What lesson did you learn using simulators like Janus, ARTBASS or other virtual battlefield?

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 12:48:56 -0400

As a former OPFOR operator for ARTBASS and Janus it seemed the biggest killer & ingredient for failure was poor communication. Example, OCs would sometimes have me "magic" a BRDM in the rear of a unit (weapons hold) just to see how long before it was reported to the BDE 6. One unit took almost an hour as the little green dismount icons were taking casualties and engaging my red icon. RIP DIPs.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2016 1:11 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 13:11:04 -0400

technology is a great thing but it involves humans, when ca went from sof to all units, they did'nt know how to use us, still in the mentallity of kick doors down and get the bad guys, even into 2010, spent many training days at ft irwin sitting inside my vic doing nothing instead of doing my job, i had millions of dollars of equipement could'nt use because the support was'nt given, just an example in my field, as far as the virtual trainers it was like a video game to me, did'nt really teach much but was fun as hell

Response by SSG Roderick Smith made Jun 4 at 2016 1:46 PM

SSG Roderick Smith — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 13:46:11 -0400

OMG Janus... We used it for our EOC exercise in MP SLC. I found it pretty easy to grasp and operate. However... some people didn't. I walked out of our CO TOC to get lunch, and when I got back my Battle NCO had begun moving units enroute for a mission. I ASSUMED he knew what he was doing, and didn't bother checking the route he had plotted. before I knew it, we had 2 squads of trucks stuck in a creek because he had just plotted a straight-line course from the FOB to the destination. So I told him to grab the last squad and use them to recover the stranded squads, but we couldn't find the rescue squad. I finally located them... stuck in another creek on the other side of the map... because he had plotted the same type of garbage course for them coming back from the last mission.

The system does the job as an operational tool when you are doing mission simulations like we were. Our primary focus was planning and briefing, and the execution part was sort of secondary, so using Janus successfully wasn't really required. It just enabled us to go through the motions of executing our plans. The warfighting part of it left something to be desired, and operator error was rampant.

Great topic, MSG Private RallyPoint Member!

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made Jun 4 at 2016 3:05 PM

CPT Joseph K Murdock — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 15:05:57 -0400

What I learned in the tank simulator is the younger generation have the upper hand on the eye to hand coordination.

Response by CPT Joseph K Murdock made Jun 4 at 2016 9:56 PM

CPT Joseph K Murdock — Sat, 04 Jun 2016 21:56:27 -0400

I also learned when we have multiple tanks in a simulator it is very hard to keep your bearing. I had to reset quite a few times.