The Synthetic Theater of War (STOW) is an Advanced Concepts Technology Demonstration (ACTD) being conducted in conjunction with USACOM and the United Kingdom. In November 1997, STOW 97 successfully demonstrated, in the largest ever entity based training simulation, that it is possible to support training from the platform level to the Joint Task Force with the same simulation. The program management of this complex, international program is both interesting and challenging. The STOW Management team has learned many lessons that would be of interest to the simulation community. The organization and management of such a complex program requires careful planning and a willingness to make organizational changes as the program evolves from phase to phase. The selection of key players, assignment of responsibilities and relationships among the members of the program is critical to the ultimate success of the program. The information flow within a complex program must be carefully planned and adjusted as the program changes direction. Decision making with regard to schedules, milestone development, testing and integration was a major responsibility for the entire program's leadership. The contracting effort to resource the 250 contractors in this program must be flexible and evolutionary to support program requirements and organization. Developing program management reporting requirements, conducting baseline reviews, determining required deliverables and the overall management of equipment was a significant task. As JSIMS and its Service component programs grapple with the issues of program management of their equally large and challenging programs, the lessons learned during STOW will assist them and other members of the simulation community to manage their programs more efficiently and effectively.
Program Management of a Complex Simulation Program Lessons Learned from Stow
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