ARLINGTON, Va. \u2014 Staff from the U.S. Army\u2019s National Simulation Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, have tested a new variant of a tool they say will help soldiers prepare for battle more effectively and efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Live, Virtual, Constructive Integrating Architecture, or LVC-IA, is a system of systems that links separate simulators and simulations across disparate geographies. The newly introduced capability represents the fourth version of the system, which was first fielded in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Army uses a variety of simulation tools to prepare soldiers for combat, with training that covers everything from field artillery operations to air-ground coordination. The aim of this fourth LVC-IA variant is \u201cto take these systems that were designed to do a specific thing, in a specific environment, and bring them together in an integrated training environment,\u201d said Christopher Vaughn, a developer at the National Simulation Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That integrated environment delivers what Vaugh described as a \u201cconstructive capability\u201d \u2014 a live, interactive experience in which commanders at one of 12 mission training complexes across the Army can provide simulated data to soldiers using highly realistic systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s real people training on simulated equipment, and now they are part of the operation,\u201d Vaughn said. \u201cThey are actual soldiers, downrange, on their home-station training systems, and they are running an actual operation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By engaging trainees with real-life commanders, the system greatly increases the depth of learning available in a simulated environment. \u201cIt expands your battle space and it gives you additional resources you may not have had available before,\u201d said Maj. Matthew Gordon, chief of games for training at the National Simulation Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I\u2019ve never driven a tank before, I can jump into the tank in that virtual environment,\u201d Gordon added. \u201cAt the same time, I\u2019m reporting my position up to a command post or tactical operations center to give a battalion or a company staff a real live feed of what my position is and what my current status is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That high degree of interactivity offers a level of realism previously unavailable. And the geographic reach of the LVC-IA is key to its utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m at Fort Benning, Georgia, and I\u2019m incorporating air support into my exercise, maybe I don\u2019t have a lot of pilots on hand,\u201d Gordon said. But with a simple, lightweight extension kit, it\u2019s possible to plug into the LCV-IA and connect with pilots elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to just be in one spot in order to incorporate the subject matter experts and give a realistic feel to that training,\u201d Gordon added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That high degree of portability has the potential to make a more robust and more uniform training capability available across multiple military components, including the National Guard and Reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have soldiers who want to train as they fight, and this offers a way to bring them into an exercise,\u201d Vaughn said. \u201cWe can give that extension kit to the Guard, and as long as they have some sort of network connectivity, they can take part in that exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Connectivity is key to making the most of LVC-IA. While the Army is seeking solutions to ensure connectivity in the field, Gordon said, the emergence of the Synthetic Training Environment, or STE, currently under development promises to widen the availability of the improved training tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat we need to be able to do is take our simulators and make them highly portable, make them link into a common network and interoperate simultaneously over a cloud network,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cThe STE aims to answer that question with cloud access to enable us to train simultaneously. It will enable units to run an exercise with much less overhead to reach a wider audience with more instantaneousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The net result is meant to be troops that can more quickly and effectively fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt shortens your training curve,\u201d Vaughn said. \u201cNow you show up to the National Training Center in California, and maybe you need a day or two to brush off the cobwebs and then you\u2019re ready to go. You\u2019re not sitting there looking at something you haven\u2019t seen for many months. You\u2019ve already practiced, you\u2019ve rehearsed and you\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The net result is meant to be troops that can more quickly and effectively fight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":82406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":26,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[78,160,29,14,36,26,164],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2220],"class_list":["post-39217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ausa-digital-show-dailies","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-land","category-newsletters","category-training-sim","category-training-simulation-report"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LBCWVGDE3FBJLGBBCZENT7PACM","arc_canonical_url":"\/training-sim\/2021\/09\/30\/us-army-tool-empowers-soldiers-to-virtually-collaborate-across-regions\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n