Photo By Jonathan Koester | Guy Dwyer, right, virtual technical lead for JMC’s Multi-Domain Operations...... read more read more
When the U.S Army Joint Modernization Command was first formed in 2006 as the Future Force Integration Directorate, Guy Dwyer was there. When JMC consisted only of seven personnel sharing a single phone, Guy Dwyer was there. And in 2020, as JMC works under Army Futures Command to plan, synchronize, and execute exportable live field experiments to inform modernization efforts to enable a Multi-Domain Capable Force, Guy Dwyer is here.
“I’ve been here from the beginning,” Dwyer said. “The only person that has been at JMC longer than me is Chief of Staff Doug Fletcher, and that’s because he was working on it from Fort Knox, Kentucky, before he got here on ground.”
Dwyer is now virtual technical lead for JMC’s Multi-Domain Operations Simulations Center. In that role, he implements 3D simulation software into MDO simulations for training. Though, in truth, he really is an overall problem solver for JMC. When people are stuck on a program or trying to figure out how to get something done, they go to Dwyer.
“Everything else I do is basically help everybody else,” Dwyer said. “I help solve problems. The way I think is not normal, and sometimes that helps solve problems that we may have. Sometimes my solutions work, and a lot of times they don’t work. But it gives people other ways of thinking.”
When Dwyer first arrived to JMC in 2006, he came as a Sergeant First Class, working in G6. Two years later, he retired from the Army and was hired on to help JMC’s communications and simulation efforts. Dwyer jumped into the Virtual Battle Space realm partly because of his enjoyment of video games.
“Because I played a lot of video games with my son and on my own, that’s how I got to the virtual part,” Dwyer said. “We did a lot of events with the VBS, which is a 3D simulation. It’s almost like a video game. The company that makes VBS also made America’s Army, which is another popular video game. So I’ve been doing mostly that.”
Though the VBS doesn’t easily fit into JMC’s large Joint Warfighting Assessments, Dwyer brings VBS in for units to train on excursions, like having a special forces team searching through virtual buildings and cars for a high-value target.
“I’m also working on using this for a planning tool for the commanders,” Dwyer said. “When they do most of their training now, they use 2D maps. But now, we can pull in pre-built terrain, terrain from anywhere in the world, and it has elevation, trees, buildings, pretty close to what’s there. So you can put a guy on the ground somewhere and pretty much see what’s actually there. If you see a valley on a map, it’s a bunch of squiggly lines together. But if you see it in 3D, you’re going to find out it’s 300-foot sheer cliff. Or, you may see some lines and not realize it’s a gentle slope that you can push a cart up. So it can help them plan better.”
Dwyer said that what he enjoys most about working at JMC is helping Soldiers get the training and experimentation they need. Those who have seen his office at JMC – full of interesting artwork, sci-fi paraphernalia and 3D objects he has made – might wonder if he misses all that while being forced to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nah, I have a bunch of stuff at home, too,” Dwyer said.
Home, since 2006, has been in El Paso with his wife and son. Does he enjoy El Paso after growing up in Wisconsin?
“My wife says I like El Paso,” Dwyer said.
Hard to know if that enigmatic answer settles the matter, but JMC is glad Dwyer enjoys El Paso and the JMC mission enough that he has been here from the beginning, helping train Soldiers and modernize the Army.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2020 17:09 |
| Story ID: | 374398 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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