Gaming has been used for naval training and concept development since the 19th century. However, the term has taken a new meaning within the past few years as the Navy and Marine Corps have discovered the value of applying commercial personal computer (PC) gaming technology to meet tactical training and concept analysis requirements.
Introduction of the microcomputer in the 1970s made possible the development and implementation of the first broad use of a computer-based tactical game for training-the Navy Tactical Game. With its red (Soviet) versus blue (U.S.) format supported by a classified platform and weapon system database, it became a tool for teaching tactical strategies and threat familiarization. However, lack of significant graphics and serial play requirements resulted in limited realism and student interest diminished. Military computer games appeared in the commercial marketplace in the 1980s with the arrival of the IBM and Apple PCs. These games were interesting and entertaining to the military gaming enthusiast, but they still had insufficient visual effects and performance realism, and could not be considered as serious tactical training tools.
The breakthrough came in the mid-90s with the appearance of affordable, highspeed Pentium processors supported by expanded random access memory, increased hard disk capacity, and high performance video cards. These revolutionary improvements enabled several commercial gaming companies to develop a number of PC military simulation games with three-dimensional graphical animations and performance previously available only on high-end work stations. In addition to dramatically improved visualization, gaming companies have teamed up with reputable military data sources to ensure that game performance and databases reflect real-world platforms, combat and sensor systems, and operating environments.
PC Games as a Tactical Training Tool
Navy research over the past decade has demonstrated empirically that lowcost "table-top" PC-based simulations can help instructors to teach students complex skills, and thus increase both individual and team knowledge. Researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division found that PC-based simulations can assist in development of assertiveness, teamwork, crew coordination, interpositional knowledge, stress management, and tactical decision making.1 The Navy and Marine Corps have recognized a number of other advantages that make commercial PC simulations a feasible training option:
* They provide accurate, realistic virtual operating environments to meet the "Spielberg" level of production quality expected by today's gaming audience.
* Appearance and performance of military platforms, weapon systems, and sensors are modeled with great accuracy.
* Selectable levels of game play allow students and instructors to set increasingly challenging, yet attainable performance goals, making the work of training become play.
* Multi-player capability can support individual and team play in different locations via a local area network, wide area network, or the Internet-at home, at sea, or in the classroom.
* Off-the-shelf or modified commercial PC games offer a distinct cost advantage over traditional trainer development approaches; namely minimal maintenance and infrastructure costs.
* Tactical scenarios can be developed, changed, or replayed, which offers a rapid and powerful tool for tactics instruction or operations rehearsal.
While commercial PC games can enhance training in many ways, they also have a number of obvious limitations:
* They cannot replace the training provided by "live" exercises and operations.
* Classified training cannot be conducted with off-the-shelf commercial games.
* They do not have the level of modeling fidelity and scalable, multitier training support offered by systems such as the Joint Simulation and Modeling System.
* Game pace often is increased artificially to maintain player interest, in contrast to actual operations where hours of boredom might be followed by five minutes of sheer terror.
* Most offer options to use unrealistic and exaggerated platform or system capabilities ("cheats") that could affect a formal curriculum adversely.
* Games may require modifications to effectively support existing course training objectives, which may involve software licensing fees.
Conscious of both the advantages and limitations of commercial PCs, the naval service is pursuing aggressively their use to support training requirements at many levels. The Chief of Naval Education and Training has established the Micro-Simulator Systems for Immersive Learning Environments project to identify, research, and apply commercial PC gaming and simulation technology as a potential training tool for various warfare skills and tactical thinking. One noteworthy initiative is the use of PC-based simulation to support instrument and visual flight rule training and general flight procedures.2 The case of Ensign Herb Lacy, U.S. Navy, reinforces the validity of this application. He amazed his flight instructor and fellow flight students by "acing" his first T-34 instruction hop after practicing on a home simulator he built using "Microsoft Flight Simulator 98."3
For nearly two years, the submarine community has given "6881 Hunter/ Killer" (from Electronic Arts' Jane's combat simulation series) to the Naval Submarine School and operational units to support tactics and orientation training. This game, which was developed by former submariners and Navy modeling and simulation analysts at Sonalysts, Incorporated, recently was modified by the game producer for Commander Submarine Group Two to add higher fidelity modeling of weapon systems, other platform types, and automation of tasks. In addition, the Royal Navy is using a licensed version of "6881 Hunter/Killer" as a baseline for development of its own submarine tactical trainer.
Many training and operational commands currently are using or evaluating the battle group simulation game, "Jane's Fleet Command," to support surface and battle force tactical training requirements. The U.S. Naval Academy was first to use the game, initially as a beta tester; the Naval Academy later used the released version for its strategy and tactics course. Students play it in single-seat mode against "intelligent" opposing forces or forces run by an instructor on another PC and in a team configuration with each group controlling one or more assigned forces. It also is being used "out-of-thebox" to support training at NROTC and Naval Reserve units as well as the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Aegis Training and Readiness Center is exploring the use of "Jane's Fleet Command," with some modifications, in air defense coordination training. Other commands interested in this product include the Surface Warfare Officers School, Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12, Tactical Training Group, Atlantic, the Fleet Information Warfare Center, and Marine Corps University.
As one of the first services to explore commercial PC game use, the Marine Corps has taken a more deliberate approach to its introduction. The Marine Corps Modeling and Simulation Management Office modified and used the game "Doom" to teach individual and fire team combat tactics. Recently, the Marine Corps awarded a contract to MaK Technologies for a high-level architecture (HLA)-compliant PC game for operational training of the Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) commander and staff. Developed for use at the Marine Corps University, "MAGTF XXI" (formerly "MEU 2000") is a real-time, top-down, three-dimensional simulation that presents a tactical view of the battlefield and emphasizes tactics at the platoon, company, and battalion levels.4
The other services also are looking at commercial PC gaming for tactical training support. Under a Defense Modeling and Simulation Office and U.S. Army Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation command initiative, MaK is developing an HLA version of the commercial "Spearhead" tank game for the Armor Officers Career course. In an unprecedented effort, the Army is giving $45 million to the University of Southern California to create a research center in Los Angeles that will develop advanced military simulations with the support of film studios and video game designers.5 The U.S. Air Force is not as committed to the use of PC games, having opted to remain focused on the use of high-end flight simulators. However, the Air Command and Staff College is investigating PC gaming technology.
PC Games as Analysis and Concept Validation Tools
Another benefit of high-fidelity commercial military simulations is their usefulness in developing, analyzing, and validating new warfighting concepts. The Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group uses "Jane's Fleet Command" to evaluate revolutionary naval warfare concepts. "This game allowed naval officers across the rank spectrum to probe potential warfare concepts for the 21 st century in a dynamic, interactive manner providing the means for rapid turnaround of ideas within an innovative process."6 To better support the concept evaluation role, the game developer, Sonalysts, Incorporated, modified the commercial version of the game to run in a Windows NT 4.0 environment so it would rapidly change platform, weapon, and sensor database files to permit it to insert and assess the effect of new innovations. In addition to these modifications, the flexible, user-friendly mission editor feature of the game enables analysts to evaluate a new concept in many different tactical situations and operating environments in a relatively short period of time.
There currently is no training system or concept available to support multiunit operational and tactical training of an afloat Navy-Marine force that is preparing for a littoral operation. Existing commercial gaming products-such as "Jane's Fleet Command" and "MAGTF XXI," combined with efforts like the Afloat Training, Exercise and Management System (ATEAMS) and Battle Force Tactical Trainer (BFTT)-offer a near-term, economical solution to this requirement. The HLA-linked gaming elements permit users to quickly create an accurate, realistic geographic and tactical picture of a particular objective and adversary. Navy, embarked Marine, and supporting units could then rehearse and practice tactical options in port and en route to the exercise, or actual, objective.
The "Jane's Fleet Command" component provides the game play and dynamics associated with the transit, ship-toshore movement, and fire and close air support, while "MAGTF XXI" can game the insertion and inland actions of Marine assault forces. ATEAMS provides automated scenario selection, recording of training objective mastery, after-action reporting, and replay. Finally, with BFT, game play can be distributed among a variety of shipboard and shore-based stations, and include units external to the task force.
Commercial gaming technology is no panacea for training and analysis problems in the naval service. However, it is demonstrably available and cost-effective. It can easily rectify a number of tactical training deficiencies and help us to quickly assess and test new war fighting concepts.