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Defense News E-Book 1
THE FUTURE OF TRAINING:
How the U.S. is adapting training 
methods and technology to 
face modern challenges
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE FUTURE OF TRAINING
 
4 Building A True “Train Like We Fight” Expeditionary Range
 By: Scott Case
 Sponsored By: Booz Allen Hamilton
5 Expeditionary LVC for Operational Readiness
 Sponsored By: Booz Allen Hamilton
6 The Future of Military Training
 By: Calvin Hennick
8 From CamoGPT To Life Skills, The Army Is Changing How It Trains Troops
 By: Todd South
10 Soldiers Exposed To New Combat Realities With Expanded Training
 By: Todd South
11 Training Scenarios From Simulation To Live Rehearsals
 By: Calvin Hennick
13 Make Counter-Drone Training As Routine As Marksmanship: Army General
 By: Todd South
14 Commanders Find New Ways To Leverage Network In Theater And Training
 By: Todd South
15 How Joint Programs Enhance Training
 By: Calvin Hennick
2Defense News E-book
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Defense News E-Book 3
Discover compact readiness solutions 
that operate wherever you do
We innovate. You accelerate. BoozAllen.com/XRD
As a former Air Force officer and B-52 aviator, I have been around rang-
es and LVC training for years. I really saw the shortfalls in range training 
when I commanded the Polygone LVC Test and Training Range in Eu-
rope. There have been suboptimal training environments for decades, 
lacking infrastructure, funding, time, and personnel. 
Many exercise locations outside of the U.S. do not conduct training 
frequently enough to justify the cost of full-scale infrastructure, limiting 
ally and partner participation. I saw a failure to really integrate the right 
LVC capabilities to produce high repetition quality training. 
However, defense organizations now have the opportunity to take 
advantage of a new approach that provides a “train like we fight” en-
vironment suitable for multinational exercises or mission rehearsals. 
Essentially, this is an expeditionary range system—using new or exist-
ing software and hardware—that provides an adaptable and scalable 
framework to support mission rehearsal events for U.S. and multina-
tional audiences, while optimizing operations and sustainment cost.
Although there are currently many effective live and synthetic train-
ing environments, this approach focuses on an integration framework, 
with a gaming-like interface to provide all-domain mission rehearsal 
and quality training. 
Defense organizations, industry, and partner nations can tailor their 
training environments with “best of breed” capabilities that can inte-
grate with existing programs of record to meet their needs (e.g., LMOC, 
NCTE). Examples could be a long-range kill chain exercise rehearsal 
that includes high-fidelity weapons employment, a JTAC/CAS environ-
ment or space/cyber/EW training. 
One of the many challenges associated with multi-national readiness 
training is the extensive approval process required to connect multi-na-
tional systems, especially at the highest security levels. This approach 
simplifies that process with a standards-based system-of-systems that 
is scalable and integrates existing programs already approved to be 
used in the coalition environment. It provides an open architecture, 
protects sensitive data through multiple levels of security services, and 
brings synthetic data to the edge.
LVC capabilities today must also be expeditionary to meet the com-
plex mission rehearsal requirements of a broad all-domain conflict 
against a peer competitor. LVC systems must offer a high degree of re-
configurability yet remain light enough for easy transport and provide 
network connectivity in austere locations. This approach does that; it is 
adaptable enough to deploy quickly using commercial air travel.
This framework for integration greatly reduces the reliance on live 
infrastructure, and thereby reduces the costs. It also reduces costs by 
connecting, or integrating, existing industry capabilities and DoD pro-
grams. And it allows procurement of tailored systems that account for 
the budgetary constraints of defense organizations. DN
BUILDING A TRUE “TRAIN LIKE WE 
FIGHT” EXPEDITIONARY RANGE
SPONSORED CONTENT
Scott Case,
Booz Allen’s development and 
delivery of advanced LVC training 
systems for the DoD.
4Defense News E-book
EXPEDITIONARY LVC 
FOR OPERATIONAL READINESS 
Facing potential threats from advanced aggressors, U.S. 
Armed Forces, Allies, and Partners require Live, Virtual, 
Constructive (LVC) environments that enable joint, 
coalition, bilateral, and multi-national accelerated readiness.
Booz Allen’s expeditionary LVC solution provides highly 
realistic mission rehearsal and advanced training with 
a node-based framework that integrates training range 
system capabilities, airspaces, threat systems, and control 
centers, paired with enhanced scenario control.
FEATURES:
• Measurable readiness
• Quantifiable training effectiveness (planning, 
briefing, execution & debrief environments)
• Tailorable scenario generation
• Integrated force-on-force training
• Role player inclusion
• Integrated common picture and range 
scheduling
• Modular design
• Interoperable with service LVC PoRs
• Scalable to nearly any mission rehearsal 
use case
• Cost-effective by leveraging existing COTS, 
GOTS, and non-proprietary investments
• Deployable with smaller subset
EXPEDITIONARY LVC 
FOR OPERATIONAL READINESS
Copyright © 2024 Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
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The U.S. military branches have always 
been synonymous with world-class 
training—with intense, rigorous boot 
camps transforming new recruits into 
formidable soldiers, sailors, airmen and 
women, marines, and coastguardsmen 
and women in a matter of weeks. The 
complex nature of modern warfare has 
required the branches to expand and 
diversify their training, helping military 
members not only master traditional 
combat skill and embrace the culture 
of their service branch, but also adapt 
to entirely new battlespaces. Today’s 
fighting forces must be equally adept at 
navigating cyberattacks, operating and 
monitoring autonomous systems, and 
adopting emerging technologies like 
virtual reality and artificial intelligence. 
As the pace of technological change 
accelerates, and as global threats con-
tinue to multiply, military training stands 
at a critical crossroads. Branches must 
continue to equip members with essen-
tial combat skills and instill a sense of 
tradition, but they must also prepare 
these members to one day use technol-
ogies that don’t even exist yet to ward 
off threats that have not yet made them-
selves known. 
Virtual reality solutions can now simu-
late practically any real-world battlefield 
environment, artificial intelligence (AI) 
can model enemy behavior with un-
canny accuracy, and data analytics can 
provide real-time insights into unit per-
formance. For military training leaders, 
this technological revolution presents 
unprecedented opportunity, but it also 
defines a central challenge of the path 
ahead: how to blend rapidly changing 
innovations with the time-tested meth-
ods that have forged effective fighting 
forces for generations. 
 
The Growing Role of Simulation
The military has long relied on simula-
tion technology to prepare warfighters 
for scenarios that are difficult or impos-
sible to replicate, with flight simulators 
being perhaps the best-known of these 
training tools. Advances in technolo-
gies like virtual reality (VR), augmented 
reality (AR), and AI are making simulat-
ed combat more accessible and realis-
tic, dramatically expanding the options 
available to military trainers. 
In March 2024, the Army provided an 
update on its Synthetic Training Environ-
ment (STE), reporting that 1st Cavalry Di-
vision soldiers are testing and providing 
feedback on the cutting-edge technolo-
gy, which mergesVR, AR, and gaming. 
Soldiers used VR goggles and tactical 
simulation software to replicate the ex-
perience of manning an M240 machine 
gun, operating a Bradley combat vehi-
cle, and commanding an Abrams tank 
— all in a digital environment accessible 
via a controlled, indoor setting. 
Simulated environments not only give 
military members hands-on experience 
with realistic situations, but they also 
may help branches to limit unnecessary 
troop movements. “If you had to de-
ploy, or STE had to be sent overseas for 
Defense News E-book
THE FUTURE OF MILITARY TRAINING
By: Calvin Hennick
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to Landstuhl Regional Medical 
Center participate in an Army Warrior Task and Battle Drill 
assessment at Landstuhl, Germany. 
a unit deploying for six or eight months 
doing a rotation, the idea is you could 
send some of this equipment over, and 
you could set some of this up instead 
of those units having to leave to go out 
and do their training,” said Robert L. 
Carroll, an assistant test officer at OTC’s 
Mission Command Test Directorate, in 
an Army article. “They could actually fire 
these up and do a collective training.”
The Army’s STE represents just one 
facet of the shift toward simulated train-
ing environments. The Air Force cut 
training time in half for some pilots via 
its Pilot Training Next (PTN) program, 
which incorporates VR, AR, AI, and ad-
vanced biometrics, while the Navy’s 
Surface Training Advanced Virtual Envi-
ronment (STAVE) incorporates tools like 
Virtual Operator Trainers (VOTs), which 
replace actual shipboard equipment 
with virtual systems to enhance train-
ing. The Marine Corps’ Project Tripoli 
provides on-demand, live, virtual, and 
constructive (LVC) training that aligns 
with future operating concepts, and the 
Coast Guard’s Full Mission Bridge Simu-
lator (FMBS) simulates cutter navigation 
systems. 
As civilian applications push for-
ward VR and AR technology, military 
branches are almost certain to in-
crease their use of simulated training 
environments in the years to come. 
Data & Automation Underpin 
Modern Training
While the recent hype cycle around AI 
https://www.army.mil/article/274266/soldiers_test_new_synthetic_training_environment
has cooled somewhat, organizations 
are beginning to validate practical ap-
plications for the technology that lead 
to tangible results. One of these use 
cases is training and education, with 
organizations using their internal em-
ployee data to create programs that 
offer highly personalized, just-in-time 
training. Human instructors will always 
be a core component of military train-
ing, but branches may look toward 
AI-powered language models to create 
new training materials, evaluate mem-
bers’ current skillsets, and identify any 
remaining knowledge gaps. 
It is also critical for military branches 
to train members to become adept at 
leveraging AI solutions, data analytics, 
and automated warfighting tools. The 
Air Force and Space Force’s Digital 
University is one bold attempt to bring 
technical training to bring next-genera-
tion tech skills to today’s fighting force. 
Built on top of commercial digital learn-
ing platforms like Coursera and Udemy, 
Digital University offers anytime access 
to courses in areas like coding, data 
science, and project management. 
In comments made in early 2024, Col. 
Michael Medgyessy, the chief informa-
tion officer in the Air Force Intelligence 
Office, positioned Digital University as 
a way to create opportunities for — 
and improve retention among — the 
tech-savvy young people who are now 
entering the military as digital natives. 
“There are definitely new hires com-
ing into the Air Force already digital 
savvy,” Medgyessy said at the time. 
“They’re coders. They have a strong 
data understanding. And it’s this new 
workforce that we’ve got to make sure 
it doesn’t get frustrated and leaves by 
enabling them to be able to do these 
types of things at the edge, enabling 
them with different technologies like 
low code, no code, automated work-
flows.” 
Finally, AI can be an extremely help-
ful tool in helping trainers to simulate 
hypothetical combat environments. 
“Artificial intelligence (AI) allows military 
planners the potential to rapidly adjust 
training scenarios in support of evolv-
ing developments and changes on the 
battlefields,” noted Army Maj. Robert 
A. Coombs in a May 2024 article for 
Army University Press. “The military 
finds itself in a situation where it must 
increase its flexibility and the speed 
with which it is able to train forces in an 
evolving battlefield environment… The 
DOD’s opportunity to increase the flex-
ibility of scenario development at pace 
with operations and changing geopolit-
ical conditions can be realized with the 
application of AI assistance.”
Preparing for Digital Warfare
The growing connectivity between IT 
networks and physical assets in re-
cent years has given cyber attackers 
new ways to cause havoc. Rather than 
merely bringing down IT assets (al-
ready a significant threat, given the ex-
tent to which military and government 
operations rely on technology today), 
attackers are also taking aim at critical 
physical infrastructure such as water 
supplies, traffic networks, and elec-
trical grids. To take just one example: 
In early 2021, attackers came close to 
poisoning the water supply of Oldsmar, 
a 15,000-person city in Florida. The 
utility was running an outdated operat-
ing system, and attackers used remote 
access software to drastically increase 
sodium hydroxide levels. The attack 
was noticed by a plant manager as it 
happened, preventing catastrophe. 
In 2019, then Secretary of Defense 
Mark T. Esper laid out the enormity of 
the challenge facing military cyberse-
curity professionals. “Future wars will 
be fought not just on the land and in 
the sea, as they have for thousands of 
years, or in the air, as they have for the 
past century, but also in outer space 
and cyberspace, in unprecedented 
ways,” Esper said. “AI has the potential 
to transform warfare in all of these do-
mains.” 
Already, U.S. military branches have 
embraced robust cybersecurity training 
to prepare members for digital warfare. 
For instance, the Army Cyber Center 
of Excellence (CCoE) provides training 
and professional development for roles 
including cyber warfare officer, electro-
magnetic warfare officer, cyber warfare 
technician, and cyber operations spe-
cialist. The Coast Guard equips cyber 
mission specialists (CMSs) with a 24-
week course covering basic technical 
knowledge for cyber operations, and 
also offers advanced training and in-
dustry certifications in areas like risk 
analysis, network traffic and security 
threat analysis, blue and red cell oper-
ations, and cloud security. And across 
branches, the Department of Defense 
has issued the Cyber Awareness Chal-
lenge 2025, a training focused on 
actions that all authorized users can 
take to help mitigate threats and vul-
nerabilities, with an emphasis on best 
practices to protect classified informa-
tion, controlled unclassified information 
(CUI), and personally identifiable infor-
mation (PII). 
As the cyber threat landscape con-
tinues to evolve, military branches will 
need to ensure that their cyber training 
programs keep pace. 
Bringing It All Together
While classroom and digital training 
helps military members get up to speed 
on new technologies, training exercis-
es set in the real world provide crucial 
opportunities to put this learning into 
action. This is perhaps especially true 
of joint training environments that bring 
together fighting forces from multiple 
branches. For instance, the Joint Pacif-
ic Multinational Readiness Center (JP-
MRC), the Army’s newest Combat Train-
ing Center (CTC), “generates readiness 
in the environments and conditions 
where our forces are most likely to op-
erate,” according to the Army. An Octo-
ber 2024 exercise at Helemano Military 
Reservation in Oahu, Hawaiibrought 
together participants from across the 
U.S. Joint Force, as well as multinational 
allies and partners. During the exercise, 
fighting forces used innovative tactics 
and tools to conduct a feint, a warfare 
tactic that draws an adversary toward a 
diversion, away from the place where 
an actual attack will occur. 
“Right now, we have a line of bear-
ing from our electronic warfare assets 
and our scout team is out there with 
their drones so we can complete the 
kill chain,” said U.S. Army Capt. Patrick 
Keyes, commander of Charlie Compa-
ny, 1st Bn., 21st Inf. Regt. “This training 
allows us to test out this new technolo-
gy and see how it is best implemented 
on the battlefield.” DN
7Defense News E-book
https://digitalu.af.mil/
https://digitalu.af.mil/
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/ask-the-cio/2024/03/air-force-intelligence-cio-finding-ways-to-get-to-yes/
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2024-OLE/AI-Integration-for-Scenario-Development/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/outdated-computer-system-exploited-florida-water-treatment-plant/story?id=75805550
https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/2011960/remarks-by-secretary-esper-at-national-security-commission-on-artificial-intell/
https://cybercoe.army.mil/
https://cybercoe.army.mil/
https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/enlisted/cms
https://www.gocoastguard.com/careers/enlisted/cms
https://public.cyber.mil/training/cyber-awareness-challenge/
https://public.cyber.mil/training/cyber-awareness-challenge/
https://www.army.mil/article/280334/newer_bigger_faster_innovation_during_jpmrc_25_01
https://www.army.mil/article/280334/newer_bigger_faster_innovation_during_jpmrc_25_01
As the Army has adjusted its doctrine 
and modernized how it prepares sol-
diers for leadership and combat, the 
service’s Training and Doctrine Com-
mand touches nearly every aspect of 
those initiatives.
Over the past year, new programs and 
updates to existing training have flowed 
across the force.
Army Times spoke with  Gen. Gary 
Brito, head of Training and Doctrine 
Command, about some of these ar-
eas and what they mean for new and 
career soldiers. Brito took over his cur-
rent command in 2022 after serving as 
the Army’s deputy chief of staff over 
personnel.
The four-star has a deep, person-
al history within Army training, having 
served as commander over the Joint 
Readiness Training Center at Fort John-
son, Louisiana, and twice serving at the 
National Training Center at Fort Irwin, 
California, earlier in his career, accord-
ing to his official biography.
This Q&A has been edited for length 
and clarity.
What are some additions or changes 
to Army training from this past year that 
readers might not have encountered?
Gen. Gary Brito: Over the past year, 
we’ve made significant improvements 
to our initial entry training and profes-
sional military education. Some of the 
programs include the quick-fire ob-
servation portal that was created by 
the Center for Army Lessons Learned.
The portal is a web and mobile appli-
cation that allows users to submit ob-
servations. We’ve added foundational 
skills development to our curriculum. 
This training promotes skill-specific pro-
ficiency, cohesion among soldiers and 
camaraderie while also aiming to lower 
harmful behaviors.
The foundational skills include such 
areas as life skills, from financial plan-
ning and time management to suicide 
prevention and resilience training.
We’ve updated how we consider the 
operational environment in all that we 
do to plan for potential large-scale com-
bat.
That document was released earlier 
this year and explains the current op-
erational environment considerations 
all soldiers should understand. We’ve 
also expanded basic combat training, 
adding more training companies to Fort 
Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Sill, 
Oklahoma.
Senior leaders gauge readiness by 
how units perform at combat training 
centers. What’s going on to prepare for 
and take home lessons from a center 
rotation?
Our mission command training pro-
gram and warfighter exercises give 
corps and divisions a chance to con-
duct collective training, at scale, with 
multinational partners.
The mission command program spe-
cifically focuses on leader develop-
ment by advising, observing and con-
sulting commanders on how they run 
their units and how to improve. We also 
host a quarterly general officer steering 
committee meeting.
That Army Lessons Learned Forum 
captures gaps, issues and lessons 
learned from commanders in various 
theaters. That forum generates a list of 
recommended solutions to tactical and 
operational level concerns that’s dis-
FROM CAMOGPT TO LIFE SKILLS, THE ARMY IS CHANGING 
HOW IT TRAINS TROOPS
By: Todd South
8Defense News E-book
Gen. Gary Brito discusses the
AH-64 Apache Longbow Crew
Trainer at Fort Rucker, Alabama,
November 2022.
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https://www.tradoc.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gen-Brito-Bio-TRADOC-Feb23.pdf
https://www.tradoc.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gen-Brito-Bio-TRADOC-Feb23.pdf
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/10/11/new-tradoc-boss-champions-doctrine-training-upgrades/
https://www.tradoc.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gen-Brito-Bio-TRADOC-Feb23.pdf
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seminated across Army leadership.
How is the Army modernizing its 
force while still training new and expe-
rienced soldiers on evolving doctrine, 
new equipment and fundamental sol-
diering?
We are making changes to our pro-
gram of instruction to accelerate train-
ing development. Across our centers 
of excellence, we incorporate observa-
tions and lessons learned to adjust cur-
riculum, training events and cadre and 
faculty development.
We’re introducing tools and practices 
such as artificial intelligence, machine 
learning and human-machine integra-
tion. For example, at the Maneuver 
Center of Excellence at Fort Moore, 
Georgia, the center has developed and 
updated various Army training pub-
lications to address the use of small 
drones, counter-drone and aspects of 
electromagnetic warfare into our cours-
es.
An MCOE team, partnered with Army 
Futures Command, is experimenting 
with robotic-enabled maneuver, intro-
ducing air and ground robots into live, 
virtual and constructive training across 
the spectrum of our courses, from basic 
training to the captain’s career course.
What are some programs or initiatives 
you can highlight in Army training for 
the coming year?
TRADOC is integrating data literacy 
into Army professional military educa-
tion. New data literacy curriculums are 
being developed for the Basic Officer 
Leader Course, Warrant Office Candi-
date Course, Basic Leader Course and 
Advanced Leader Course.
The Cyber Center of Excellence initi-
ated a proof of concept for CamoGPT, a 
generative AI application that improves 
productivity and operational readiness 
at all echelons.
Like ChatGPT, the CamoGPT uses a 
large language model to incorporate 
data from joint and Army doctrine, les-
sons learned, best practices [and] TRA-
DOC content, among other sources.
The Reconfigurable Virtual Collective 
Trainer is being delivered to the force. 
It is a hardware system that connects to 
the Army’s Synthetic Training Environ-
ment.
Users can access collective, mixed-re-
ality training scenarios. It has a heads-
up display, high-resolution monitor and 
controllers.
This gives soldiers, squads, platoons 
and companies the ability to navigate 
exercises using real and computer-gen-
erated movements.
The trainers, which have been in-
stalled at Fort Moore, Georgia, and Fort 
Cavazos, Texas, will allow for collective 
training with the Abrams tank, Bradley 
infantry fighting vehicle, Stryker and 
dismounted troops.
We’re also working to add future vehi-
cle variants and their capabilities, such 
as the M1256/A1 Infantry Carrier Vehi-
cle Stryker and Maneuver-ShortRange 
Air Defense systems. DN
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 7th Special Forces 
group and British Rangers assigned to 4th 
Rangers board a 160th Special Operations 
Aviation Regiment CH-47 Chinook as a part of 
Project Convergence 22 at Fort Irwin, Calif.
9Defense News E-book
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A new approach to training brand new 
recruits  in large-scale combat aims to 
prepare soldiers for future conflicts as 
the Army readies the force for a poten-
tial slugfest against foes like the Rus-
sian or Chinese militaries.
In March, the service launched 
“Forge 2.5,” another update to  “The 
Forge,”  which began as a concept in 
2016 with a 96-hour field exercise for 
week-seven trainees. The Forge has 
been in place since 2018 as a regular 
feature of basic training.
The event closely mirrors “The Cru-
cible,” which the Marine Corps institut-
ed in its recruit training in the 1990s. 
The field endurance test puts recruits 
in a patrol base, and they run through 
a variety of combat and logistical sce-
narios over the course of the four-day 
stretch.
Forge 2.5 ratchets up recruit learning 
by running large-scale combat opera-
tion scenarios, all while involving drill 
sergeants and company command 
teams as leaders within the trainee 
teams.
This structure gives young soldiers 
firsthand field experience while keep-
ing drill sergeants sharp on basic sol-
diering and leadership skills, said Gen. 
Gary Brito, head of the Army’s Training 
and Doctrine Command.
“What this is meant to do — part one 
is now immersing soldiers with threat 
actors from the moment they arrive in 
the reception company,” Brito said.
Part two of Forge 2.5, which rolled 
out this year, puts drill sergeants in 
squad leader positions.
As recently as three years ago, new 
soldiers conducted events in a fashion 
resembling a round robin, where indi-
vidual soldiers would rotate between 
tasks. Now, every event is collective, 
and soldiers are always working with 
and leading small teams, Brito said.
In doing so, recruits are learning more 
than marching or basic rifle marksman-
ship, with many completing tasks they 
would not have encountered until pin-
ning on an NCO rank.
From digital tool signature manage-
ment to mission planning and order 
development, the drill sergeants are 
exposing the new soldiers to more 
complex considerations as they train, 
Brito said.
“The trainees are the ones actually 
executing casualty evaluation, gather-
ing and sending reports, and the drill 
sergeants are leading them through all 
those different things they’ve learned 
so far in the basic combat training por-
tion of [initial training],” said Capt. Ju-
lio Sanchez, commander of Company 
A, 31st Engineer Battalion out of Fort 
Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Sanchez’s unit conducted a pilot ver-
sion of the Forge 2.5 format this year at 
the home of basic training for most of 
the Army’s non-combat arms jobs.
And that, Brito said, is why Army lead-
ers must be at the top of their game for 
when these new soldiers arrive.
“You all will be charged in leading 
cohesive teams,” Brito said. “Privates 
will be introduced to why we need to 
be cohesive and the importance of the 
battle buddy.”
Brito tied that soldier development 
back to how the Army is expecting 
more of lower level tactical leaders, 
who will have high-level assets such as 
satellite feeds, drone-based fire sup-
port and other tools that soldiers previ-
ously never needed to consider.
The new training structure has been 
implemented at Fort Moore, Georgia; 
Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Fort 
Leonard Wood, Missouri.
Beyond the Forge 2.5 implementa-
tion, another program recently sur-
passed a milestone. The Future Solder 
Prep course has seen 25,000 soldiers 
complete entry-level training and join 
Army units as of this year, Army Times 
previously reported.
The pre-basic training program be-
gan in 2022 to take prospective re-
cruits who did not meet minimum 
physical or academic standards and 
give them up to 90 days to reach 
those standards with the help of Army 
training staff. DN
SOLDIERS EXPOSED TO NEW COMBAT REALITIES WITH 
EXPANDED TRAINING
By: Todd South
A trainee from the 198th Infantry Brigade
low crawls through an obstacle
at Fort Moore, Georgia.
10Defense News E-book
https://www.army.mil/article/275284/unit_assesses_new_iteration_of_armys_forge_exercise
https://www.army.mil/article/275284/unit_assesses_new_iteration_of_armys_forge_exercise
https://www.army.mil/article/208465/trainees_forge_into_soldiers_during_basic_combat_trainings_new_exercise
https://www.army.mil/article/208465/trainees_forge_into_soldiers_during_basic_combat_trainings_new_exercise
https://www.army.mil/article/208465/trainees_forge_into_soldiers_during_basic_combat_trainings_new_exercise
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/08/the-army-just-made-it-harder-to-graduate-from-basic-training/
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/09/20/leadership-begins-at-basic-says-armys-top-training-officer/
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/09/20/leadership-begins-at-basic-says-armys-top-training-officer/
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/09/20/leadership-begins-at-basic-says-armys-top-training-officer/
Wargaming and other live rehearsal 
exercises have long been a staple of 
military training. But as improved tech-
nology continues to more accurately 
simulate the reality of combat, branch-
es are relying on a mix of simulated and 
live training, with progressive training 
models that incorporate both methods 
to make training as relevant as possible. 
In particular, live, virtual, and construc-
tive (LVC) training opportunities are 
helping military members to execute in-
tegrated scenarios that accurately rep-
licate actions and conditions in current 
and future operating environments. 
“LVC is the future,” said Capt. Peter 
Shoemaker, commodore of Strike Fight-
er Wing Atlantic for the Navy, during 
a panel at a 2023 conference. “If we 
had all the money in the world, we’d 
buy J-20s from China, and we would 
fly those as our adversaries. We don’t 
have enough money to do that. What’s 
really nice about … a virtual environ-
ment is you hit a button, the [bandits] 
are over there. You’re like, ‘Hey, I just 
made a mistake doing this thing. Let’s 
try it again.’”
Defining LVC
The Department of Defense defines 
LVC as “a broadly used taxonomy de-
scribing a mixture of live simulation, vir-
tual simulation, and constructive simula-
tion.” Implicit in this definition is the idea 
that all training is simulated to some ex-
tent — whether exercises take place in 
the real world or in a virtual space. 
In its Simulation Training Guide, 
the U.S. Marine Corps breaks this 
definition down further, explaining 
each component of LVC training: 
• Live: In any live training, military 
members or units augment operational 
equipment with “surrogate” equipment 
to approximate combat conditions. 
• Virtual: In a virtual training, at least 
some elements of an operating envi-
ronment or operating equipment are 
simulated via technology. Examples of 
virtual training include pilots training in 
a flight simulator or ground tactical vehi-
cle crews using a turret trainer for gun-
nery practice. 
• Constructive: In the context of LVC 
training, “constructive” means “real 
people providing input to models and 
simulated systems,” often in the form 
of staff training, wargaming, and joint or 
combined exercises at the battalion lev-
el or higher. In a constructive exercise, 
feedback is provided through written 
reports, summaries, and verbal cues. 
The Simulation Training Guide notes 
that training is more effective when it 
“fully addresses the underlying mental, 
or cognitive, aspects associated with 
accomplishing training tasks” — and 
that an LVC approach should progres-
sively reinforce both “habits of mind” 
and “habits of action.” Such habits can 
be developed through “progressively 
relevant” activities, rangingfrom class-
room discussions, to wargaming, to 
high-fidelity simulators, with any or all 
of these integrated with live maneuver 
and live fire training. 
The training guide states: “This type 
TRAINING SCENARIOS FROM SIMULATION TO 
LIVE REHEARSALS
By: Calvin Hennick
11Defense News E-book
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Lt. Aaron Van Driessche, Warfare Tactics Instructor 
at the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) 
Detachment San Diego pilots the US Navy’s virtual 
combat curriculum with Sailors aboard USS Paul 
Hamilton (DDG 60) inside the On Demand Trainer. 
https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/MCRP 7-20A.3.pdf?ver=de8MOq_V7bK5MiPFwQ3Kyg%3D%3D
of progression represents a logical 
learning continuum that can reinforce 
key learning objectives and enable op-
timal training plan outcomes.”
LVC in Action
The Army and Marine Corps have each 
made investments in 5G technology to 
support their LVC training. For example, 
the Army is using 5G to simulate real 
rounds with a high level of precision, 
replacing a less accurate laser system 
that can fail to perform in fog, rain, or 
snowy conditions that deflect a laser 
signals. The Marine Corps’ LVC training 
effort, dubbed Project Tripoli, is aimed 
at eliminating gaps between “experi-
mentation efforts, the training continu-
um, and real-world mission rehearsals 
and operations.” Tech components of 
Project Tripoli include a Tactical Vid-
eo Capture System (TVCS) to provide 
video-based training review capabili-
ties, Ground Vehicle Training Systems 
(GVTS) to provide driver trainers and 
tactical vehicle simulators, and 3D Warf-
ighter Augmented Reality (WAR) to sim-
ulate live fire and maneuvers against 
virtual enemies. 
For both the Navy and the Air Force, 
the Tactical Combat Training System In-
crement II (TCTS II)  represents a “next 
generation secure, LVC-enabling, air 
combat maneuvering instrumentation 
system” that connects live aircraft and 
simulators in a training environment. In 
2022, the branches conducted training 
exercises that included four live aircraft, 
the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Di-
vision’s Manned Flight Simulator (which 
emulated a virtual F/A-18F), and the 
USS Bainbridge (DDG 96). During the 
training event, live and virtual aircraft 
performed simulated air-to-surface and 
air-to-air weapons employments while 
receiving synthetic radar warnings and 
kill notifications. 
In addition to providing military mem-
bers with access to a wider range of 
training scenarios, LVC training that 
incorporates virtual simulation also 
helps protect military strategy and se-
crets. “Every time we go fly, people are 
seeing and sniffing everything we’re 
doing,” said Mike Benitez, director of 
product for the aerospace company 
Shield AI, during a 2024 panel discus-
sion. “They’re bringing that back and 
informing how they think about navigat-
ing and countering our proposition for 
deterrence.” DN
Defense News E-Book 12
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U.S. Marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance, 1st Marine 
Division, engage opposing forces during a warfighting exercise. 
https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/next-generation-military-training-army-and-marine-corps-at-forefront-of-change-with-5g-and-live-virtual-constructive-lvc-modules/
https://www.tecom.marines.mil/Units/Divisions/Range-and-Training-Programs-Division/LVC-TE/
https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3178177/integrating-the-live-and-virtual-environments-for-development-and-training/
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Soldiers recently deployed to the Mid-
dle East often had less than a minute to 
decide how to take down an incoming 
drone.
A unit detecting, intercepting and de-
stroying a drone often took less than 
four minutes, said Maj. Gen. Scott Nau-
mann, commander of the 10th Moun-
tain Division.
To meet that threat, the two-star is 
working with his unit and using a sol-
dier-created tool to prepare troops to 
counter drones more effectively.
“Training [counter-drone] should be 
as routine as drawing our rifles, going 
to the range and honing our marksman-
ship skills,” Naumann said at the Ma-
neuver Warfighter Conference at Fort 
Moore, Georgia, in September.
The 2nd Brigade Combat Team ex-
perienced 170 one-way drone attacks 
between August 2023 and April 2024, 
according to Naumann.
That may seem like a lot, but if data 
from the Russia-Ukraine war is any in-
dicator, Naumann said, units could face 
that many attacks or more in a matter 
of days.
“Let that sink in a little bit,” Naumann 
said. “Our formations were defending 
from fixed sites. We weren’t maneu-
vering on the offense, and we weren’t 
conducting large-scale combat opera-
tions.”
While deploying units are develop-
ing more effective training methods to 
counter drone attacks, the Army is also 
making such habits part of a soldier’s 
foundational skills.
The service announced last year that 
it would include counter-drone train-
ing in boot camp. Staff at the Center 
for Initial Military Training is writing the 
doctrine for this initiative, Army Times 
previously reported.
Sgt. Brent Hemphill, a squad leader 
with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade Com-
bat Team, described his experience 
responding to frequent rocket attacks 
during a recent deployment to Syria.
“After the initial months, rocket at-
tacks became a regular occurrence, 
averaging two to three times a week, 
mostly at night,” Hemphill said in a re-
lease. “We’d grab our gear and head to 
bunkers. Depending on the situation, 
we’d either deploy as a quick reaction 
force or track down the attackers based 
on intel or witness reports.”
A similar experience during a 2022 
deployment of the 10th Mountain’s 1st 
Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st 
Infantry Brigade Combat Team, to Syria 
sparked an idea for how to prepare sol-
diers for this new reality.
At the time, 1st Lt. Samuel Strobel was 
serving as a night battalion battle cap-
tain, according to an Army release, and 
his experiences, along with those of 1st 
Lt. Mitchell Crowley, would lead them to 
create the Randomized Enemy Action 
Contact Trainer, or REACT, system.
The application “generates essential-
ly combat information about an incom-
ing drone or rocket attack that helps 
simulate battle drills for an operations 
center,” Naumann said. Users can ad-
just conditions in the application to 
change the type or number of attacks, 
according to Naumann.
Naumann highlighted Strobel’s cre-
ation as an example of the innovation 
he and other leaders are seeking in all 
their formations. DN
MAKE COUNTER-DRONE TRAINING AS ROUTINE AS 
MARKSMANSHIP: ARMY GENERAL
By: Todd South
Paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne
Division train with a Dronebuster on Fort
Liberty, North Carolina, July 27, 2023.
13Defense News E-book
The Army is employing diverse meth-
ods to keep its network up, data flow-
ing and signals passing between units 
in a major field exercise as it continues 
to build the next generation of com-
mand and control.
Deployed brigades will need to estab-
lish their networks quickly, work seam-
lessly with partner or ally networks and 
toggle between multiple options — 
from 5G to low-earth-orbit satellites — 
to maintain connectivity, officials said.
Some of that is already being done 
with the rotation of 2nd Brigade, 101st 
Airborne Division, at the Joint Readi-
ness Training Center, or JRTC, at Fort 
Johnson, Louisiana.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Ellis, director of the 
Army Futures Command Cross Func-
tional Team-Network, and Mark Kitz, 
program executive officer for the Ar-
my’s command, control and commu-
nications-tactical at Aberdeen Proving 
Ground, laid out work on both the cur-
rent and future tactical communications 
network Wednesday at the Armed 
Forces Communications and Electron-
ics Association TechNetevent in Au-
gusta, Georgia.
Ellis noted the four priorities for the 
Army’s network — survivability, interop-
erability, data-enabled and modular 
— are reflected in current training and 
experimentation.
The two-star observed this firsthand 
as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army 
Europe and Africa. During his tenure, 
eight division staffs rotated through 
the theater to support operations in 
Ukraine, each bringing their own equip-
ment and communications and con-
figurations and quickly learning what 
worked.
As conditions changed, so did their 
approaches.
For example, early in the war, any 
use of a mobile phone would get the 
user killed. But now, mobile phones on 
the correct networks are the only way 
to “hide” in the electromagnetic spec-
trum, Ellis said. If a user keys up on any 
military network, the Russian military 
COMMANDERS FIND NEW WAYS TO LEVERAGE NETWORK 
IN THEATER AND TRAINING
By: Todd South
The 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team, 101st 
Airborne Division, at the Army’s Joint Readiness 
Training Center leveraged a variety of network 
options as part of a major field exercise. 
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14Defense News E-book
will strike nearly instantaneously.
A tool developed through network 
experimentation in Europe is now be-
ing used across the globe, Ellis said. 
Using radio data over an Internet pro-
tocol-style tool built by the 2nd Cavalry 
Regiment allowed users to speak En-
glish into the radio and have it translat-
ed to text in the target language on the 
other end.
Another change, Ellis noted, is that 
allies are investing in their own net-
works, defensive communications and 
protocols. So, instead of allies simply 
showing up with a device and jacking 
into the U.S. network, many now want 
to use their own networks, which re-
quires further coordination.
“We’ve not been able to solve that 
yet,” Ellis said.
The Army’s C2 Fix program focuses 
on the current state of Army command 
and control systems. The Next Gener-
ation C2 may modify aspects of future 
communications architecture, Ellis and 
Kitz said.
Kitz said the Army expects the indus-
try to have the opportunity to compete 
for the Next Generation C2 program by 
early 2026.
The 2nd Brigade rotation involved 
an air assault from Fort Campbell, 
Kentucky, to Fort Johnson, Louisiana, 
across nearly 500 miles, Kitz said. The 
unit maintained constant connectivity 
by using a combination of 5G commer-
cial technology, satellite communica-
tion and tactical radios.
Beyond maintaining continuity, com-
manders are now able to leverage the 
vast troves of data the C2 program is 
putting at their fingertips, Kitz said.
This capability allows commanders 
to pull in live data from their own units 
along with adversary location, terrain, 
environment, weather history and doc-
trinal approach to query data.
“If I commit the reserve, what does 
this do to me three days from now?” 
Kitz said as an example. “If I move my 
fire support coordination line back, 
what does that do to my consumption 
rates?”
By running operational models quick-
ly, a commander can more effectively 
evaluate an approach to mission sets 
or tactical problems, Kitz said.
“This allows the commander to look 
at this in real time,” Kitz said.
A basic awareness of the communi-
cations landscape is influencing com-
manders’ decisions, he said. For exam-
ple, the brigade commander at JRTC 
brought a “whole bunch of (radio fre-
quency) decoys” to conceal his com-
mand post. DN
The bulk of military training is conduct-
ed by individual branches for their vari-
ous units, but real-world combat neces-
sitates cooperation between fighting 
forces from across branches — and 
from across the world. For this reason, 
joint training operations are key to mil-
itary success, and they represent the 
culmination of the rigorous exercises, 
simulations, and rehearsals that each 
branch holds to prepare its military 
members for wartime scenarios. 
Two important examples of these 
large-scale joint programs are Project 
Convergence and Project Overmatch. 
Project Convergence is an Army pro-
gram aimed at developing capabilities 
for the Defense Department’s Com-
bined Joint All-Domain Command and 
Control effort (CJADC2). The latest iter-
ation, Project Convergence Capstone 
4 (PC-C4) is a joint and multinational 
experiment, ultimately aimed at inte-
grating modern capabilities, including 
weapons systems and force protection. 
Project Overmatch is the Navy’s con-
tribution to the CJADC2 effort. The pro-
gram aims to better connect military 
sensors, shooters, platforms, and per-
sonnel across branches, as well as with 
key allies, and it has been described as 
“the bedrock for the joint tactical net-
work of the future.” 
The idea that U.S. fighting forces must 
collaborate in order to be effective is 
not new. In 1958, President Dwight D. 
Eisenhower said that the idea of sep-
arate land, air, and sea warfare was 
“gone forever.” But given how rapidly 
both threats and technologies evolve 
today, this concept is perhaps more rel-
evant than ever. 
In a 2023 article, Colonel Thomas A. 
Walsh, chief of the Strategic Engage-
ment Office for Joint Staff J7 and Al-
exandra L. Huber, an analyst with the 
Office of the Secretary of Defense, laid 
out the importance of joint training. 
“History shows that in times like this, 
nations that best capitalize on these 
changes create the greatest advantag-
es in battle,” they wrote. “Adapting to 
this evolving landscape requires the 
joint force — Army, Marine Corps, Navy, 
Air Force, and Space Force — to inte-
grate capabilities and synchronize ef-
fects fluidly across domains.”
Planning and Executing Joint 
Programs 
It requires a tremendous amount of 
preparation, planning, and coordina-
tion to hold joint training programs 
with multiple U.S. military branches and 
fighting forces from other nations. This 
planning process must be end-state 
oriented, focusing on critical national 
security objectives. 
“Detailed, wargamed planning iden-
tifies force requirements and training 
in preparation for the most likely oper-
ational requirements,” reads the Joint 
Publication 5-0 planning document is-
sued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It also 
enables rapid comparison of the hypo-
thetical conditions, operation phases, 
missions, and force requirements of 
existing contingency plans to the actu-
al requirements of an emergent crisis. 
Contingency planning allows the [Joint 
Planning and Execution Community] to 
deepen its understanding of the [oper-
ational environment] and sharpen its 
analytical and planning expertise.” 
HOW JOINT PROGRAMS ENHANCE TRAINING
By: Calvin Hennick
15Defense News E-book
U.S. Army Rangers assigned to the 
75th Ranger Regiment train during 
Project Convergence Capstone 4.
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https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3692664/project-convergence-capstone-4-works-to-integrate-joint-multinational-defense-s/
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3692664/project-convergence-capstone-4-works-to-integrate-joint-multinational-defense-s/
https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/jfq/jfq-111/jfq-111_4-15_Walsh-Huber.pdf?ver=TwePyLVymtN8924udhzIxQ%3d%3d
Defense News E-Book 16
It is also important for planners to 
choose measures of performance 
(MOPs) and measures of effectiveness 
(MOEs) carefully. “MOPs help answer 
the question, ‘Are we doing things 
right?’ or ‘Was the action taken?’ or 
‘Was the task completed to standard?’” 
notes the Joint Publication 5-0. “Using 
indicators that are too similar to each 
other can result in the repetitious eval-
uation of change in a particular condi-
tion. In this way, similar indicators skew 
analyses by overestimating, or ‘dou-
ble-counting,’ change in one item in the 
[operating environment].” 
Lessons from Large-Scale Training 
Missions
The results of this meticulous planning 
and preparation can be seenin events 
like the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) mil-
itary exercise, a massive multination-
al event held every two years as part 
of the Navy’s Project Overmatch. The 
2024 version featured participants and 
equipment from 29 nations — including 
40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 
national land forces, more than 150 air-
craft, and 25,000 personnel. 
In addition to giving fighting forces 
the opportunity to train together, events 
like RIMPAC allow military branches to 
test out new technologies, including 
solutions from new vendors. “Project 
Overmatch has created an opportunity 
for other vendors to be able to provide 
some capabilities that may not have 
been available otherwise,” said Capt. 
Eric Hutter, deputy director of the De-
partment of the Navy’s Disruptive Ca-
pabilities Office, at a 2024 panel. “Now 
we have a much broader spectrum of 
opportunities.”
Earlier in 2024, Project Convergence 
brought together more than 4,000 U.S. 
service members, military civilians, 
and other joint and multinational force 
members to experiment with warfight-
ing communications, operations, and 
maneuvers. The exercise illustrated the 
growing role of technology on the bat-
tlefield, said Army Gen. Randy George. 
“We’ve all seen how the battlefield 
is changing,” George said at the time. 
“We know that machines can do a lot of 
things right now much more effectively 
and much cheaper, and we’re going to 
have to incorporate them into our for-
mations. Technology is moving really 
fast, and [PC-C4] gave us an opportuni-
ty to see just how we could do that.” DN
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C5ISR Center teamed up with Army Soldiers for five weeks during 
Project Convergence 22 to test prototypes during force-on-force 
experimentation. 
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3716688/promising-experiment-signals-future-integration-of-advanced-tech-into-army-units/