Can Virtual and Constructive Make Training More Effective?

Published May 16, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Eric Hamilton
Elmendorf Joint Information Bureau

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- "The virtual-constructive training environment can never be a total substitute for live training," said Steven D. Hatter, who, as the Alaskan Command's Live Virtual Constructive Working Group Chairman, should be its biggest proponent. Live training is the most effective way to gain experience about how to operate in a battlefield environment.

If that's the conclusion of Live-Virtual-Constructive (LVC) Training's biggest advocate, why use it? Hatter, who directed Northern Edge in 2004, 2005, and 2006 as the Alaskan Command (ALCOM) Director of Operations and later as Director of Training and Exercises, has had, as he puts it, "a lot of continuity with Northern Edge." As the current Joint Ranges and Training Administrator for ALCOM, he still puts much of that experience to use.

One might assume the appeal of the simulated training environment is driven by one word: cost. As military members strive to be effective stewards of taxpayer money and the environment, there are savings to be realized through use of systems that connect warfighters together in the same exercise without having to congregate at the same physical location.

However, those who assume this is the only reason would be wrong, said Hatter. As important are the benefits to the warfighters themselves.

According to Jeffrey G. Fee, ALCOM's Director of Training, Readiness and Exercises, the virtual and constructive components allow participants "to work on their tactics, techniques and procedures, which can differ from service to service, without all of the added pressures of real-world consequences."

"Here, we're doing that in the air, on the land, in the sea and under the sea, in command and control, and in planning," Fee said. "So we have a wider range of opportunities to improve all of these joint capabilities."

This allows for a greater variety of qualified personnel to participate. Realistic simulators allow for "live quality" training. People participating in this manner are the "virtual" part of LVC, and are added to the training experience via secure computer networks in real time. The military's high demand low density platforms like the E-8 Joint STARS and E-3 AWACS can participate virtually now when in the past the exercise had to be designed and flown as if these critical command and control capabilities simply were not available. Combined, the virtual additions make Northern Edge 2008 a unique experience among the 33 years this joint training exercise has operated in Alaska.

The "constructive" piece of the puzzle consists of either fully computer-generated assets or threats, or those created with the help of computers but controlled by humans to simulate threats or assets. The sum of live play, virtual play from simulators, and constructive enhancements equates to full spectrum joint training realism. "All participants can 'see' the live, virtual, and constructive components and are expected to incorporate them into their cross-check," Hatter said.

Another difference, Hatter said, is that participants in the virtual environment already start within the battlespace. With the coming and going eliminated, training time is maximized.

The resulting "robust and realistic" training environment is thus much more similar to the joint warfighting found in today's military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We can combine Live, Virtual, and Constructive in such a way that allows joint warplan mission rehearsals from the tactical employment level of war up through and including the operational level of war," Hatter said.

This integration of virtual and constructive elements into live training is made possible by improvements in technology, Hatter said. These improvements have allowed for some unique "firsts" in the use of the Pacific Alaskan Range Complex, he said.

Among the "firsts" Fee cited as the results of this year's LVC approach to Northern Edge were the first use, in PACOM, of persons in simulators controlling live fighters, shooting simulated weapons against targets in the Pacific Alaskan Range Complex.

Fee also said that this year was the first experiment and testing within a large exercise of this scale, with forces using these new weapons with their capabilities and procedures to integrate with real wartime operations.

Another significant achievement was the geographical diversity of the participants. From the Distributed Missions Operations Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, to Hickam AFB and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Kadena Air Base, Japan, this year's Northern Edge succeeded in integrating elements across every service from multiple locations in real time.

Fee said, "Overall, this exercise is one of those rare opportunities you have to get the warfighters together to work on their interoperability in a joint environment."