An infantry platoon maneuvers toward a village; above them, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) provides a video feed to the operations center. The platoon reacts to nearby mortar strikes, while a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) assigned to the company Tactical Operations Center (TOC) confirms the target with radio communication and the UAS’s video. The platoon leader is relieved when an AC-130 takes out the mortar pit, but has to handle additional hostile contact from the village itself as the insurgents inside are emboldened by the mortar fire. It takes only a few moments for the situation to spiral out of the platoon leader’s control; the company commander calls mission end to the virtual scenario. The pilot in the AC-130 simulator continues his own training mission. After the after action review (AAR) with the ground forces, the JTAC turns his attention from the virtual mission and resumes controlling live aircraft from his observation post (OP) in the desert, 1,500 miles away from the ground forces.
Building on three years of live and virtual environment development during Bold Quest (Reitz & Richards, 2013), BQ 14.2 will assess methods to improve joint fires performance using a mix of distributed live and virtual training systems. As a first for the Bold Quest live-virtual event, seasoned JTACs will be inserted into the virtual environment while they are still at their live OP, allowing them to control virtual aircraft in their natural environment with their real equipment.
This paper discusses the planning, execution and initial results of using a mixed live/virtual environment to improve individual and team performance in joint fires.