US Army Guardsmen utilize virtual technology

The Oklahoma Army National Guardsmen with HeadquartersCompany, 271st Brigade Support Battalion, 45th Field Artillery Brigade, areutilizing Virtual Battle Space III (VBS3), which enables soldiers to train as ateam in virtual scenarios in preparation for an upcoming Exportable CombatTraining Capability (XCTC), Operation Western Strike.

"Basically it's a network of up to 50 computers where Icreate a realistic training environment that unit members get submerged into toreplicate the training they're going to see overseas or in other parts of theworld," said Eric Will, VBS3 Integrator.

"We fall under Global Threat Mitigation Program (GTMP),which covers the active side and the National Guard side," Will said."Our side is the Asymmetric Threat Training Support (ATTS) program fullyfunded through the National Guard Bureau."

The ATTS program, headquartered at Camp Gruber TrainingCenter, Oklahoma, provides mobile training teams to train both Oklahoma andKansas Army National Guardsmen.

In this particular scenario, each guardsman is assigned to avehicle that is part of a tactical convoy. The unit is given a mission and mustexecute each step of convoy operations, utilizing the virtual platform, whilemaintaining radio communications with their Tactical Operations Center (TOC),just as they would in a real-world situation.

"We created scenarios to replicate the environment thatthey're going to be in [during the XCTC] and to meet the commander's trainingobjectives," Will said. "More specifically to gain convoy experienceand to learn how to react to [enemy] contact in different forms."

To provoke chaos, Will injects challenges throughout thescenario based on actual enemy intelligence their program receives on a weeklybasis, forcing individuals to think on their feet. By doing this, soldiers areable to work out any kinks and re-engage standard operating procedures in orderto complete their mission successfully.

The training also included a Counter Improvised ExplosiveDevice (C-IED) class taught by Tommy Crane, C-IED Training Integrator, whicheducated soldiers on various Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and effectiveways to counter those threats. By combining the two classes, soldiers are ableto react to certain threats that may be catastrophic to their unit.

"An ideal training picture would be to get classroominstruction from the live C-IED integrator as part of the crawl phase, thencome to the VBS3 simulator which would be the crawl and walk phase, and then togo back to the live integrator and do a walk phase and run phase for theC-IED," Will said.

From seasoned soldiers to novices, this blended trainingapproach allows unique collaboration and active learning that stems deeperthought behind each scenario rather than focusing solely on tactics.

"The biggest thing is stimulating that thoughtprocess," Will said. "Tactics change and enemy tactics change, and wehave to adapt."

With this technology, along with the National Guard'straining schedule, trainers like Will and Crane are able to teach soldierswithin a matter of hours versus what would normally take months to learn.

As readiness is key for the Oklahoma Army National Guard,utilizing this type of technology helps units better and more efficiently preparefor real-world missions, whether at home or abroad.

"Earlier, a soldier said that the discussions we had inthis class got him to think about things that he never would've thought aboutbefore," Will said. "My bottom line is if I can relay something thatsaves a life later on, then that means everything."