The National Training Center (NTC) and Fort Irwin occupies 1,200 acres in a remote part of the Mojave Desert. Over 35 miles from the nearest town, the NTC is the only training area in the United States with enough land to conduct full brigade-on-brigade armored combat training. The area was designated as the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Range in 1941 and later renamed Camp Irwin in honor of Maj. Gen. George LeRoy Irwin, commander of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade in World War I. Fort Irwin has been pivotal in training the armed forces for every conflict since World War II and played an important role in the exploration of space. Today, the National Training Center at Fort Irwin serves as the premier training area for US forces preparing to deploy to combat areas anywhere in the world.

This instant New York Times bestseller and “outstanding” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) thriller features a brilliant and unorthodox Army investigator, his enigmatic female partner, and their hunt for the Army’s most notorious—and dangerous—deserter. When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video released by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified Army intelligence has disappeared. When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to bring Mercer back to America—preferably alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience, by their undeniable chemistry, and by Brodie’s suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA. With ripped-from-the-headlines appeal, an exotic and dangerous locale, and the hairpin twists and inimitable humor that are signature DeMille, The Deserter is the first in a timely and thrilling new series from an unbeatable team of True Masters: the #1 New York Times bestseller Nelson DeMille and his son, award-winning screenwriter Alex DeMille.

The U.S. Army uses virtual systems for collective skills training. This report examines the needs for fidelity in simulators and associated costs to support effective and efficient collective training.