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Virtual simulation in military training Essay Virtual simulation provides a safe and effective way of training soldiers and military personnel in a given environment by fully simulating real equipment and real conditions. According to (Smith, 2007, p. 1), the military has been using and developing simulation technologies for several decades. Military simulations, or war games as they are commonly called, allow soldiers to rehearse missions and test the theories of warfare to get a better estimation and understanding of complex interactions and outcomes in the battlefield. The advantage is that learning occurs without the need of actual hostilities. Military simulation is â€Å"a system or model that represents activities and interactions over time. A simulation may be fully automated, or it may be interactive or interruptible† (NSC, 2000, as cited in Smith, 2007, p. 1). Thus, virtual simulation provides both â€Å"human-in-the-loop† simulators for training and analytical tools for computing outcomes in a controlled environment that is free of the life threatening situations that are part of real combat operations. The Close Combat Tactical Trainer (CCTT) is the First member of the Combined Arms Tactical Trainers (CATT) family of virtual, distributed interactive simulations for collective training to provide armor, mechanized infantry, cavalry and recon crews, units and staffs with a virtual, collective training capability (from PEO STRI) The Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEOSTRI) is in charge of acquisition and technology solutions to develop simulated training modules for US soldiers. Simulated training mainly consists of critical warfighting skills and rehearsals so that they could safely accomplish their missions. Military simulations exist in many different forms and in varying degrees of realism. Smith (2007) explained a number of different military simulation techniques and models. A military model constitutes either a â€Å"mathematic equation, a logical algorithm, a three-dimensional digital image, or a partial physical mock-up of the system† (Smith, 2007, p. 1). Military models not only include land, air, and sea vehicles; communications and radar equipment; handheld weapons; and individual soldiers but also the decision-making process and automated information processing that occurs inside the human brain and within battlefield computers. Different combinations and representations of the environment that is made up of terrain, vegetation, cultural features, the atmosphere, ocean, and RF environment are created to accurately represent potential military situations. Military simulations often focus on activities like movement, perception, exchange, engagement, reasoning, and dynamic environment. The user is able to picture the change in the position of an object over time through the dynamic representation of movement. Representation of perception allows the user to detect the existence, position, and identification of the other object through sensor models that capture the signatures of those objects. Representation of exchange that encompass the breadth and depth of the battlefield allow objects to exchange materials and information with each other in battlefield operations based on information on consumption rates and predeployment and replenishment of supplies as well as human decisionmaking and behaviors. An engagement model which has been the pivotal focus of military simulated training and analysis typically includes the exchange of weapons or firepower from a shooter to a target. This exchange decrements the capability of the shooter by expending ammunition (e. g. bullets, missiles, bombs, rockets, grenades, artillery rounds). The model captures the geometry between the shooter and the target and environmental features like trees, terrain, water, and buildings that may interfere with the optimal delivery of the weapon, defensive systems of the target (e. g. effects of flares or chaff in deceiving and misleading a guided missile and protective effects of armor to deflect the weapon). The dynamic environment model features a simulated environment that is more than just a static state but representations of interactions with military objects both through direct intention and through accidental collocation. (Smith, 2007, pp. 5-10)