Battle Ground Simulations

Soldiers have a time-honored way of figuring out what happened after a firefight. They sit down together and hash it out, endlessly going over every moment of the battle as they try to determine who shot first, who hit their target, who missed, etc.   Because of the limits of memory and perspective, some of those questions could never be answered. Today, however, a high-tech device called the Engagement Skills Trainer is giving Soldiers new insights into the anatomy of a firefight.  The EST is an interactive combat simulator. Using the EST, Soldiers encounter virtual combat engagements and receive instant feedback from the computer on every shot fired, without the costs or safety risks of firing real ammunition, said Michael Graziano, EST facility instructor.

“It tells you everything. The computer calculates time, space and distance to the second. On every shot fired, there’s feedback. And all it costs is electricity,” Graziano said.

One of only six EST facilities in the Army, Fort Bragg’s EST has been open for five years, said Graziano. Each setup can accommodate up to 10 Soldiers, who employ computer-connected weapons.

The difference between EST and video game: realism

As real-life combat scenarios play a screen before them, the Soldiers’ reactions are collected and analyzed by the computer for review. Depending on what the Soldiers do or don’t do, the computer adjusts the scenario.

What separates the EST from first-person shooter video games is its realism, said Graziano. Every weapon used in the EST is a real weapon that has been modified, rather than a replica. The action, recoil and feel of the weapons are no different than they would be on the range, he said.

Soldiers using the EST are not limited to firing only M-4s or M-16s. The facility has versions of virtually every weapon system used by the Army, Graziano said.

“If they’ve got it in the arms room, we’ve got it here,” he said.

Each “round” that the weapons fire at the screen is actually a laser beam that is tracked and analyzed by the EST computer. If the round hits one of the enemy fighters on the screen, the computer adjusts the scenario to show that he has been wounded or killed.

Paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, trained on the EST April 19.

Inside one of the dark rooms, Sgt. 1st Class Donel Hagelin monitored the computer while five Paratroopers got into position on the firing lanes. Hagelin commanded them to lock and load.

On screen, a white van came to a halt at the end of a sandy, desert road. Two unarmed men dismounted and began yelling in Arabic. Then, from the back of the van, two additional men ran out with AK-47s. Instantly, the Paratroopers unleashed a hail of simulated bullets at the screen. In seconds, it was all over.

During the replay, it became clear that one of the Paratroopers had shot at the unarmed men running away. Hagelin corrected him on the spot.

“Situational awareness, men – I can’t stress that enough. That’s something you’re going to have to live with if you kill someone who is just caught in the crossfire,” he said.

After running through several more scenarios, Hagelin was enthusiastic about the value of the EST. The simulator allowed him to give precise feedback to his Paratroopers, and gave them a chance to work on their techniques without having to waste rounds at the range, he said.

“It’s the fastest way to train troops and the easiest way to save money,” he said.

This week I’ve performed a stop and search patrol in downtown Baghdad, escorted a convoy of trucks through Basra and taken part in a heliborne assault on a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan.

Fortunately I didn’t get a scratch though, as contrary to the rumour going round the office I haven’t signed up for a tour of duty with a mercenary company – I’ve been taking part in these real-world conflicts on my PC using VBS2.

Virtual Battlespace 2, or VBS2 to its friends, is a battlefield simulator developed by Bohemia Interactive Australia, the sister company of Bohemia Interactive, the developers of Operation Flashpoint and Arma: Armed Assault. However, although OFP and Arma are a good deal more realistic than most games, I’d hesitate to describe VBS2 as a game.

VBS2 is based on the same graphics engine as the game Arma: Assault Assault.

For starters, up until a couple of months ago you had to be a government organisation with a multi-million dollar IT budget such as the US Marine Corps or the British Ministry of Defence to even buy a copy of VBS2. That all changed recently though, as BIA decided it was okay to sell a version of VBS2 direct to consumers. At £275, VBS2 Personal Edition is still a lot more expensive than a typical PC game, but being the sort of person who enjoys arguing the merits of the seven different marks of Sten gun, I thought it worth taking for a spin.

Apart from the eye-watering price a number of things quickly become apparent when you try VBS2 for the first time. For starters, because even the cut-down Personal Edition version includes so many different units and maps it’s supplied on two DVDs. Secondly, like some professional graphics applications VBS2 PE is supplied with a USB dongle. This comes in a variety of colours, depending on the length and type of license you have purchased and prevents the simulation from loading without it being inserted in a USB port.

My first experience of VBS2 PE didn’t get off to particularly good start. Like most gamers I’m used to clicking on the game icon in the Start menu and then diving in. With VBS 2 PE however the default icon loads a ‘rights limited’ version of the simulation. In this mode you can’t adjust any of the graphics or audio settings, let alone remap any of the controls. I suppose this is to stop squaddies messing around with the computers they run VBS2 on, but VBS2 PE is the first ‘game’ I can think of with such a limitation. A quick visit to the manual suggested trying clicking on the Administrator mode icon – which treats you like a responsible adult and unlocks all the menus.

The next hurdle is trying to find something to ‘play’. Unlike other games, even non-linear games such as Team Fortress 2, which include a lot of pre-made missions or levels, VBS2 PE is surprisingly sparse. The main menu provides several options, but none are really conducive to jumping in and playing. There are a couple of training scenarios, but these are only really designed to get you used to the default controls as you navigate your avatar through an assault course.

The best menu to try is the Library – which allows you to view in 3D all the units and objects included in VBS2 PE. These vary from the insanely detailed; such as 13 different models of Warrior MICV, to the more mundane; four different breeds of dog, a tractor and a concrete mixing truck, just to name a few. The Library also allows you jump in and control any of these objects, setting you a number of different challenges, from the bizarre; racing a Challenger 2 MBT around a track, to the humdrum: shooting up a collection of trucks in your Apache attack helicopter.

The plethora of sea, air and land (both pedestrian and vehicles) units is one of the biggest differences between VBS2 PE and most games. Although VBS PE doesn’t simulate aircraft as well as Flight Sim X or boats as well as Ship Simulator it provides enough realism for soldiers from various military disciplines to train together in one giant virtual environment. This networking is hugely important, as one of the most crucial parts of training is teaching soldiers to work together as a unit. A virtual battlefield simulator such as VBS2 is thus immensely useful, as it allows soldiers to train to work together without much of the cost, or risk of training out in the field.

You too can walk the streets of Baghdad and get shot at by guerillas if you want. Just be careful not to shoot any civlians.

Unless you have downloaded some user-made missions from one of the several end-user accessible VBS2 forums such as Razors Edge, you’ll need to make a mission of your own to play. This can be done in the Mission Editor, which allows you to create hugely detailed scenarios with full control of the environment including the date, time and weather. In addition to simply plonking down units onto the map you can also script them to behave in a certain way, for example to wait in ambush or patrol a certain area. If works in much the same way as the scenario editor included in Bohemia Interactive’s games, but has many more options.

You can easily make your own missions in VBS2 – in this case a recreation of the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980.

The final part of VBS2 is the After Action Review, which acts much like the ‘instant replay’ feature found in the TV coverage of sporting events, allowing you to view what just happened in the game world. While this provides limited amusement for gamers, for the military it’s a key feature, as it allows instructors to show the troops where they went wrong after the battle so that they learn from the experience.

Although, on the surface, VBS2 plays like pretty much any first person shooter/driving/flying game it soon becomes apparent that this is no game at all. For example, while mainstream PC games have been slow to introduce a limitation on the amount of weapons and ammo your avatar can carry around, VBS2 has a sophisticated inventory system that takes into account the weight and volume of items. No more carrying around four rifles, half a dozen rockets and a crate full of ammo then.

VBS2 is also very uncompromising when it comes to the level of difficulty. Although it’s far easier to aim and shoot with the mouse than it is to aim and fire a real assault rifle, staying alive in VBS2 is still a real challenge – the 21st century battlefield is positively crammed with sharp bits of metal flying through the air at high-speed with your name on them. While you can slow down and accelerate time if you’re fighting a single-player battle, in multiplayer missions you can’t tweak the laws of physics to help you out in this way.

As VBS2 was first made available to government users in April 2007, it doesn’t have the best looking 3D engine. Still, although its graphics are several light years ahead of traditional military simulators, such as the British Army’s £400 million Combined Arms Tactical Trainer built by Lockheed Martin, it’s no Crysis. Still, the maps in Crysis are typically no more than 6,400 hectares, barely enough for a fast moving aircraft to turn around, compared to VBS2’s up to one million hectare maps.

The graphics in a traditional military simulator, such as the British Army’s CATT are truly atrocious by PC game standards.

As a gamer however, even one with a strong interest in military history, VBS2 has one principal fault – it’s not much fun. This is no doubt in part due to the tiny user community – VBS2 is only really worth playing online with other people, and at £275 precious few gamers have bought VBS2.

It can be hugely rewarding to complete a tough and realistic mission, but when you can get a very similar experience from a heavily modded version of Arma for £24.99, VBS2 PE suddenly isn’t a very attractive proposition, even for a hardened military geek such as myself.

Perhaps if the developers had decided to sell VBS2 PE sooner, then it would have given more time for the price to trickle down to a more acceptable level and allow the modding community longer to get to sink its teeth into the engine’s huge potential. After all, out of the box Arma suffers from many of the same problems as VBS2 PE – but most of issues have been addressed by an extremely active modding community.

Ultimately, while VBS2 is undoubtedly a fantastic training tool, and a huge leap forward in graphical fidelity from proprietary military simulators, for gamers, VBS2 PE is an interesting but costly distraction from Arma II.

by James Gorbold or bit-tech.net

Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Daniel W. Grant undergoes a virtual reality combat simulation that is used to help treat military veterans with Post-traumatic stress disorder.

In a large tan tent at the Inlet in Ocean City, the U.S. Army has set up a virtual battlefield in which people can participate in a simulated mission, based off the U.S. Army video game, “America’s Army.”

People who are at least 13-years-old can enter the tent and start with an orientation to a mission, like providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Iraq. Then participants enter a cavernous room with several mock military vehicles and a helicopter.

The simulation begins and the participants face enemy insurgents they must shoot with fake guns. Projection walls surround the vehicles with images of the battle scene.

“You just saw the insurgents around you, and you just made sure you had to get them and not get the civilians,” said 16-year-old Cy Jarrett.

The Army says it’s using the experience to get their own messages out and to get people thinking about joining the military.

“There’s a good chance after high school I’d join the military,” 15-year-old Julian Tyler said after participating in the simulation.

Recruiters and Army personnel were available to guide participants through the event and answer questions after their experience.

“This is a recruitment tool, but it’s also here for educational purposes,” said Sgt. Jason Mike, who was awarded a Silver Star for surviving a gun fight in Iraq and saving the lives of fellow soldiers. ”We’re here to educate people on what the army can offer.”

In the simulation there is no real-life gore or real violence.

“We’re rated ‘T’ for teen. Like I said, we’re here for an educational purpose. That doesn’t need to be shown. I think everyone understands that happens with warfare, so that doesn’t need to be explained,” said Sgt. Mike.

But some parents criticize the army for not showing the actual effects and consequences of war, and for allowing young teens to participate in the simulation.

“The games are there and the kids think nothing is going to happen to them when they get older. I think it has an effect on a lot of those school issues,” said William Bean, who is the parent of several young children visiting Ocean City.

Either way, the lines outside the simulation continue to grow.

Reported by Steve Dorsey

In a darkened hangar, two soldiers fire beams of light at computer-generated images of enemy troops on large video screens. Sounds of battle fill the air through a speaker system.

This virtual reality shooting range at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is not just for combat personnel anymore. The government is making it available to military truck drivers, finance officers and others who are increasingly being exposed to hostile fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“When they used to be qualified with a weapon, they were pretty sure they were never going to have to use it,” said base commander Col. Bradley Spacy. “They can’t be sure anymore.”

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said the Air Force has taken on roles such as base security and truck driving in Iraq and Afghanistan that it didn’t typically do in the past.

Numerous Air Force bases use firearms simulators, according to Air Force spokesman Vincent King at the Pentagon. Law enforcement agencies and other branches of the military also use virtual reality for shooting practice.

The walls of the hangar at Wright-Patterson are hung with camouflage netting. Real guns stripped of their bullets — from M-9 pistols to M-16 rifles — are lined up on the floor facing two home theater-sized video screens.

“You’re hot,” Master Sgt. David Small tells two shooters, warning them he is starting the computer program.

The screens light up. A desert scene is projected. Incoming mortars hit with a thud, sending showers of sand into the air. Shadowy figures and flashes of gunfire are seen in the distance.

The two U.S. shooters fire back. A computer marks and measures the accuracy of the shots.

Between 35 and 45 people are practicing with the system each week, most of them non-security personnel.

“It drives your adrenaline — those things that actually kick in in the real-world environment versus just sitting in a range,” said Small, who has used the system.

Maj. Christopher Duffley, an intelligence officer who has been deployed overseas five times, has practiced on the system between 10 and 20 times.

“Typically for a field like intelligence or other ones, we don’t get to touch firearms very often,” Duffley said. “You become a lot more confident in your own abilities.”
Staff Sgt. Zachary Odonish, a communications specialist, has used the system three times.

“It’s definitely a lot more realistic than just going to the firing range,” he said.

Thompson said virtual reality systems have become an effective training tool for the military.

“If you can capture the visual feeling of the combat experience, it is very, very similar to actually being in that experience,” Thompson said.

The system, which the base bought in January for $400,000, trains airmen how to hit moving targets in combat conditions and how to communicate with each other, reload quickly and fix a jammed weapon.

The simulator at Wright-Patterson is made by Meggitt Training Systems Inc., based in Suwanee, Ga., which has sold about 5,200 virtual systems around the world including about 900 to the U.S. Marines and Army National Guard.

Current products:

VBS2Fires. A complete Call-For-Fire desktop training solution for calling artillery, mortar and naval offensive support utilising the VBS2 virtual environment.

VBS2Fusion. The complete API for VBS2, heralding a new era of VBS2 development.

VBS2FastScript. A comprehensive IDE for creating, modifying and managing VBS2 script files.

In development:

VBS2-Kynapse Integration. Combine the power of the industry leading AI middleware and the industry leading virtual simulation environment.

VBS2 FAC. Building upon VBS2 Fires, VBS2 FAC provides a complete forward air controller training solution for VBS2.

Partner products:

Marksman MK1. Train like you fight. A revolutionary marksman training system allowing weapon training for any scoped weapon.

Call-For-Fire Trainer. A complete Call-For-Fire simulator, combining the power of surrogate equipment, a full projection system and the VBS2Fires software system.

VBS2Fusion heralds a new wave of VBS2 development. It provides developers with a true VBS2 API for the very first time, allowing them to add significant functionality to VBS2 without learning the VBS2 scripting language. The C++ API provides a simplistic Object-Oriented framework allowing the developer to programmatically monitor and modify VBS2 entities. The API facilitates a rich degree of control over objects, entities, groups, triggers, waypoints and the VBS2 environment. VBS2Fusion is the essential tool for any development team considering tailoring VBS2.

VBS2Fusion transforms VBS2 into a true simulation platform, allowing bespoke applications to be developed which leverage the power of the VBS2 virtual environemnt, graphics capability and simulation engine.

VBS2Fusion is an add-on module that is sold separately to VBS2. VBS2Fusion will be released in several phases, with Version 1.0 to be released in May 2009. The initial version of VBS2Fusion abstracts the VBS2 Application Scripting Interface (ASI) and is designed to allow developers to influence VBS2 scenarios during run time.

Version 2.0, due for release in November 2009, will add a range of additional features such as direct access to the VBS2 simulation core (removing the need to access the scripting layer, or ASI, entirely) and also the means to control the complete VBS2 character skeleton externally.

VBS2Fusion is developed by SimCentric Technologies, a close partner of Bohemia Interactive. SimCentric offers professional and affordable support services for customers seeking to employ or fund updates to VBS2Fusion.

For more information visit the VBS2 website.

VBS2Fires, developed in partnership with SimCentric Technologies, is a professional Call-For-Fire training application which combines the flexibility and stunning visuals of VBS2 with a highly sophisticated Call-For-Fire training and simulation system. The system allows Offensive Support specialists to construct a Call-For-Fire which is then processed and actioned within VBS2. The system simulates exterior and terminal ballistics to high levels of detail and supports a wide array of munitions, fuse types and firing platforms.

As VBS2Fires is built upon VBS2, all of VBS2’s standard features are included, including After Action Review and the Real Time Editor. Do you want to conduct Call-For-Fire training from a helicopter? Do you want to perform a Danger Close mission while Infantry participants conduct a mounted assault? All of this is possible within VBS2Fires thanks to the underlying VBS2 framework. VBS2Fires is suitable for a wide range of uses; from training general officers in the All-Arms Call-For-Fire through to practicing experienced Forward Observers, or simply simulating AI-driven indirect fire in support of VBS2 exercises.

Features include:

• Highly detailed exterior ballistics model

  Simulates gravity, drag, wind drift, pressure, temperature, spin drift and Coriolis effects. Additionally the model simulates the change of these parameters at varying altitudes.

• Customisable properties

  Supports field guns, self propelled guns and naval fire platforms. Customise the firing characteristics, operational reloading and relaying times, and the munitions that a platform is able to fire. Build your own projectiles with customisable ballistics properties.

• Wide selection of munitions and fuses

  Munitions include: HE, WP, Smoke (multiple colours), SADARM, DPICM, RAAMS, ADAM, ILLUM (multiple colours), and Copperhead. Fuses include: Quick, VT, Time, Delay, Seek and Destroy, and Laser guided.

• Wide selection of fire distributions

  Including: Converging, Circular, Linear, Range and Lateral Spread, Parallel Lines of Fire, and user defined custom distributions.

• High fidelity terminal ballistics models

  Terminal Ballistics are modelled both visually and functionally to accurately reflect real-world effects. Functional damage models reflect side lobe patterns of explosive rounds defined by round velocity and explosive velocity.

• Range of Call-For-Fire entry options

  Trainees enter Calls-For-Fire through the entry of plain text or through the use of a wizard-based GUI. These are automatically interpreted by the system. Additionally, voice may be used to communicate between a human instructor and trainee. The instructor then has the option of manually entering Fire Control information into the system.

• Artificial Intelligence Engine

  VBS2Fires will automatically respond to a Call-For-Fire that is entered by the trainee through a detailed Artificial Intelligence suite. Alternatively, the instructor may manually respond to a Call-For-Fire and inject errors as appropriate.

• Rapid scenario design

  VBS2Fires will save you time and money through leveraging the VBS2 scenario editor -building a VBS2Fires scenario is no more complex than building a standard VBS2 scenario.

• After Action Review

  VBS2Fires is completely integrated into the VBS2 AAR system. Bookmarks can be dynamically added and all projectile paths and effects are captured and replayed. Additionally, terrain and ballistics analysis tools are included.

• Runs on COTS hardware

  Calls-For-Fire may be entered either in a Windows-based interface (connected to a VBS2 instance by VBS2Fusion), or within VBS2 itself. The Windows-based interface can be run alongside VBS2 on a single PC with two video outputs, or on two networked PCs. If a PC can run VBS2, it can run VBS2Fires.

• Flexible network based architecture

  Operable in Instructor, Trainee or Stand-Alone mode. Can be run on same machine as VBS2 or on a separate machine connected over the network.

• Seamlessly links with VBS2 COTS Desktop Trainer

  Use VBSFires as part of a larger training exercise. As the system leverages the VBS2 engine, Call-For-Fire training can be implemented as part of larger training scenarios with Combined Arms participants.

Examples of VBS2 Fires applications:

• Individual training, or one-on-one training

  Stand-Alone mode allows a trainee to practice Calling-For-Fire without an Instructor or other participants. Individual instructor/trainee interaction A single instructor terminal can be solely dedicated to a single trainee terminal, allowing an instructor to monitor and control the exercise for that trainee.

• Instructor led or monitored group training

  An instructor can monitor and control the exercise for a group of trainees participating in a single VBS2 scenario. These trainees can interact with each other, or can alternatively be located remotely in a scenario calling fire for unrelated targets.

• Instructor monitored group training

  The Artificial Intelligence engine within VBS2 allows the system to automatically respond to Calls-For-Fire without the requirement for Instructor interaction. This allows the instructor to focus on monitoring or assessing trainees and highlighting learning points, rather than on operating the system.

• Instructor led training during combined exercises

  An instructor can manage a group of trainees who are conducting Call-For-Fire training in support of a manoeuvre force consisting of a combination of human and computer controlled elements.

• Enhanced Offensive Support simulation for VBS2 training exercises

  VBS2Fires can be used to increase the richness of a training exercise involving a manoeuvre force by providing a high fidelity hostile indirect fire simulation.

• Combined in exercise with Call-For-Fire Trainer

  VBS2 Fires can be used in conjunction with the Call-For-Fire Trainer to provide seamless interaction between the physical simulator and the VBS2 desktop trainer.

Bohemia Interactive (BI) design and develop some of the most realistic battlefield simulators seen in today’s military sector. The company’s latest battlefield simulation, Virtual Battlespace 2 (VB2) is an fully interactive high-fidelity desktop battlefield simulator which is already in use with military forces throughout the world, including the US Marine Corps, the Australian Defence force and the UK MoD.

Desktop battlefield simulator: Virtual Battlespace 2 is a fully interactive, three-dimensional, PC-based synthetic environment suitable for military training and experimentation. Developed by Bohemia Interactive, the creator of Operation Flashpoint and ArmA: Combat Operations, VBS2 offers both virtual and constructive interfaces onto high-fidelity worlds of unparalleled realism. VBS2 supports rapid, real-world terrain development and is interoperable via both HLA and DIS (through LVC Game).

Features of VB2 include:

• Real-time rendering of large, high-fidelity terrain areas with an emphasis on simulating real-world conditions such as rotation of the earth, accurate star fields, time-lapsed weather and ambient flora and fauna
• Highly accurate 3D representations of ADF, NZDF, USMC and Middle Eastern units, vehicles and weapons are included, soon to include thermal signatures also. the entire US Army and UK equipment fleets are currently under development
• A flexible, networked training environment able to simulate complex combined-arms maneuevres such as combat teams of infantry and armored elements operating with human-controlled aircraft and artillery in support
• The VBS2 real-time editor (RTE) has set the standard for run-time authoring capability, allowing any aspect of the simulation to be modified during training; place an IED, assign behavior to OpFor AI or create a city without the slightest pause in the scenario
• Rapid terrain generation – create real-world terrain areas rapidly (within a few hours) from source data (DTED, shape, imagery), and import 3D models (buildings, vegetation etc) from 3DS or OpenFlight

Through VBS2 script and intuitive modeling tools, complex weapon platforms can be created quickly and cost-effectively. From vehicle checkpoint functionality to UAV interfaces, Bohemia Interactive has proven time and again the true meaning of rapid development.

Bohemia Interactive has a proven record at delivering on time and on budget, having completed numerous development projects for government agencies around the world. BI can quickly develop models or terrain, modify the simulation engine to suit new requirements, integrate new hardware, provide training courses for VBS2 operators or administrators and also deliver varying levels of product support.

Virtual battlefield – real training benefits:  VBS2 is an out-of-the-box training solution capable of simulating a wide range of situations at the tactical level. VBS2 can be federated with other HLA-compliant simulations to meet specific training outcomes, for example connecting dismounted infantry in VBS2 with a high-fidelity armored vehicle simulator, or simulating a special forces team conducting a counter-insurgency mission while the overall campaign is controlled by a higher-level constructive simulation such as OneSAF.

Other examples of simulated scenarios include:

• Mission rehearsal and/or AO familiarization
• Tactical training, up to combat team level
• Combined arms or joint training
• Convoy training (including integration of virtual reality technology)
• IED defeat
• Analysis of options (decision support)
• Fire support / forward air controller training
• Complimentary virtual environment for live and constructive simulation or crew procedural trainers
• Navigation
• Mission simulation (for example aviation elements practicing LZ procedures)
• Vehicle checkpoints and area control
• Helicopter loadmaster training
• Procedural training for UAV operators
• Cultural awareness training
• Visualization of weapon effects
• Weapon (or platform) familiarization or experimentation
• Training in urban environments (eg MOUT)

Multiple simulation systems: VBS2 allows commanders, crew, soldiers and support elements to be immersed in the VBS2 environment across multiple simulation systems in an endless number of different configurations. Briefly consider a typical mechanized infantry platoon, and how VBS2 may provide training for all of the elements of that organization at a fraction of the cost of live training.

Perhaps one squad is located in a small arms trainer using VBS2 TWS, with two squads in a separate VBS2 classroom. Air support might be provided by a VBS2 Aircrewman Virtual Reality simulator or flown by real pilots or AI on a VBS2 desktop trainer. An instructor operator station (IOS) controls the flow of the scenario and manages OpFor elements in real time. Meanwhile the company commander (or higher) views a constructive simulation such as OneSAF, communicating with VBS2 via HLA.

Extensive simulation content library: Bohemia Interactive has modeled hundreds of units, weapons and vehicles for the VBS series including USMC, ADF, US Army, NZDF, incident response, Eastern European and Middle Eastern representations. A wide range of structures and vegetation have also been modeled. These models are available for purchase through Bohemia Interactive.

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