As the Army considers using mobile computing to improve training and assessment, it must be confident in the benefits of that technology and more importantly, it must be able to articulate the requirements needed to achieve those benefits. Although mobile devices and software have proven to be extremely popular in the commercial market, research is needed to identify both the benefits and requirements of this technology before the Army considers its wholesale adoption for training and education. This paper reports on the results of using mobile devices in two Army courses: the Signal Captains Career Course (SCCC) and the School for Command Preparation (SCP). The software developed for the SCCC was an interactive performance assessment tool for the topic of power distribution while the software developed for the SCP was a practice tool for media engagement. In the first experiment, 182 SCCC students either took the traditional paper and pencil practical exercise or the interactive tablet-based version. The tablet-based version significantly reduced the time needed to complete the exercise (1h vs. 3h) without affecting student understanding of the topic. In the second experiment 161 SCP students practiced for the final exercise (mock media engagement) with and without the aid of a tablet-based practice tool. Although the group using the app reported practicing more, their performance on the final exercise was the same as those who practiced without the app. These findings indicate that although mobile technologies have the potential to benefit students and instructors, neither the magnitude nor the type of benefit is easy to predict at this point. These findings and other lessons learned are used as the basis for a proposed strategy for developing mobile applications for use in Dept. of Defense training.