D2 TEAM-Sim wins Innovations in DoD Gaming competition

New Patriot Training 'App' Wins Gaming Competition Award

"Launcher Dogs: March Order and Emplace" application, developed for Patriot crew drill training, was selected as one of the second-place winning entries in this year's Innovations in DoD Gaming competition sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Laboratory (ADL Co-Lab). The award for creative application of a game product was presented on March 30th at the GameTech 2010 conference in Orlando, Fla.
Launcher Dogs is an interactive, self-remediating program to help soldiers learn how to setup the major end items of the Patriot air and missile defense system. It reinforces classroom training by allowing the soldier to study anywhere, anytime via the Internet and using a handheld device such as the Apple iPod touch or iPhone. It complements traditional training methods and allows for individual development needs.

The application is part of a larger interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) platform that is in development and currently being evaluated by soldiers at Ft. Sill (Oklahoma). The IMI platform includes an avatar instructor, video, simulation, a self-assessment feature and more. Jim Cimino of D2 TEAM-Sim explained that having a variety of interactive components gives instructors great flexibility in designing the overall training. "It's about creating engaging and impactful instruction. It's also about delivering a fun experience, which motivates people to learn and gives them the tools to complete training 'refreshers' more regularly."

Developed in partnership with Raytheon, the handheld device application was created by observing soldiers' step-by-step procedures and tasks in setting up the Patriot system. The end result is a detailed, life-like simulation with text and audio instructions that guide a soldier through the tutorial.

"Training is a critical component of delivering a total quality program to our customers," said Dave Hartman, Business Development for Patriot Programs, IDS. "The development of Launcher Dogs supports the Army's desire to modernize training and use digital applications to provide a more engaging learning experience for soldiers. By developing new training tools, we are able to help our customer find more effective and efficient ways to help soldiers attain the necessary skills to do their jobs."

Betty Lau, CEO of Appliedinfo Partners, Inc., emphasized: " Beyond improving the user experience, IMI learning has the potential to decrease the amount of time for Patriot training (currently a 10-week program). It may also present an opportunity to reduce the amount of Patriot hardware needed to support training."