Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (LI), clear an area with the Integrated Visual Augmentation System during a Squad immersive Virtual Trainer exercise at Fort Drum. SiVT facilitates squad-level training in a mixed reality-based synthetic environment; it can be used to train almost anywhere at any time, bringing training to Soldiers instead of bringing Soldiers to training. (U.S. Army photos by Spc. Mason Nichols)
10th Mountain Division Soldiers take training into the future with next-generation technology
Pfc. Elijah Campbell
27th Public Affairs Detachment
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Aug. 2, 2024) – Blue and red dots fill the digital compass, while allies and enemies flood the screen of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System that Soldiers wear as they walk down the streets of a mock village at Fort Drum. There are no physical threats around, but they see translucent enemies glimmering behind glowing sandbags created by the Squad immersive Virtual System.
When combined with the IVAS, the SiVT is a next-generation training tool within the Army’s synthetic environment modernization priority that uses augmented reality to train squads in an area where no significant planning before execution is required. This negates the need for a range, ammo, and medical personnel. It also reduces safety risks and opens the door for more diverse and realistic training scenarios.
Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division (LI) are training and testing with this new technology to experience virtual combat in a realistic setting.
Maj. Alexander Olsen, product lead for the SiVT with the Program Executive Office Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI), spoke about the training that the tool can create for Soldiers.
“The functions SiVT provides is a Soldier-enabled, mixed-reality, squad collective trainer that uses holographic entities (barriers, opposing forces, improvised explosive devices, and animals) and an interactive AAR (after-action review) to provide realistic training in a virtual setting,” Olsen said.
Squads execute various battle drills using virtual entities to improve the effectiveness of their training. Holographic enemy combatants, IEDs, and concealment simulate a realistic environment for Soldiers to prepare in.
Sgt. James Wiggins, a team leader for 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (LI), highlighted the ways his team used SiVT to enhance their training.
“SiVT is a good training tool because it allows you to create friction points, and it’ll help you implement things that you might face in a real-life scenario,” Wiggins said. “And to practice the situation, you can use it in any kind of free space, whether that be outdoors or indoors.”
Using an interactive, virtual after-action review table the squad leader can see every move and mistake their Soldiers make. It allows supervisors to know where Soldiers look, point their weapon, and move, in a way that makes the process of identifying and correcting mistakes much more straightforward before the shock of first combat.
Robert Fredrickson, equipment training manager for the SiVT, spoke of the valuable features that it brings to Soldier readiness.
“I think the most valuable feature would be the after-action review,” Fredrickson said. “A squad leader can set up and run his training, and at the end of that training iteration they can stand around instantly and review what they just did.”
Fredrickson said he believes that advancements like these are key to the future of the Army’s combat forces.
“Technology doesn't make us more lethal,” he said. “Well-trained Soldiers make us more lethal, and this device will allow us to train well and train often.”