Community & Business
20 August, 2024
Ground crew trainees learn through VR
Groundcrew trainees at Swartz Barracks Oakey Army Aviation Training Centre have been undertaking VR training recently in the Communication Education and Learning Technology Section (CELTS).
Exposure to this type of synthetic training environment aims to enhance training quality, while at the same time building and gaining confidence in practising procedures before trainees train on live aircraft.
CELTS Education Officer Jack Dutton wrote last year that the VR program is just one of a number of opportunities to expand on the Army’s ‘growing training innovation efforts’ across a number of trades.
Ground Crew Mission Support (GCMS)/Ground Crew Aircraft Support (GCAS): the development of virtual training devices that emulate mission, communication, and threat data loading procedures to the CH47F (Chinook) will assist in training and reduce the requirement to access live aircraft until summative assessment. As this product matures, it will be replicated in other airframes.
For Aircraft and Avionics Technicians, there are opportunities to build virtual flight control systems, 3D models for training, and procedural training devices.
These efforts will allow trainees to better understand airframes during their ab-initio and Initial Employment Training.
For pilot training, there is the opportunity to leverage low-cost simulation tools to train for tactical manoeuvres and terrain-specific flying.
CELTS is led by a Royal Australian Army Education Corps officer and consists of a multi-disciplinary and multi-talented team of instructional designers, graphic artists, 3D artists, 3D print specialists, software developers, and uniformed multimedia technicians.
Its XR team (developer, 3D artist and 3D print specialist) is funded via the Future Ready Training System funding line and has exponentially empowered the instructional design and development elements to pursue new technologies for better training effect.
To learn more, head to the Army website: https://cove.army.gov.au/article/extending-reality
