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From the Army News Service and Other Sources Soldiers • May 2009 27 TRAINING technology develop- ment in California has Soldiers walking through virtual environments that contain both real-world objects and simulated characters. The “FlatWorld Wide Area Mixed Reality” demonstration was a 3-D gaming environment that didn’t require Soldiers to wear a visor that would tether them to a computer. BATTLEFIELD events in Iraq and Afghanistan compelled the Army to rebuild an electronic warfare capa- bility that it had allowed to slip,” said Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV, com- mander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. His remarks were in conjunction with the rollout in February of the Army’s newest field manual, FM 3-36, Electronic Warfare Operations. “We encountered a threat we were not prepared for and we must learn from this lesson to ensure that our force is agile enough to deal with future contingencies,” Caldwell said. Upon announcement of the Army’s new Field Manual 3-36, Caldwell warned that the military services and other agencies of government should be keenly aware of the rapidly devel- oping threat posed by technological Army releases new electronic warfare manual advances in the realm of cyberspace. Caldwell went on to say the Army is moving rapidly to build a cyber- space force, while updat- ing its legacy electronic warfare capabilities. The impetus to rebuild the Army’s electronic warfare capability came as a result of radio-controlled improvised explosive devices, said Lt. Col. Fred Harper, a key analyst for the TRADOC Capa- bilities Manager Computer Network Operations Electronic Warfare Division at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The Army leadership has thrown the weight of its full support behind an institutional commitment to rebuild EW as quickly as possible into a core Army military capability. Soldiers and civilians participate in electronic warfare training at the Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Okla. In conjunction with re-establishing EW, the Army is also taking steps to develop and integrate computer net- work operations and cyber-electronics into the broader Army suite of capa- bilities to ensure that cyberspace is optimally exploited by Soldiers of the future. v — Combined Arms Center Immersive technology melds Hollywood, warrior training It melds concepts of stagecraft from Hollywood (including real-world props) with technology and projec- tion screens, to make a virtual world Soldiers can interact with. “We have walls where the outside is projected in—where you can have virtual humans interact with you in the spaces, or where you can project bullet holes onto the walls,” said Dr. Randall Hill Jr., executive director of the Institute for Creative Technologies in Los Angeles. The Institute is, said Hill, a “nexus” between the entertainment industry, academia and the Army. Many projects at ICT are “people- focused,” Hill said. One of the most visible, now being used by Army Accessions Command, is the “Ser- geant Star” program. Sergeant Star first appeared on the goarmy.com Web site as a non-animated character that answered questions for site visitors. The ICT team was asked to turn him into something more. Now, the virtual NCO is avail- able “in person” at Future Farmers of America events, NASCAR races and other venues where the Army reaches out to audiences for recruiting. Ser- geant Star is projected at full size on a screen and can interact with potential Army recruits, answering questions about life in the Army. v — ARNEWS/C. Todd Lopez In the “FlatWorld Wide Area Mixed Reality,” ICT demonstrates a 3-D gaming environment that doesn’t require Soldiers to wear visors or tether them to computers. It melds concepts from Hollywood, including real-world props, with technology and projection screens, to make a virtual world Soldiers can move around in and interact with. “