The Army’s National Simulation Center at Fort Leavenworth, KS has been testing the Live, Virtual, Constructive Integrating Architecture (LVC-IA) – a system that links separate simulators and simulations across separate geographies. This is the fourth iteration of the system, and aims “to take these systems that were designed to do a specific thing, in a specific environment, and bring them together in an integrated training environment,” according to Christopher Vaughn, a developer at the National Simulation Center.
This integrated training environment delivers a “constructive capability” – 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.
“It’s real people training on simulated equipment, and now they are part of the operation,” Vaughn said. “They are actual soldiers, downrange, on their home-station training systems, and they are running an actual operation.”
The system is able to greatly increase the depth of learning available in a simulated environment by engaging trainees with real-life commanders.
“It expands your battle space and it gives you additional resources you may not have had available before,” said Maj. Matthew Gordon, chief of games for training at the National Simulation Center. “If I’ve never driven a tank before, I can jump into the tank in that virtual environment. At the same time, I’m 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.”
The key to LVC-IA’s utility is its geographic reach. Its 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.
“If I’m at Fort Benning, Georgia, and I’m incorporating air support into my exercise, maybe I don’t have a lot of pilots on hand,” Gordon said. “You don’t have to just be in one spot in order to incorporate the subject matter experts and give a realistic feel to that training.”