Military Simulation & Serious Games

There are many books on traditional discrete event simulation. But there are few specifically on the interactive, real time, simulation that is used for military training. These are also the techniques that formed the basis of the 3D computer games that are now hugely popular.

In Military Simulation & Serious Games, I brought together a number of chapters that explore the technologies in both of these industries. It begins with an introduction to the important concepts behind simulation, including DES. But, I try to summarize this well known material in one chapter before getting into unique material on interactive simulation and gaming.

There is so much to be learned about military simulation that I hope other authors will write books specifically on this topic in the future.

2008 Defense GameTech Conference

The agenda and presentations for the 2008 Defense GameTech Conference are posted on the web at:
http://www.peostri.army.mil/PAO/pressrelease/20080425_gametech.jsp

[Note: This is a belated posting. Google does not seem to have indexed the link above.]

Persistent Archive of Military Simulation Research and Experience

A great deal of the simulation technology that is created in defense is not captured in the form of journal articles. This means that a lot of knowledge is lost because it is not archived in a form that can be readily searched by others in the profession. The largest repository of articles on military simulation is on the SISO web site and the last time I checked there was no way to search across all of the conference contents.

In an effort to familiarize our simulation scientists and engineers with their options for publishing their work, we should create a panel session at a major conference like I/ITSEC composed of all of the Editors of the relevant journals in this area. They would present the goals of the journal and the methods for submitting to it to an audience that traditionally limits itself to conference presentations. An initial list of these journals is:

• ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation
  
• Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation
  
• Simulation
  
• Presence
  

Certainly there must be more.

Simulation Center Design

While visiting the 86th BWFX in Vermont it struck me that the layout and operation of the sim center is almost identical to the first big exercises that I participated in – Certain Caravan and Reforger 1992. There are hundreds of computers, miles of network cables, and hundreds of operators. In the last 15 years it does not appear that we have done anything to redesign the sim center for better efficiency. Most of the systems in the 2007 exercise were new and different from those of 1992, but the number of computers and operators is the same.

The sim center is like a factory that generates training stimulus. It is hard to imagine a factory that has not been significantly changed by automation in the last 15 years. I know the F-16 fighter factory where I began my career is still in the same building, but the layout and operations inside have changed considerably due to computer automation and increased parts outsourcing. There is probably an opportunity to redesign the sim center, eliminate many stations and functions, and make the system more efficient.

Military Simulation Wikipedia

For decades the military has maintained catalogs of the simulation systems that have been developed, what their capabilities are, and who to contact to get them. The earliest version that I saw was a 2-column printed set from the late 1980’s. Since then, this catalog has gone electronic, distributed on floppy disks in the 1990s; and more recently has gone online at MSIAC. However, it is something that is easy to neglect and to let fall out of date. Perhaps we can turn authorship of the catalog over to the community at large using a Wiki. The Wikipedia has shown that such open communities tend to create documents that are accurate, detailed, and current – most of the time. The interests of the many serve to police the documents to eliminate or correct inaccuracies in the entries.