With perpetual and accelerated technical capability advancement across the Department of Defense (DoD), the practical need for versatile and self-service learning tools is growing rapidly. Military platforms and systems become more complex, user backgrounds become increasingly diverse, and information travels with increasing speed over time. How can military training programs serve the needs of highly varied learning communities while managing constrained training budgets and increased mission readiness requirements?
This paper will explore multimodal distributed training systems that enable differentiated and on-demand learning for users of complex military hardware and software platforms. Authors will present the framework of these systems, the impact of these systems on military programs and user communities, barriers to implementation, and opportunities for improvement with specific examples from Fleet and National Guard implementation. Primary use case examples derived from Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Webster Outlying Field (NAWCAD WOLF) implementations will be discussed. NAWCAD WOLF has been developing instructional materials and platforms that enable flexibility of modalities, delivery, and presentation that highlight the value of multimodal interactive courseware (ICW) formats and performance support tools. Utilizing a single, central, automated programming architecture to channel content to specified devices and output formats facilitates open navigation and differentiation; application to mobile, extended reality (XR), and other immersive formats with simultaneous distribution to learning management systems (LMS); and frequent content updates based on system changes and user feedback.