Sealund’s Serious Games Blog

DOD Custom Training for Contractor Proposal Evaluation

The Department of Defense has recently implemented the custom game, the Artemis Exploration, developed by Sealund & Associates in collaboration with the Defense Acquisition University, to train contract managers to evaluate contractor proposals. We’re honored to add Artemis Exploration to our growing list of custom serious games for the DOD.

Players can also view text captions of the Mentor’s spoken information. Players learn the basic elements of proposal evaluation and then perform a detailed comparison of contracts to select the best contractor for the Artemis project and estimate the project.

The scenario-based game in the “Moonbase” environment provides Help, a Notebook, a Calculator, and a Mentor, and an Effectiveness Meter gives players immediate feedback on each decision, applying proven instructional design best practices in a creative, custom setting.

The Artemis Exploration game fits in with the DOD’s technological advances in information and training delivery to troops in the field.

In an article titled Mobile apps supplying soldiers with training, Keith Desbois, Combined Arms Support Command, reported on June 28, that today’s soldier is “tech savvy, uses state-of-the-art equipment to quickly and safely accomplish a mission, and can multitask with efficiency. To capitalize on these talents, the Army is conducting a pilot program that could potentially change the training environment. Instructors and advanced students of the Unit Supply Specialist (92Y) course are using mobile devices, with tailored applications, to give students a platform where they can continue learning even after leaving the classroom. ‘By providing the Soldiers with iPhones, they can review lesson plans anywhere and anytime,’ Ron Spence, Automated Logistics Supply & Subsistence Branch chief, Quartermaster Division, Combined Arms Support Command, said. ‘They can be on their way to sick call and still stay up with the course work.’”

As announced this June, military casualty care training has gone mobile. “To address the need for continuous training, the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care System (MC4) has a new mobile application for medical training resources. Known as the Army Training Network 2 Go or ATN2GO, it allows soldiers to view training manuals and screen casts at the touch of a button. The mobile application can easily be downloaded on any approved iPhone, iPad or Android device. With military medical personnel stationed around the globe, this latest tool in the training arsenal is quick and efficient. ‘We want to take training directly to soldiers instead of bringing solders to training. It’s just-in-time training and education, whenever and wherever you want it,’ Army Brig. Gen. Paul E. Funk II said on the service’s website. ATN2GO operates through iTunes, which is not authorized for use on government computers per the Army Training Network (ATN) website. Soldiers can download the application to a personal computer from the ATN website via common access card or Army Knowledge Online (AKO) credentials. Tutorials and resources on the ATN website guide users through the installation process.”

Also in June, 2011, Dianne Moffett, Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs announced in Free mobile app for basic military training available to Airmen, that “a free mobile phone application geared toward people preparing for life in the Air Force and focusing on physical training was released June 2. The mobile app, called ‘Fundamentals,’ is available for download from the iTunes Store and will be available from the Android Market in early July. ‘The application will help Air Force candidates prepare for basic military training and ensure they arrive in better physical condition,’ said Maj. Sandra Magaña, the Air Education and Training Command chief of future learning capabilities. … Other segments contained in the app include Airmen fundamentals, such as the Heritage Hall to learn the Airman’s Creed, the Air Force song and core values, officials said. … The uniform issue segment has information and photos of the Airman Battlefield Uniform, physical training uniform, service and service dress uniforms. Carol Wall, the project manager for AETC’s future capabilities branch of the future learning division, said the app is pretty extensive and received its inspiration from the Army’s Future Soldier Training System. The app was created for AETC by General Dynamics Information Technology.” Click here to view the Fundamentals app.

On July 12, 2011, CNN reported that for U.S. Army troops, smartphones could become requisite field gear, along with boots, guns and ammunition. The Army is wrapping up a six-week program to test the viability of using touchscreen phones and tablets in combat. The pilot program began on June 6 within the White Sands and Fort Bliss training areas in New Mexico and Texas. “When they have a problem or need to submit a report, they default to the texting,” said Michael McCarthy, an Army director for the program. “These young soldiers grew up with this technology. They’re very familiar with it. They’re very comfortable with it.”

Of course, the Sealund Teams are honored to play a part in the DOD’s growing IMI (Interactive Media Instruction) initiative.

What do you think? How would IMI fit your organization’s instructional needs? Please share your comments.

RESOURCES:

AF Offers Basic Training Mobile App, (http://stage.military.com/news/article/air-force-news/af-offers-basic-training-mobile-app.html), accessed July 17, 2011.

Army Combat Casualty Care Training Goes Mobile, June 6, 2011 (http://www.health.mil/News_And_Multimedia/News/detail/11-06-06/Army_Combat_Casualty_Care_Training_Goes_Mobile.aspx), accessed July 17, 2011.

Blottenberger, Dan. “Army to test smart phone apps to train soldiers,” in Stars and Stripes, July 11, 2010, (http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/army-to-test-smart-phone-apps-to-train-soldiers-1.110693), accessed July 17, 2011.

Desbois, Keith. Mobile apps supplying soldiers with training, Combined Arms Support Command, June 28, 2011 (http://www.army.mil/article/51720/), accessed July 16, 2011.

Moffett, Dianne. Free mobile app for basic military training available to Airmen, 6/9/2011, Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123259167), accessed July 17, 2011.

U.S. Army may soon equip troops with smartphones, CNN, July 12, 2011 (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/12/army.smartphones/), accessed July 16, 2011.