"This study report provides an overview of critical training issues facing the Army as the 21st% Century Force becomes increasingly digital. The focus of this report is on understanding the significant change brought about by digitization and the ramifications that may result in degraded mode or back-up training requirements. This report is the first of three prepared under the U.S. Army Research Institute's Studies and Analysis effort titled Back-Up Training Requirements for the Digitized Battlefield. Issues and concerns documented in this report are addressed in two subsequent study reports: Analysis of Emerging Digital and Back-Up Training Requirements and Issues and Recommendations: Training the Digital Force. The impetus for this effort was provided by the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel's Directorate of Personnel Technologies. Of concern was the lack of analysis regarding how the Army should address training and sustaining conventional or back-up skills for operations when digital system capabilities become degraded. This issue will become increasingly important as digitization of the force increases and resources decrease."--DITC.

"This report provides an historical account and analysis of the U.S. Army Research Institute's (ARI) research and development (R & D) efforts on structured simulation-based training (SST). These R & D efforts have led to the development of 30 research reports, 14 conference papers, and over 200 training support packages (TSPs). The developed TSPs focused on optimizing the simulation-based training opportunities for armor and mechanized infantry platoons and companies, and their battalion and brigade staffs. The TSPs have also been developed for representatives of a battalion's or a brigade's combat support and combat service support elements. This report's findings indicate that the developed TSPs would, if utilized properly, help the U.S. Army more fully exploit its advanced simulation-training systems. In addition, 43 lessons learned have been derived from these SST projects. The present report provides a central information source on ARI's SST efforts, and has important implications for future SST research and development efforts."--Stinet.

"The U.S. Army Force 21 program makes extensive use of digital communications technologies to speed the exchange of information among all operational levels. While digital communications offers great potential, anecdotal reports from field trials and testing repeatedly state that the basic procedural skills needed to operate these systems are highly perishable. The present research developed estimates of digital procedural skill retention for the tasks of creating and sending digital map overlays and reports, using the M1A2 Abrams tank Inter-Vehicular Information System. Twenty-eight soldiers received instruction based on the M1A2 New Equipment Training Team lesson plan, followed by an immediate evaluation of task performance, and a follow-on evaluation 30 days later. Results showed a 52 percent reduction in the number of soldiers able to create and send digital map overlays alter the 30 day delay, and a 23 percent reduction in the number able to create and send digital reports. Methods for measuring skill decay are presented, and an approach to identify performance errors is provided."--DTIC.