Virtual Reality Training of Heavy Weapons Skills for United States Air Force Security Personnel

Air Force Security Forces Airmen are assigned to roles requiring the operation of heavy crew-served weapons from vehicle platforms that include HMMWV, MRAP, and BearCat. It is important that Airmen be proficient in the operation and employment of these weapons to perform their missions of applying force, if required. Due to limitations of time and resources, these personnel lack applicable training using these weapons beyond familiarization fires that ensure Airmen are aware of how the weapons operate. Due to these limitations, Airmen lack “trigger time� in employing these weapons in a comprehensive training and evaluation environment as well as lacking “seat time� using these weapons in critical mission-specific situations. Raydon Corporation have proposed to conduct a thorough feasibility study to see if Virtual Reality (VR) weapon training systems used by the Army National Guard can be adapted for Air Force use. This study will research courses of instruction for heavy weapons, interview security forces members and leadership, demonstrate the current VR training systems to security forces, investigate a VR training strategy for the course of instruction, and determine Air Force specific adaptations to the VR training to prepare security forces, ensuring effective and efficient training using adaptive methodologies.