Final Thoughts
JACK BROWNE,
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
screen. Younger pilots typically require
years of training before attempting a Red Flag exercise. But because
IN THE SHORT-LIVED Chris Carter EWOs are seeing combat earlier, television drama, Harsh Realm, pro- more intensive training is needed, and grammers had created the ultimate thus the development of the simulator. video game for the United States Army The 563rd Flying Training Squadron is by sampling every living person on currently working to integrate
Earth and creating a complete model Real World into its curriculum. of the world, in which conflicts could be The RealWorld The Real World program was funded simulated. Soldiers could then tie their program consists as part of a DARPA program. It consists consciousness into the simulation and of air, ground, and of air, ground, and maritime combat “enter” the virtual reality. What the US components. The air combat simulation
maritime combat
Air Force has done, with some help engine is being developed at Randolph from the Defense Advanced Research components. AFB, with the goal to eventually inte-Projects Agency (DARPA), is not far removed, in grate all three components into a single, cohesive creating a realistic battle space simulation of simulator. Real World ACE supports a wide variety of warfighter students. Using a new simulator program government-owned databases, such as elevation called Real World Air Combat Environment, elec- data, aeronautical charts and imagery distributed by tronic-warfare-officer (EWO) students at the 563rd the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.
Flying Training Squadron (Randolph Air Force Air Force Reserve Maj. Gary De Young,
Base, TX) are able to simulate a Red Flag-like Real World ACE project consultant, remarks that exercise from their classroom. “Real World gives us a chance to expose aviators
Megan Orton, 12th Flying Training Wing Public to joint and composite force operations and real-
Affairs, reported on the new simulator that allows time decision-making in a non-lethal environment, as many as 10 students to fly in the same simulat- to expose them to these skill sets earlier, so they ed battle space, reacting to threats and interacting are more educated and better prepared for future with different Air Force platforms on the same combat.” Mr. De Young is a software engineer
hired through the DARPA contract to head the air combat part of the program. While on active duty, he created the Global Air Tactics Employment Review II, or GATER II, which has been used at Nellis, Randolph, and other locations to train thousands of aviators over the last several years.
Real World ACE is designed to combines high-tech off-the-shelf gaming technology with the fidelity of classified threat parametrics, such as radar capabilities, to get the best result from both the commercial and military worlds. As Mr.
De Young notes: “My role has also been to advise the people from the video-game world who are good at making 3D graphics and flight models about joint and composite force operations and how threats really work. The goal is to do that in a way that Real World remains flexible, so warfighters can alter it to fit the specifications they need.”
The RealWorld simulator is different than a commercial software model in that it will be a government-owned simulator, which the government can use at any base without licensing fees. In contrast, commercial software requires licensing fees, which increase with the number of users.
Although the military may not have created another Harsh Realm, they have taken a bold step in that direction and, in the process, have developed a powerful training tool for future aviators.
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