Questions for the Record

Interview with Navy Vice Adm. (retired) Sean S. Buck, President, National Training and Simulation Association and MS&T Editor Marty Kauchak.

MS&T: On behalf of Andy Smith, Halldale Group Founder and CEO, thank you for taking time to provide your important insights and perspectives on training and simulation in the busy run-up to 2024 I/ITSEC. First a high-level overview – your assessment of the health of the US training and simulation industry.

Sean Buck (SB): Good morning, Marty. Thanks for enabling this interview between us for your audience, especially as we find ourselves inside a month before the MS&T’s most important conference of the year, I/ITSEC. I have been associated with the industry now for five months. I started working as the President of NTSA on June 3rd. I have done my best to hit the deck running to listen and learn from every MS&T professional that I have the fortune to run into. And I say “running” for a reason. This industry is in outright full sprint every day keeping up with and at times trying to outpace the opportunities that big data, quantum computing, AI, and VR bring to modeling and simulation. The excitement is palpable. The focus is intense. The opportunity to advance is limitless.

MS&T: One follow-up: highlight some of the immediate- and near-term challenges, be it workforce, supply chain (chips), others, you see to the S&T community’s future successes.

industry combats each day. It needs as many young men and women to study STEM as we can get. There is great competition for talent in our university system as well as the workforce for those that have chosen STEM. That is why I/ITSEC and NTSA offer annual scholarships to encourage STEM education.

MS&T: Share with us some of the significant, high-level, common simulation and training requirements you have gleaned from US DoD training enterprises during your discussions with service program managers and training audiences during the last several months.

SB: Military aviation flight training and maintenance continues to be at the forefront of need as DoD fields and operates fifth generation fighter jets, extremely sophisticated anti-submarine P-8A Poseidon aircraft and H-60 series helicopters, and numerous UASs that carry many high-tech sensors. The workload on the aircrew of these manned platforms as well as the remote operators of the unmanned systems is more that it has ever been. The ability to incorporate Digital Twins for maintenance personnel to prepare and train on the sophisticated propulsion and avionic systems that power these aviation platforms has improved safety, cost-savings, and first-time pass efficiency and effectiveness at levels only once imagined. Another aspect of military training that continues to be heavily advantaged because of high fidelity simulation and virtual environments is crew coordination. Any and all manned platforms throughout aviation, surface, subsurface, ground, and space are improving team effectiveness.

MS&T: Tell us some of the technologies and capabilities on your “watch list” that will further enhance military learning (training and education) in the next several years.

SB: The use of digital twins is exploding. We can’t get enough of this simulation through the use of VR goggles fast enough. Also continued improvement in synthetic environments as well as more improvement in integration to make LVC more reliable and realistic is definitely on my watchlist.

MS&T: The lead-in to I/ITSEC 2024: provide three compelling reasons S&T community members should attend this conference.

SB: Networking with colleagues, old and new. Exposure to technology that is already out there and being explored and introduced by competition. And the ability to learn. I/ITSEC will have scores of very well written and presented technical papers on the agenda as well as many tutorials and workshops to learn from. A great fourth compelling reason is the wonderful line up of keynote speakers from both government and industry we have.

MS&T: Another follow-up: delegates will again see a number of non-US-based companies (even by way of their US offices) exhibiting at I/ITSEC. Provide some of the opportunities and challenges you see for these companies as they compete in the US defense marketplace.

SB: It is critically important that our allies and partners participate in I/ITSEC either by attending and/or exhibiting. We will be fighting future wars together, not in a vacuum. We need to both appreciate what the other brings to the fight with regard to fielded systems, well trained forces, and better knowledge of the ability of our respective nations to invest towards these ends.

MS&T: We again note a number of other exhibitors from safety critical industries, beyond defense, exhibiting and participating at this I/ITSEC. Your thoughts on how the heretofore S&T community “verticals” (defense, medical, commercial aviation, others) are blending and gaining efficiencies.

SB: So far, in my short time at the helm of NTSA I have been exposed to how other industries are using simulation to train their respective workforces. You stated the key word, SAFETY. It’s all about improving human performance, whatever the industry is. I congratulate and greatly appreciate all of the commitment to improving training through simulated reps and sets by all industries.

MS&T: And anything else to add?

SB: Yes sir……Go Navy! Beat Army!