Pocket-sized, easy-to-use mobile devices with integrated wi-fi connectivity — including the iPhone and iPod Touch — are helping to keep soldiers connected to each other like never before, both on the battlefield and in training environments.

Military officials see promise in the wide range of mobile applications that are in the works or that currently run on these devices, including language translation software and a Web browser for soldiers to download videos and display maps. With the increase in usage of electronic hand-held devices among the military, the devices are the perfect platform to improve the capability and readiness of deploying troops.

Alion has developed “electronic Collaboration Capabilities” (eC2), a Web-based, mobile collaborative training system that enables war fighters to download and customize information and perform actions ranging from training and education to testing and experimentation. In addition to the iPhone and iPod Touch, eC2 applications run on other mobile hardware devices as well, to enhance cognitive learning for skill sets, training reinforcement, decision-making, information management and coordination. The training system also integrates with simulations and digital battle command systems to allow soldiers and commanders to view and capture training activities for post-training review.

Additionally, eC2 can be used as a teaching tool, enabling war fighters to continue coursework education and training at work, home or during deployments. eC2 makes the job of a training leader a lot easier. Ultimately, it is designed to improve war-fighter safety and mission success.

ON THE VIRTUAL BATTLEFIELD

Take the scenario of a soldier being deployed to a remote area in Iraq to perform an unfamiliar mission with a short time frame to educate himself on that mission. Now imagine the same soldier receiving critical instructions, even training and experimentation from a training leader, with the ease of his cell phone. With eC2, that scenario is reality.

Starting with a specified set of military training tasks and scenarios, eC2 enhances a soldier’s situational awareness of the virtual and constructive simulations. The system also displays and allows troops to adjust the data in high-fidelity training environments, as well as accentuate real-world terrain, simulations and command, and control, communications, computer and intelligence (C4I) systems. Using a local-area network (LAN), wide-area network (WAN) or virtual personal network (VPN), eC2 enables training data to be disseminated before, during and after an exercise.

During the preparation stage — before the exercise actually begins — eC2 applications inform troops of the training mission, tasks, conditions and standards, orders, overlays and historical information all gleaned from the training repository. During the training exercise, eC2 links with C4I systems at military and homeland security locations, consistent with Defense Department information assurance directives, to enable a real-time remote visual display of PC work stations, ongoing activities and interactive command-and-control capabilities. The applications allow commanders to access information across military functional areas such as battle command, fire support and logistics.

In the final review phase, eC2 applications can be used as a teaching tool to assist the commander and training noncommissioned officer (NCO) in analyzing and reporting training results, key events and performance data to the unit and its training management system — which instantly creates lessons learned on ways to improve the process.

The eC2 technology stores exercise scenarios and functions for future analysis and evaluation in the Army Knowledge Online Battle Command Knowledge System and on unit training records. The iPod Touch and iPhone allow commanders and leaders to view and interact with the simulations and C4I systems. Live, virtual and constructive simulation 2-D and 3-D imagery are portrayed and presented using the iPod video and audio features. The voice recorder, camera, Internet and e-mail features enable leaders to easily synchronize data and store a war fighter’s results for further analysis by the chain of command and training audiences.

TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSITIONS

Soldiers can pull data on counter-improvised explosive devices or get phrase translations from Arabic, Kurdish and other languages to English using the Vcommunicator Mobile software program, which can be used in conjunction with the eC2 training applications.

Language software is not new to the military. For years, troops deployed with such software on their laptops or PDAs. What is innovative is that now this same software rides on the smart phones, along with the capability to train with eC2 as deployed soldiers move across the battlespace.

In addition, eC2 allows military leaders to use their existing PC-based tools for design, configuration, collection and analysis. Using the eC2 system, an operator would simply check previous training results and lessons learned.

But as with all science and technology software being developed for the mobile devices, there remain some challenges. For some, there remains reluctance in trusting a wireless network for battlefield training, even though applications like eC2 have been thoroughly demonstrated and tested. There are also some adaptability issues. Additionally, it takes time and evaluation to prototype configurations and applications, and to use all of the components of eC2. And, as with any system, there is a need for continual operator training. Overall, however, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

Technologically, eC2 can serve as a portal into distributed training resource repositories to provide views of simulation models, performance ratings, training manuals, reports and illustrations. EC2 also can provide software engineers with transitional updates and improvements from new tools that have improved interface and support for effective and productive collaboration.

For example, the new iPhone 3G cellular network interface allows an unprecedented wireless, portable device for full life cycle training support. Furthermore, the iPhone is now compatible with Microsoft Exchange’s ActiveSync, which transmits and synchronizes e-mail, calendar and contacts, and provides Cisco VPN services. Mirroring the uses by the academic community for student learning, eC2 will advance the state-of-the-art in technical support of collaborative activities by providing assistance to evaluators based on an analysis of previous and ongoing activities in order to improve the learning of the community as a whole. Activities involving collaboration will be designed with training NCO evaluators and commanders included in the training activity sequence.

EC2 uses the smart phones as portable media storage devices with a Web browser that will include and share the critical capabilities of training for operational environments. The software understands rapidly changing tactics and procedures, teaches new concepts, provides scenario documentation, supports data import and export and tracking, facilitates lessons-learned management and enables performance measurement archiving.

In actual on-site accessibility, commanders and leaders can start, adjust or stop the military’s LVC modeling and simulation programs One Semi-Automated Forces and Joint Semi-Automated Forces. Following information assurance directives, data and information can be readily disseminated and shared via VPN over a LAN or WAN. Commanders and leaders can observe and review events as they occur to create a real-time interactive system interoperable with existing programs. To create this environment, eC2 focuses on the war fighter and provides a viable link between the commander’s training objectives and the training environment.

Commanders and leaders need to access data and information to plan, conduct and review military training. The eC2 system provides this collaborative environment with:

• Visibility into remote computers with granted permission.

• Google Reader and RSS access to relevant documents and information, including training manuals; plans; orders; operational concepts; counter-IED lessons learned; and political, military, economic, social, infrastructure and information systems.

• Quick access for note taking and sharing.

• Fast transmission of information among users.

• Online and concurrent review of test results with visualized graphics and displays.

• Access to videos of previous training events.

• Imagery and photos synched with a common station for all to view.

• Access to existing PC-based training systems, simulations and battle command systems, data collection and analysis tools.

• Customized programmable features as required by the user.

EC2 allows these documents to coexist in a shared environment while going through training. This creates a system where the stakeholders have more of an impact in the development of the exercise and the ability to dynamically plan and to maximize limited training resources. Since there is no longer a need to take time to print documents and disseminate information, there is a more real-time information infrastructure available to the training NCO or commander.

The eC2 system is a force multiplier designed to improve military capabilities, preparedness and mission-effectiveness. Our military fights very dispersed, mobile battles across various theaters of operation around the world. Our troops now have the technology hardware and software applications that suit this 21st century fight.

George Stone is Alion’s vice president for program management, and modeling and simulation senior scientist.