The CSTT is a government funded program that is currently being used to demonstrate the effective use of ADL technologies for the military. It provides training and simulated practice to help our National Guard Bureau's Civil Support Teams - Weapons of Mass Destruction (CST-WMD) train in their mission to support local and state authorities at domestic Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) incident sites. The CSTT program uses distributed simulations and instructionally sound courseware to help keep their skills current for individuals and teams with regard to interagency operations and decision-making. This training improves the essential aspects of civil-military interoperability and mission planning
The Joint Advanced Distributed Learning (JADL) Co-Laboratory, in partnership with the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), the National Guard Bureau (NGB) and the US Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEOSTRI), has funded the development of the CSTT prototype and its associated technology to allow it to reach large numbers of people quickly and to provide simulated experiences that transfer efficiently into high levels of performance in an actual emergency. . Skillful management of these technologies has proven to be an important element in the teaching and learning process.
To ensure the quality of instruction, an in-depth instructional systems design was performed to develop the instructional specifications for the CSTT. This paper will look in detail at the changing requirements in the architecture and design of the CSTT from initial research, through the prototype development process and into the foreseeable challenges associated with production. It will discuss the role that Advanced Distributed Learning technologies and commercial gaming technologies have played in the development of this application and will identify the current state of these technologies in supporting this role, as well as lessons learned on working with and integrating these technologies.