{"id":134820,"date":"2024-03-04T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134820"},"modified":"2024-03-05T22:48:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T22:48:38","slug":"first-team-soldiers-help-army-test-new-synthetic-training-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=134820","title":{"rendered":"First Team Soldiers help Army test new Synthetic Training Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Spc. Tanner James Peake, a company commander\u2019s loader on the Abrams tank with B Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, wears virtual reality goggles while manning a replicated belt-fed, gas-operated M240 Machine Gun chambered in 7.62 mm as he helps the Army test the Synthetic Training Environment system, as part of the Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer, at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014<\/strong>\u00a01st\u00a0Cavalry Division Soldiers who normally take their Abrams tanks, STRYKER and Bradley combat vehicles to the field are testing a new virtual synthetic training environment indoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re helping the Army develop its Synthetic Training Environment; what we call STE,\u201d said Brig. Gen. George C. Hackler, commander of the U.S. Army Operational Test Command.<\/p>\n

OTC is involved with STE as the Army\u2019s answer to simulation training for the modern battlefield.<\/p>\n

Hackler said the Army is transforming the way it trains Soldiers with cutting-edge advances in virtual reality, augmented reality, and gaming technologies.<\/p>\n

Soldiers involved in the test provide their feedback to help the Army decide the future of STE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can put people in simulated aircraft, ground vehicles, dismounts, and units can train and hone their warfighting skills,\u201d Hackler said.<\/p>\n

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\n Sgt. Andreis I. Izguerra, a cavalry scout with 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, operates a Bradley combat vehicle in a tactical combat simulator as he contributes to the operational demonstration of the Army\u2019s new Synthetic Training Environment system, as part of the Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer, at Fort Cavazos, Texas. He was then able to provide feedback to help the Army decide the future of STE.
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STE will eventually allow Army air and ground warfighting units to rehearse missions together in the same environment from multiple different sites and locations around the world over a network.<\/p>\n

The virtual trainers were set up in Fort Cavazos\u2019 Close Combat Tactical Trainer facility, which has a massive amount of floor space for the STE system.<\/p>\n

One 1st\u00a0CAV tank platoon took the STE on an excursion to the field to see if the Army\u2019s idea works as intended.<\/p>\n

Taking part in the test, they were able to focus on what the system could and could not do, essentially helping the Army improve upon the virtual reality training system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very beneficial,\u201d said Brownwood, Texas native Tank Platoon Sgt. 1st\u00a0Class James R. Maxwell with B Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get to pretty much play with It; figure out its left or right limits \u2014 what it can and can\u2019t do, its capabilities, its downfalls. We get to see it all and then provide feedback before it comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Maxwell\u2019s Soldiers, Spc. Tanner James Peake, a company commander\u2019s loader on the Abrams tank said, \u201cThe fact it\u2019s my first time ever doing something like this, it\u2019s exciting that I\u2019m testing out something Soldiers are going to be hopefully using for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peake, from Covington, Georgia, and a Soldier for two years, explained how his unit usually trains in a classroom, which leads to gunnery, culminating with a trip to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the VR goggles are a major upgrade for the loader and the tank commander because you can actually see outside of the tank and see where you\u2019re going versus having to look through a hatch all the time,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are really the upsides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant operations officer with 1-8 CAV, 1st\u00a0Lt. Julia D. Woodlief, acted as a higher headquarters tactical operations center, managing virtual opposing forces while heading up an after-action review with Maxwell\u2019s tank platoon once their virtual mission was complete.<\/p>\n

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\n 1st Lt. Julia D. Woodlief, assistant operations officer with 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducts an after-action review with a tank platoon from B Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment after they trained on the Army\u2019s new Synthetic Training Environment system, as part of the Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer, at Fort Cavazos, Texas. Woodlief acted as a higher headquarters tactical operations center, managing virtual opposing forces with a bird\u2019s eye view of the platoon in action.
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The 24-year-old infantry officer from Inykern, California said, \u201cAfter they were done (with their mission), we call them in, to give them a bird\u2019s eye view from start to finish of how they looked on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

The training Soldiers experience is interactive and immersive, using real-time battlefield simulations that realistically recreate the uncertainty, stress and complexity found in today\u2019s evolving battlefield environments, according to Mr. Robert L. Carroll, an OTC assistant test officer at OTC\u2019s Mission Command Test Directorate..<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do training virtually instead of physically going out in the field and having to spend the fuel, the ammo, and the logistics of moving chow and everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Carroll said the 1-8 CAV Soldiers\u2019 excursion in the field tested how the STE could be set up and put into play to train at a field location.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had to deploy, or STE had to be sent overseas for a unit deploying for six or eight months doing a rotation, the idea is, you could send some of this equipment over and you could set some of this up instead of those units having to leave to go out and do their training,\u201d said Carroll.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could actually fire these up and do a collective training as well as \u2013 with this being networked \u2014 they should be able to reach back to wherever and still be participating in collective training with other elements.\u201d<\/p>\n

OTC Military Test Plans Analyst Mr. Shelby R. Schoolcraft said, \u201cWe put a unit of Soldiers to be trained on the Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer and then we test their ability to operate the system as trained by the program manager.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described STE as a collective trainer that can integrate all ground platforms with aviation assets within a battalion.<\/p>\n

After Soldiers train on the STE, Shelby\u2019s team of testers with OTC\u2019s Mission Command Test Directorate hold focus groups to get in-depth user feedback on the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask some fact-finding questions that get down into the details,\u201d he said. \u201cWe also have data collectors with the Soldiers while they\u2019re operating the system and then we\u2019re recording the steps they\u2019re taking.<\/p>\n

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\n Tanker Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, offload components of the Army\u2019s new Synthetic Training Environment system, as part of the Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer, at Fort Cavazos, Texas during an operational demonstration of the system. The tankers provided their feedback to help the Army decide the future of STE.
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\u201cWe\u2019re looking to see if they\u2019re running into an issue, how they overcome the issue, and those Soldier interactions are recorded, so we really capture what is going well with system, what\u2019s not going so well with system, and how it can be improved for the Soldier if it gets fielded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a test that evaluates the ability for the system to be effective, suitable, and survivable for the Soldier to train on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

All the data collected goes into database and then sent to the Army Evaluation Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland for review, and then a report is written for senior Army leader decision making.<\/p>\n

Taking part in the operational demonstration with OTC were the Army Evaluation Center from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation from Orlando, Florida; The Training and Doctrine Command\u2019s Proponent Office \u2013 Synthetic Training Environment; and III Corps units, to include Apache helicopter flight crews with the 1st CAV, along with 1st\u00a0CAV mechanized infantry Soldiers, Maxwell\u2019s tank platoon; and STRYKER crews from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado along with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopter crews and Shadow Unmanned Aerial Systems (drone crews), also with the 4th ID.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spc. Tanner James Peake, a company commander\u2019s loader on the Abrams tank with B Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, wears virtual reality goggles while manning a replicated belt-fed, gas-operated M240 Machine Gun chambered in 7.62 mm as he helps the Army test the Synthetic Training Environment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134822,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134820"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134827,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134820\/revisions\/134827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}