Schofield gets simulator for virtual-reality training

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

It's a jungle out there.

Spec. Iolani Menza takes aim inside the EST 2000 "Strike House," an indoor simulator at Schofield Barracks. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

But this is inside, and Schofield Barracks can replicate more than 400 scenarios in its "Strike House," a jungle-camouflaged room the size of a big classroom where it trains with a new weapon: virtual reality.

The Engagement Skills Trainer 2000, a small-arms simulator, allows a squad of nine soldiers to engage the enemy in swampy jungle or urban terrain, firing infrared laser light beams instead of bullets at ducking and running soldiers on an 8-by-25-foot screen.

The Schofield soldiers, who last week fired M-16A2 rifles, Squad Automatic Weapons, 9 mm pistols and AT-4 rocket launchers during training, feel a compressed-air kick and hear a report for realism, and during a film run-back, see where their shots landed, with green for misses and red for hits.

A squad from the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry blazed away during day and night scenarios, getting a feel for the cacophony of battle.

The air conditioning and drop-ceiling compete a little with the camouflage and silk trees positioned here and there, but when the lights dim, it's combat.

"It's kind of realistic," said Specialist Iolani Menza, 21. "In this environment, you know you're not going to get shot, but it gets the adrenaline going."

Kyong Mun, a 19-year-old private first class from Washington state, said he likes the $125,000 simulator "because you can do so much more in a little amount of time."

"It's different scenarios," he said. "Urban terrain — we can do that five minutes after we were in the woods."

So successful has the system been Armywide that Orlando-based ECC International Corp. this month announced it received a $7.1 million production award for 86 additional systems.

Soldiers participate in a simulation exercise with an 8-by-25-foot screen portraying their virtual terrain. Squads of up to nine soldiers can train in "Strike House" at any one time. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Soldiers and commanders at Schofield like the Strike House, the first Army virtual reality trainer in Hawai'i.

Col. Roy C. Waggoner III, the 3rd Brigade commander, said the Strike House allows the 25th Infantry Division (Light) to replicate a $10,000 squad live-fire exercise.

"We can give a set of junior leaders a dozen sets of experience doing this in a couple of hours as opposed to one or two in 24 hours out there on the live-fire ranges," Waggoner said.

Waggoner said the Strike House is never going to replace live fire.

"Live fire is essential to our combat readiness, and if we don't do it, we're going to suffer in combat readiness," he said. "But what it allows us to do is do our live fire at a higher level of training."

"Through-put," or going through required exercises — while dealing with scheduling and training constraints — is another issue.

To execute nine infantry squad live-fire exercises — basically a rifle company's worth — and doing day and night blank, and day and night live fire, costs approximately $86,000, said Lt. Col. Burt K. Thompson, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry commander.

It takes about nine days for each squad in 18 rifle companies to conduct live-fire exercises, Thompson said.

Each squad is required to conduct live-fire exercises at least four times a year. This doesn't include live-fire training required of other elements such as military police and the Long-Range Surveillance Detachment.

"You can quickly do the math and determine we don't have enough days in the week and year to execute the way we want to," Thompson said. "The bottom line is, we have to maximize our resources. The beauty of the EST Strike House concept is we can leverage technology in the virtual world here to get our knowledge skills and abilities and work on those tactics, techniques and procedures."

The Strike House is used almost daily.

Sgts. 1st Class Mark Johnson and Victor Nicholson, Schofield Barracks military police, last week demonstrated domestic abuse, bank robbery and store holdup scenarios.

Standing facing the screen and with 9 mm pistols holstered, the MPs' view in one scenario was of walking through the door of a convenience store and browsing in the aisles.

At the counter, a voice is heard saying, "Put the money in the bag! Hurry up, let's go!" and the view becomes that of an armed robber holding a checkout clerk.

"Where'd you guys come from?" the robber demands.

Following unheeded commands to drop the gun, the clerk darts away and shots are fired.

The screen later tallies the MPs' performance:

• Total shots fired: 4
• Lethal shots: 2

"What (the Strike House) does is allow us to train our soldiers to use deadly force — or not," Johnson said.

Later, the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry squad took up prone positions on wooden boxes covered in camouflage netting, and faced off with the "enemy" in a jungle setting.

The opposing soldiers are small on the screen to replicate the scale of distance, and appear fleetingly.

Ever-present though, is the sound of gunfire, and squad members attempting to communicate over it.

"Watch 'em shoot!" "There's troops in the open!" and "I'm down to 20 rounds!" can be heard above the din during an urban firefight exercise that also includes a night fight with night-vision devices.

Mun said it takes practice — like that provided in the Strike House — to get used to the grainy view provided through the "NVDs."

"When I first put them on I was stumbling everywhere. It's just something you've got to get used to," he said. "It's real different seeing them at night — the enemy — so that's one of the great things about doing this."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.