The AH-64 Apache-the Army's most advanced and lethal attack helicopter-is a highly complex and formidable weapons system designed to fly nap-of-the-earth at night and in adverse weather and to defeat a sophisticated array of enemy tanks and air defense weapons. The complexity of the weapon system coupled with its operational environment and mission presents a formidable challenge to the training community. The challenge has been met through the development of a suite of system training devices designed to off-load training from the actual aircraft. The Apache program further challenges collectively the user community, the materiel developer, and industry to develop and deliver as part of this training system a means to attain and maintain tactical decision-making skills necessary to fight and survive in a high threat environment. This paper describes the general capabilities of the AH-64 Apache helicopter and its training system from both institutional and unit perspectives. The capstone of the training system, the Combat Mission Simulator, is introduced with detailed explanations of design approaches and tradeoffs made to attain the highly sought combat skills training capability-the attractive alternative.