Combat vehicle identification (CVI) training materials for thermal sights have been lacking since the Army's fielding of thermal sights for anti-armor weapons in the 1970s. The night fratricide incidents in Desert Storm/Desert Shield can be attributed, in part, to inadequate thermal signature training. The paper covers training effectiveness research on a computer-based, multi-media training program, called CVIPlus, aimed at providing thermal signature training to support most of the Army's current and future thermal sights.

An assumption underlying program development was that the dynamic nature of thermal imagery and the uniqueness of thermal cues demand actual, not simulated, imagery to train skills adequately. Consequently, the training data base is digitized, high-resolution, thermal images of combat vehicles, collected specifically for the program. Night and day, black-hot and white-hot, thermal images of US and nonUS vehicles at eight aspect angles at four ranges are included. Visible images of each vehicle are shown as well. The version of the program available for research included pre- and posttests, a library of all images, and interactive training and testing exercises.

Three training experiments were conducted to determine the program's effects, determine effective training strategies, and identify needed improvements. The first experiment examined part-task training issues. The second addressed the effectiveness of fixed-pace training with knowledge of results feedback versus self-paced training with knowledge of performance feedback. The third focused on training at near versus far ranges. Within each experiment, the extent to which skills transferred to imagery not included in the training exercises was also examined. The findings supported changes to the instructional design of the program.