Camp Aachen preparing joint simulation command center

[unhappycamper]

Camp Aachen preparing joint simulation command center
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, September 25, 2008

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Inside a massive warehouse that used to house tank simulators, technicians are installing hundreds of computers, big-screen televisions, projectors and miles of fiber-optic cable.

The 50,000-square-foot facility, slated to open in November, will have 300 work stations where military leaders can test the latest computerized command systems.

A few years ago soldiers came to Camp Aachen to use Close Combat Tactical Trainers — devices that replicated the interior layout of a tank, using screens and computer simulations that allow soldiers to "drive" the vehicles around a virtual environment. But with the drawdown of tank units from Germany and a Global War on Terrorism requiring almost no conventional fighting, the tank simulators are not in as much demand.

More important to the Army these days are battle command systems — computer systems that allow leaders to track men, equipment and enemy forces using GPS and satellite maps — employed extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During a tour of the new facility, Joint Multinational Simulation Center chief Col. Stephen Seitz said the improvements are part of a rapid expansion of the center over the past two years. The organization, which uses computers to simulate combat environments so that military leaders can conduct operations using the battle command systems, now fills 56 one-story buildings at Camp Aachen.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57650



uhc comment: As usual, there are no bucks attached to this new simulation center.