive their situation. The software has been introduced to eight bases in the Air Force.

The system lets warriors re-experience their event under the supervision of a mental health expert and in the safety of a controlled setting in a hospital.

On average, patients are seen once a week by their therapists and use the virtual reality system about 10-12 times for 60 minutes each time at the medical center.

However, before any patient is placed in the system, the patient would have had several visits with the therapist, explaining the situation step-by-step. The therapist then tailors the system to the individual’s traumatic experience. The patient and therapist work through the scenario to help cope with the event.

“This is about as close to a Humvee experience I can give you without putting you into an actual Humvee,” Captain Bautista said. This helps you process it so that you realize it’s an event that happened but I survived it and I can process it and move on.”

By talking about their experience, people build details into the simulation. Little by little, they gain a better understanding of the traumatic experience. The technology complements the evidence-based treatment known as ‘Prolonged Exposure Therapy’ and other research proven approache. All are used here to help deployers live a normal life.

“The ultimate goal is to get the servicemember well and back to deploying again,” said Captain Bautista.

This system also has civilian uses and another version is being developed for medical personnel who experience trauma from treating people.

“In this context we think of war, but it can be any trauma, natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina we saw a huge influx of PTSD, car accident, sexual assault, anything that you perceive your life is in danger,” said Captain Bautista.