FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - Virtual training, including the UH-60 Black Hawk simulator, vehicle driver simulators and the Virtual Battle Space 2 trainer at the Terry L. Wilson Battle Command Training Center, continues to change the way Soldiers train at Fort Wainwright. And while the concept of aircraft or vehicle simulators is not new, the capabilities and features of many of the systems are cutting edge and according to Mike Steffey, senior Virtual Battle Space 2 trainer at the BCTC, offer enormous benefits to commanders.
"With today's technology and today's military, the virtual world is almost limitless," he said.
Current virtual training capabilities with the VBS2 system, the video game-like system that allows commanders to plan complete missions and scenarios with the exact terrain, enemies and conditions they will encounter on the ground, provide realistic training opportunities for Soldiers at every level and capitalize on the skills of this generation of Soldiers, Steffey said.
"Ten years ago the Army decided that Soldiers were different than when I joined the Army," he said. "We played outside. Today, they are technological. They understand computers a lot better than we do."
Whether a Soldier is practicing flying his UH-60 Black Hawk or executing a mission on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, virtual training accomplishes what live training cannot, said Mark J. Pauley, Computer Science Corporation's Alaska operations manager.
"I think the impact on the Soldiers is phenomenal," he said. "The big value is saving the government time and money and providing training that can save a Soldier's life. We are able to simulate over 400 different malfunctions (in the Black Hawk simulator). This allows for the opportunity to simulate different scenarios that could happen in the real aircraft. We absolutely save lives."
The realism of virtual training here is a huge plus, said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Tom Fritz, U.S. Army Alaska aviation safety officer. "Inside (the simulator), this is a UH-60; an exact replica," he said. "It's basically exactly the same as flying."
While virtual training allows Soldiers to familiarize themselves or complete required training with weapon systems, aircraft and vehicles, Steffey said Wainwright Soldiers also benefit from aspects of the training that teach them how to make decisions, solve problems and react to real-world scenarios they will most likely encounter while deployed.
From insurgent mindset training, allowing them to think like the enemy, to a collateral damage tool and civilian population components that demonstrate the affects of their decisions on civilian populations, Soldiers now have the ability to see consequences of their behavior and decisions, he said.
"One of the scripts we've designed is called a clutter script that basically puts civilians on the battlefield," Steffey said. "They act just like a civilian would in country. If they're driving a car and an American vehicle is coming, they'll get out of the way. If the Americans are mean to them, they'll start yelling at them. If the Americans continue to be mean to them, they'll start chucking rocks at them. If the Americans shoot them, they join the insurgency. So now these kids have to start thinking about the actions they take, not even in battle. How is it going to affect the outcome later' That's what we're constantly trying to get at - what's going on in the real world and how are we going to prepare them for that'"
Jim McClelland, BCTC operations officer, said that incorporating virtual and live training creates huge possibilities for commanders.
"We've had units come in here and rehearse things before they go out on a range, both with vehicles and maneuvering Soldiers," he said. "It's incredible what you can potentially do on this thing. You can run through a whole live-fire range on (VBS2) before you ever go to the range."
In addition to saving money, since live training costs much more than training with virtual systems, McClelland said another benefit to virtual training, and VBS2 in particular, is the ability to manually control or simulate enemy or opposing forces.
"If you wanted to do this same thing at the Yukon Training Area or the Donnelly Training Area you would have to use half your company over about three weeks to set up one week's worth of training and while you're out there you would have to get some other company to provide OPFOR for you or take it out of your company. So part of your company is not being trained or part of another is not being trained in order for you to execute your training," he explained. "The OPFOR can be totally virtual (with VBS2) so you're not sacrificing anything out of your platoon or your company in order to have an OPFOR out there."
VBS2 also has the ability to realistically portray what Soldiers will experience physically in combat. Steffey "can set the conditioning of the Soldier," McClelland said. "One of the things people say about virtual training is, 'oh, the Soldiers never get tired, it doesn't really reflect that.' These Soldiers can get tired and as they get tired obviously, they slow down; they can't move as fast anymore; their reactions get slower, they're not as accurate when they're firing their weapons."
Steffey said he sees unlimited possibilities for virtual training in the future to include completely integrated live and virtual training, but even current technology allows commanders to do what used to seem impossible.
"In today's world being in Fairbanks, Alaska - it's not 41 below in (the BCTC) and I'm training entire platoons in real-world situations all day long for a lot less money than it takes to launch somebody down to DTA or YTA," he said. "And these kids pick it up like that. This by no means replaces going to the field and training, but it enhances it by making sure they're better prepared when they get there."
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