{"id":14596,"date":"2018-10-11T17:03:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T17:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/11\/new-virtual-marksmanship-and-squad-immersive-trainers-are-headed-to-dozens-of-army-locations-next-year\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:11:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:11:51","slug":"new-virtual-marksmanship-and-squad-immersive-trainers-are-headed-to-dozens-of-army-locations-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/it-networks\/2018\/10\/11\/new-virtual-marksmanship-and-squad-immersive-trainers-are-headed-to-dozens-of-army-locations-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"New virtual marksmanship and squad immersive trainers are headed to dozens of Army locations next year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new virtual marksmanship trainer for squads<\/a> is headed to 26 Army locations early next year and will soon be followed by an early version of the squad immersive trainer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The squad advanced marksmanship trainer<\/a> is an immediate development that will feed into a complete overhaul of how the Army and Marine Corps combines the crush of new virtual and augmented technologies with live training events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Association of the United States Army\u2019s annual meeting, Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, who serves both as the director of the Army\u2019s Synthetic Training Environments Cross-Functional Team and deputy commanding general of the Combined Arms Center-Training, laid out some immediate hits on the virtual training front while also talking about long-term goals for the programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The squad immersive trainer has been a concept the Army\u2019s pursued since at least 2009, but much of the hardware and software needed to make it a reality simply didn\u2019t exist at the time, Gervais told the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But recent testing has put a four-soldier stack, wearing augmented reality goggles, into room-clearing exercises at the \u201cTomato Factory,\u201d an immersive training facility at the Marine Corps\u2019 Camp Pendleton, California. The goggles allow troops to \u201csee\u201d augmented items such as enemies, civilians or other characters and items in the real-world environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think Pok\u00e9mon Go for close-quarters battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a portable, lightweight device that allows dismounted soldiers to move around a real\/virtual combined battlespace is still the goal, the early version due next year will be a more static station where soldiers link up and respond to scenarios presented to them, Gervais said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t