Modeling and simulation conference shaping future warfighting Published Dec. 2, 2010 By Derek Kaufman 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ORLANDO, Fla. -- The new commander of Air Education & Training Command on Tuesday, Nov. 30 challenged developers of modeling and simulation technologies to work together to develop new and improved training systems to meet the full spectrum of threats joint and coalition warfighters may face in the future. "History has shown us all to be poor judges of what future conflict might look like and where it will occur," said Gen. Edward A Rice, Jr. "We need your support in industry, and your ideas, in our efforts to produce better training and better training tools." General Rice was the service keynote speaker at the Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference. Held annually, I/ITSEC is the world's largest modeling & simulation event, attracting thousands of government, industry and academic leaders from the U.S. and dozens of countries across the globe. Today's "digital generation" servicemembers are "more technologically literate and computer savvy" than ever before, General Rice said. The general added that future training, education and simulation systems must take advantage of their cognitive abilities as well as exploit new computing power to make graphical presentations more immersive and psycho-motor sensation more realistic. "While we tend to focus on simulators associated with our flying mission such as aircrew training, air traffic control and aircraft maintenance...the fact is simulators permeate every aspect of qualification training in the United States Air Force, as well as the other military services," General Rice said. Indeed at the Orange County Convention Center, where I/ITSEC is held, a dazzling array of simulation systems supporting all of the military services, first responders, Department of Homeland Security and the health care industry were on display across some 220,000 square feet of floor space. The highly immersive environments featured technologies to enhance capabilities ranging from irregular warfare to casualty care and serious games. The Air Force was the lead service for this year's I/ITSEC, with responsibilities that included setting the event theme. A team led by Col. John Franz, commander of the Training Systems Product Group at Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, selected "training centric, readiness focused" as the conference theme for 2010. "We can't develop innovative, immersive training solutions alone," said Colonel Franz. "We owe it to the nation to strengthen the collaborative partnership between government, industry and academic researchers to deliver these needed capabilities." Sharing the stage with General Rice was industry keynote speaker Dr. R. Bowen Loftin, president of Texas A&M University. Dr. Loftin used the example of NASA's failed Apollo 13 mission to highlight the value of modeling and simulation. Even with the limited technology at their fingertips at the time, NASA scientists and engineers repeated hundreds of simulations to prepare for the many possible problems that they might encounter during the mission to the moon. But they never anticipated or simulated the catastrophic failures NASA actually faced on that fateful mission. Quoting Apollo 13 flight director Gene Krantz in his book "Failure is Not an Option," Dr. Loftin said "the fact that we did hundreds and hundreds of simulations on other kinds of failures, made us understand that we could solve any problem." Dr. Loftin called modeling & simulation "a human activity," underscoring it as "a very natural part of maturing as a human being." Investing in modeling & simulation and serious games technologies and demonstrating their value to decision makers can pay huge dividends not only for future military operations, but for virtually any complex activity, he said. A number of joint warfighters of all ranks with recent deployment experience supporting operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and humanitarian contingencies abroad shared their personal experiences and the value of pre-deployment training and simulation. One was Lt. Col. Richard Crevier, a Marine Corps Reservist who oversaw operations by the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at an austere outpost adjacent to the Helmand River in southern Afghanistan. The unit established relationships with regional Afghani leaders, protected the Afghani population and collected and destroyed opium used as currency for the illegal narcotics trade and financing insurgent and terrorist activities globally. Colonel Crevier called the training his Marines received prior to deployment at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-Nine Palms and Camp Pendleton, Calif. "absolutely vital" to mission success and reducing casualties. In particular, he opined, the Infantry Immersion Trainer for Military Operations in Urban Terrain was helpful in reducing incidents of post traumatic stress disorder among his Marines. Colonel Crevier also highlighted the "value of role playing" and suggested the modeling and simulation community research and develop systems to better educate warfighters on cultural exchanges with host-nation tribal leaders, and to deal with complexities like interpreters, working with U.S. Agency for International Development personnel, even news media. Enhancing understanding of how to rebuild fragile economies through investment in agriculture, livestock, and infrastructure is critical, he said. Some of the capabilities Colonel Crevier sought were actually being demonstrated at I/ITSEC amongst hundreds of modeling & simulation systems being developed for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and other agencies. For the Air Force, General Rice said investment in simulation is incredibly valuable both to mission success, and as a cost effective alternative to flying actual sorties. Highlighting the importance of flight simulation to Airmen, General Rice noted new C-17 pilots undergoing initial qualification training at Altus AFB, Okla. fly 26 missions in the simulator and just three in the actual aircraft. He also lauded the Boom Operator Weapon System Trainer, which can depict every type of receiver aircraft the KC-135 Stratotanker can refuel. It provides control stick sensations and boom feedback nearly identical to actual flight conditions associated with each receiver. The system allows boom operators to accurately simulate multiple refueling hookups, passing thousands of gallons of jet fuel without ever having to consume a drop of the real thing. General Rice also noted how a B-2 Spirit aircrew at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. successfully flew a 50-hour global strike mission in the B-2 simulator months before six B-2s actually departed the base to make the longest-duration, longest-distance combat strike sorties ever flown. After successfully destroying their targets, six aerial refuelings and 44 hours of flight, "they returned home unseen and unscathed," General Rice said. "The capability for mission rehearsal dramatically increases the probability of success when the mission is actually flown in hostile skies," General Rice said. Simulators reduce training costs associated with flying, ease the burden of flightline operations, extend the life of aging aircraft and permit training in high risk scenarios without putting lives and expensive weapons systems at risk, General Rice said. The general added enhancing quality, relevant online distance learning tools is another effort where he would like to see investment. "Our training programs will continue to provide us with an asymmetric advantage over many of our adversaries. New technologies, hand in hand with training, enhance our ability to respond quickly and decisively to the growing spectrum of threats that we face," General Rice said. "One of the best ways to leverage the talent of our force, certainly, is through simulation."