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BASTROP, Texas - Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, recently upgraded an aging virtual reality shooting system that allows soldiers to fire unlimited rounds and hone their shooting skills before ever stepping foot on a live-fire range.
The Engagement Skills Trainer II replaced the EST 2000 in 2017. The improved system mimics a live fire range using state-of-the-art video projectors, air compressors and lasers. It also measures shooter data used for coaching and can simulate other scenarios.
Camp Swift is a Texas Army National Guard-run training facility that dates back to World War II and trains thousands of service members from all components each year.
Command Sgt. Maj. Toby Mendoza, Range Operations Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge at Camp Swift, oversees the Engagement Skills Trainer as part of his responsibilities. As an award-winning machine gunner and rifleman, Mendoza credits some of his success to using this technology.
“In 2007, my team won the Mac 5 Regional Machine Gun Competition,” Mendoza said. “All of our shooter training for the completion that year took place in the EST.”
The EST-II occupies two rooms in a building specifically designed for the systems around 10 years ago. In the small arms room, soldiers can fire the M4, shotgun, M9, AT4 and M203. In the crew served weapon room, training is conducted on the MK19, M2, M240 and M249.
“The system allows us to mix the weapons to the needs of the teams being trained,” Mendoza said. “As more upgrades become available, we are able to coach them better and really tailor their training.”
Data is measured before, during and after each shot. Coaches can monitor shooters’ pitch, cant, trigger squeeze and steady position in real time via sensors in ESTII’s weapons. After an iteration, the system can playback everything recorded on the screen.
The implementation of technology at Camp Swift helps Guardsmen continue their mastery of soldier tasks, Mendoza said. The installation also utilizes other simulators such as the Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer and the Virtual Convoy Trainer.
“Technology is making training more efficient,” Mendoza said. “Soldiers can fly helicopters, drive tanks and call for fire in simulators - especially Guard soldiers that can’t train every day, this technology safely gets them familiar with equipment.
The Army’s upgraded technology also makes the training available to more soldiers. As advances make systems more efficient, tools like the EST-II can be more mobile, Mendoza said. Soldiers with a basic understanding of computers can learn to run the EST-II with a short training given by Mendoza’s staff.
Wade Ferguson, Mendoza’s civilian counterpart at Camp Swift, is in charge of briefing incoming platoons on how to effectively use the system and said he has seen groups who use the EST-II do better when they get to a live-fire range.
“When you get a soldier that hasn’t qualified in over a year, it can be difficult for them,” Ferguson said. “Using the system helps save time, frustration and saves the state money in ammunition and other range costs.”
The facility at Camp Swift will host anywhere between 10-300 soldiers in a weekend. An individual weapon connected to the EST-II can fire upwards of 60,000 times, without ammunition, before sending it to be serviced.
“At ten-cents per round or so, for the M4, one of our weapons can save around $6,000 in just ammunition,” Fergusson said. “But the time saved is much more valuable.”
Mendoza looks to future technologies to continue to improve training available to Texas Guardsmen. Future technologies include replacing data cables with Bluetooth technology and more realistic scenarios, but says the basic training tools are still important.
“Technology helps NCOs train soldiers, but the EST is just another tool. There is no replacement for dime drills and dry firing,” Mendoza said. “The training must start with familiarization of weapon systems at the home station.”
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2018 16:26 |
| Story ID: | 294217 |
| Location: | BASTROP, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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