MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Indoor Small Arms Range personnel and representatives from station units were trained on the use of a new prototype Marine Corps system at the ISAR here last week.
Deployable Virtual Training Environment (DVTE) is a newly developed interface that simulates many aspects of combat scenarios in a first-person view and was unveiled by combined arms staff trainers for future implementation on the station.
“We’re bringing the training capabilities of Camp Pendleton to the Pacific region inside a virtual world, running entire campaigns with tangible results,” said Jesse A. Kindelspire, a DVTE simulation analyst from Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
Kindelspire described the computer environment to be an anything-is-possible tool for combat training with as many as eight different areas of specialty. Its capabilities range from simulating convoy operations with Virtual Battlefields System II software to teaching language and cultural essentials with Tactical Language and Culture Training Systems (TLCTS) software, preparing Marines on essentially every aspect of their upcoming deployment.
“The system allows units that lack the time and equipment to meet the same training objectives as they would in a perfect world,” Kindelspire added.
But the equipment isn’t something entirely new to the Marine Corps. Virtual Battlefields System I software made its debut in the mid 1990s, training Marines in technical areas including light armored vehicle (LAV) operations and flight simulations. The equipment was quickly outdated, according to Kindelspire. Virtual Battlefield Systems II software goes further in depth, recreating certain aspects of combat such as hostage situations, escalation-of-force procedures and battalion-sized movement.
“In the new software, any number of enemy combatants or type of maneuver is possible to simulate for the Marines plugged in,” Kindelspire said. “There is literally no limit to the amount of scenarios we’re able to generate.”
While being trained on eliminating cyber assailants, the ISAR trainees also learned cultural basics using the TLCTS software.
“TLCTS is one of the most severely underutilized applications in the DVTE simulator,” said Kindelspire. “I’ve seen Marines that have used this software become fluent in another language over the course of a few months.”
The TLCTS software simulates social interaction with other nations’ inhabitants including Iraqi, Pashto, French and Dari people. Trainees are able to receive detailed reactions and responses with the software’s voice recognition feature and can monitor the sensitivity of the simulated conversation via their computer monitor.
The software isn’t only available through the DVTE system. By visiting the TLCTS Web site athttp://www.tacticallanguage.com, service members can download their own constantly updated copy of the cultural knowledge free of charge. However, Virtual Battlefields System II software is not readily available for download and can only be administered by trained DVTE specialists.
Kindelspire said unit participation in DVTE simulations requires the training of a unit representative to assist in the administering before sending unit members to be trained using the system. Excluding unit deployment program (UDP) squadrons, every unit aboard the air station currently has unit representatives trained to administer the DVTE equipment and can begin training immediately.
The implementation of training in a simulated environment is expected to evoke doubts in its effectiveness, according to DVTE representatives. ISAR personnel can testify to its tactical fidelity versus the training using the real thing.
“This is an easy opportunity for Iwakuni Marines to walk away from this place with the same amount of training they would have gotten at a base with ground forces,” said Cpl. Kevin S. Martin, an ISAR instructor who recently finished a tour of duty as a rifleman in an infantry unit. “In the Marine Corps, most end up doing many different jobs outside their (military occupation specialty). This software can train a Marine to perform basic tasks for any job within an infantry unit while at the same time teaching them about the environment they’re traveling to. It’s breakthrough technology.”
But some ISAR personnel expressed a different view of the systems.
“This training should in no way replace real training Marines should receive,” said Sgt. Patrick T. Obrien, ISAR operations chief. “Iwakuni lacks the real equipment to train their Marines like they do in other areas, so a lot of Marines miss their opportunity to get the real training. It’s disappointing to think because we have no ground forces here that we shouldn’t have to be prepared for those types of operations.”
Kindelspire expressed the importance of the virtual training working in tandem with physical combat training.
“DVTE is an ever-evolving system, but it will never give us the type of results that come from the real thing,” Kindelspire said. “We hope to come as close as possible so that every Marine has a chance to get any training he can from it.”