After two fratricide incidents involving the Patriot Missile System occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom, investigations suggested low Situational Awareness (SA) among Patriot Radar Operators was a casual factor. Complete and effective SA includes spatial, identity, automation, temporal, and theater awareness, and deficits in any of these areas can prove deadly. This is not the first time SA has featured prominently in reviews of military aviation mishaps.

After reviewing incident evaluations, performing extensive interviews, participating in current ADA training, and placing our system in front of Air Defense Artillery experts, we have developed a new serious-game training system: the Cognitive Air Defense Training System (CAD-TS) Engagement Control Station Simulator (ECS2), currently installed at Fort Bliss, Texas. CAD-TS enables complete SA training by rendering data three ways: "tactical" - emulated radar screen, "operational" - detailed, 3D models interacting in a realistic environment, and "strategic" - icons and flight paths viewed from above the Earth.

We discuss SA for Air Defense, and present the training system; first with a detailed description of the technology, followed by discussion of how it enables education in each dimension of SA. The training system was developed as an extremely versatile tool for instructors, and not extended as a training package with curriculum. We will suggest potential training scenarios throughout the paper, discuss Incident Reviews and Red vs. Blue competitions as training strategies, and take an in-depth look at a scenario case-study showing how radar placement decisions affect Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense.

The system has received positive reviews from both military and civilian sources, and efforts to integrate the system into current Programs of Instruction are underway. However, even without concrete metrics to prove training effectiveness, we feel we have been able to demonstrate the visual-integration tools and interactivity platform necessary to teach full SA to today's modern soldiers.

Menu

Glyn Anderson