Simulator prepares Airmen for combat

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Anne Fritz
  • 5th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFPN) --  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate enemy territory in the cover of darkness. Sentries will be posted at various checkpoints throughout your path to offer additional assistance. Armed with night-vision goggles, weapons and wits, your mission will be trying and perilous.

To prepare Airmen for a risky task like this, new skills must be mastered. Airmen at the 91st Security Support Squadron’s combat-arms tactics and training simulator give students the feeling of being on a mission.

“We deal with everything from marksmanship training to squad-engagement techniques,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Thomas, a 91st SSPTS security forces trainer. “For example, we can simulate a multiple-adversary situation, teaching trainees both fire control and conservation of ammunition.”

While in the training, Airmen are confronted by three types of instructional simulations. Using computer-generated imagery, students practice on an artificial-firing range with their M-16A2 rifle, M-203 grenade launcher, M-9 pistol or MK-19 automatic-grenade launcher. They also work as a 12-person team during a full-screen scenario and practice squad engagements in video scenarios.

Using the videos, students simulate movements through hostile terrains such as river crossings, village takeovers and use-of-force techniques. With a video-auditing station, Airmen here will be able to interact with locally customized scenarios soon, Sergeant Thomas said.

“Troops will be able to practice in the same environments they work in. Seeing where things might happen and how to apply their training in the real world [makes] this new (equipment) a great training tool,” he said. “We’re the first base to open its own video-authoring station.”

Once the first video is finished, it will then be forwarded to F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo. and Malmstrom AFB, Mont., where missile crews will use the individualized settings.

“The videos give a pretty accurate training experience,” Sergeant Thomas said. “The only unrealistic side is troops don’t have to deal with [real] bullets coming back at them.”

To add realism, Airmen also learn how to maneuver with their night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment in the night-operations room. Filled with artificial trees and foliage, two-person teams learn to work their way through the room easily.

“The problem with night vision is that it eliminates the users’ depth perception, so they must learn to maneuver with the equipment on,” Sergeant Thomas said. “Over the past three years, we have been slowly building up the facility in a self-help project to offer the most realistic experience possible.”

Keeping Airmen trained not only requires realistic facilities, but also time. Currently, simulator officials train more than 700 Airmen from the 91st Security Forces Group, who are required to complete two hours of training per month. They also train Airmen who have difficulty qualifying on weapons and people tasked for deployment and are not required to carry weapons in their everyday jobs.

“Our main function is to provide combat-marksmanship training to all members of the 91st Security Forces Group,” Sergeant Thomas said. “But we’re willing to help out any squadron that may have troops who need our help.”