VICENZA -- U.S. Army Soldiers stationed here have an unprecedented opportunity to refine their instinct-shooting skills.

The Conflict Kinetics Gunfighter Gymnasium opened Jan. 25 on Caserma Del Din and will remain available until March 18 for marksmen who aim at increasing their precise lethality and survivability.

"I believe this training is paramount because it helps refine the skills one needs to be a proficient shooter. This gunfighter gym provides a system that fills the gap between the Engagement Skills Trainer required of all Soldiers and actual live fire. This is exactly what needs to be in place to benefit Soldiers Armywide as well as our NATO allies helping us build a strong Europe," said Sgt. 1st Class Jeramy Smith, lethality noncommissioned officer and marksmanship instructor, 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne).

After several weeks of training in Grafenwoehr, Germany, the CK suite arrived for the first time in Vicenza. The mission: to support not only paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Brigade, but also their Italian and NATO partners who rotate through Del Din for advanced marksmanship skills training required of infantry Soldiers.

With an innovative, higher-level technology platform that increases the ability to shoot and engage targets in a 220-degree environment, CK has developed a patented program defined as Synthetic Marksmanship that recreates the physical and visual challenges of combat. The program helps improve an individual's neuro-motor pathways and motor skills associated with the rapid decision making process of shooting or not shooting on the move, under physical stress and with noise distraction, according to Smith.

"The key to our training is to create some sort of problem-solving physical exercise in every drill that we do. The system and methods used elevate the shooters' skill set exponentially, immediately. Skill level varies, but from the highest level operator to the new Soldier fresh out of basic, the training grows their ability to see faster, hit quicker and make decisions based on teaching the mind to process information quicker, and then make a cognitive decision," said Duffy D. Paulson, Europe lead for CK Gunfighter Gym.

"We build upon these skills in a safe environment. As budgets shrink and the need for elevating our Soldiers' marksmanship skills is ever present, we can provide the Armed Forces with a platform that increases skill while producing cost-effectiveness. The skills imprinted on the Soldiers in the gym transfer to live fire, thus making the live rounds worth every dollar because the shooter is far more advanced, confident and effective after utilizing our platform," Paulson said.

The company is founded in decades of professional sports trade secrets, and Paulson said there are four key elements the trainee will improve upon during each drill and transfer directly to combat marksmanship. These include ocular sport vision, decision making and latency, body control and economy of motion.

"In my opinion, soldiering is an athletic endeavor and should be coached as such. In high-level athletics you are faced with split-second decision making, physical exertion and output, high pressure situations, and competition. The successes the athlete earns on the field of play come from mastering the skills needed and controlling the body and mind quicker and faster. … The warrior athlete is created by repetition, fundamentals, body movement, stress and physical output. I did not wear a uniform, but I have knowledge to pass on that will elevate my Soldiers' ability to become that 'Warrior Athlete,'" Paulson said.

Thanks to software that captures approximately 70 points of information per trigger squeeze per shooter, the system has the ability to build a shooting profile for each individual.

The suite can accommodate approximately 20 trainees per 90 minutes. During the first week of operation with 155 registered Soldiers, 68,000 rounds were fired.

"CK data collection capabilities include scoring applications that give commanders the feedback on shooter performance as well as trend analysis," said Nick Motto, Paulson's assistant. "Scoring metrics are available for almost every drill and we would expect to see a corresponding percentage live-fire improvement between a 'pre' and 'post' gunfighter gym training period."

According to James V. Matheson, chief, Regional Training Support Division South, the gunfighter gymnasium inserts itself into the training progression between live-fire basic marksmanship qualification ranges and live-fire advanced marksmanship tables.

"In the past, we paid for each bullet we fired in order to train advanced marksmanship skills since EST does not train those skills. The training progression was training in the EST, followed by live-fire basic marksmanship qualification ranges, followed by live fire on advanced marksmanship tables," Matheson said.

"We add thousands of iterations of advanced marksmanship skills training prior to the live fire without pay a 'per bullet fired' cost.

"This iterative process is always limited by available range time and available ammunition. With the gunfighter gymnasium, we remove much of those two obstacles to iterative training and task improvement."

Finally yet importantly, for Vicenza-based Soldiers there are immediate advantages from lessened transportation costs to and from the ranges in Germany.

"It allows the 173rd to overcome the hinders of training in Italy and maximize marksmanship training at home station, completely increasing brigade readiness and capability," Smith said.

Units interested in this training opportunity can schedule training through the RTSD South office here.