Photo By Master Sgt. Timothy Chacon | Air National Guardsmen from the 123rd Contingency Response Group, Kentucky National...... read more read more
The future has arrived and is on display in Oscoda, Michigan during Exercise Northern Strike 24-2. The Air Force Research Laboratory tested virtual and augmented reality technology on aircraft refueling operations here on Aug. 8, 2024.
U.S. Air National Guardsmen with the 123rd Contingency Response Group and 123rd Contingency Response Squadron from Kentucky, and the 156th Contingency Response Squadron from Puerto Rico, utilized the AFRL’s technology to take untrained personnel and in less than an hour train them to to refuel a KC-135 Stratotanker.
The Just In Time Multi Mission Airmen/Warfighters programmers take the requirements needed for a task, assess the skill level of the the Airmen performing the task and determine the optimal level of training to start the process based on their existing experience.
“Assuming they don’t have experience doing refueling, which is our first use case, they start with [reviewing] a tablet to see what their training requirements are. [They] go through the modules with PDFs, videos and virtual reality where they will see what it is they will be doing on site,” said Dr. Samantha Perry, a technical contractor for AFRL. “After they complete this training, which takes approximately 30 minutes, they would then be able to augment their knowledge with one of two systems. One using a mixed reality headset — where they would have an overlay of the environment they would be engaging in — or a different augmented reality which is a head set that would have a check list to look at over time. The full training time to get familiar with these tools and as well as the baseline knowledge to be needed to augment would take about 45 minutes if they hadn’t experienced this maintainer example before.”
The technology does not eliminate the need for training, but it streamlines training process for specific tasks and adds virtual real-time assistance to walk airmen through the task as they perform them.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Adrian Mercado Argont, an air transportation journeyman with the 156th CRS, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, went through this training in Oscoda and utilized the augmented reality headset while refueling a KC-135 Stratotanker.
“My job is air transportation so they are teaching me how to work with fuels without having any experience on refueling,” said Mercado Argont. “It’s very helpful, if you're not from a specific [career field] and you need to do another job. It was pretty easy [to learn]. Everything was very straightforward. It's very helpful because it goes step-by-step on what you have to do. It’s going to be really helpful for the future.”
The Just In Time Multi Mission Airmen/Warfighters program currently has Hot Pit Refueling training as an initial prototype, but there are several areas they are looking to expand the technology into.
“We have been focused on Multi Capable Airmen tasks such as aircraft recovery, rearming, refueling and launching,” said Stephen McGee, JITMMA/W program lead. “The longer term vision is that this capability can support tasks in many different scenarios such as civil engineering, security forces, communications [and more].”
Taking the program out of the laboratory and into the field is elevating the technology to the next level. Putting the items in the hands of the users is a vital part of the development process. One sure way to find how well something functions or how easily it breaks is to put it through the crucible of flight line operations.
“We are gaining vital feedback from the warfighters at this exercise,” said McGee. “We plan to incorporate feedback and additional capabilities for next year’s Northern Strike exercise.”
As the U.S. military looks towards what possible engagements in the Indo-Pacific region could look like, the isolation units will face due to the region’s geography is becoming glaringly clear. Concepts like MCA and Agile Combat Employment will be vital to mission success. Innovative technologies like JITMMA/W will be a force multiplier for units that are separated from subject-matter experts in critical mission sets. These technologies will make units more agile, self-reliant, capable and lethal.
“This is [technology] that you are not going to be using at home station,” said Senior Master Sgt. Jacob Harper, senior enlisted leader for the 123rd CRS. “This is something a warfighter would [be] employing overseas when you are fighting a war. This is something we would use in battle if we were not given a [trained] crew chief or petroleum, oil, and lubricants troop. This would be something you would hand to a soldier or Marine in a place we didn’t have access to the [appropriately trained] service member and [rely] on that training to accomplish the task.”
Northern Strike 24-2, one of the Department of Defense’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, is scheduled to take place at Michigan’s National All Domain Warfighting Center NADWC from August 3-17, 2024.
Over 6,300 participants from 32 states and territories and several international participants will converge at the NADWC. Northern Strike is the premier reserve component training event designed to build readiness with joint and partner forces in all domains of warfare.
“Every airmen that has been out here at this location has been great,” said Harper. “The people of Oscoda have been fantastic and supportive with everything we’re doing here. It’s been a great exercise so far and I’m looking forward to finishing up strong.”
| Date Taken: | 08.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2024 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 478406 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 910 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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