Camp Johnson gets Tactical Decision Center

[thedrifter]

Camp Johnson gets Tactical Decision Center
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Aug 30, 2007 16:54:31 EDT

CAMP JOHNSON, N.C. — Like a big arcade of sorts, the new Tactical Decision Center here is a virtual playing field for Marines training in logistics.

The Marine Corps Combat Service Support School officially opened its new TDC on Thursday. The center is filled with flat-screen computer monitors that display three-dimensional images, putting the Marine sitting at the keyboard anywhere from the helm of a virtual convoy, to overlooking a battlefield, to interacting with foreign civilians.

“It’s about logistics and control,” said Col. Joel Berry, MCCSSS commander. “It is a long time coming that a facility such as this brings it all together.”

Brig. Gen. John Wissler, senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, said the facility will be used to train Marines, and educate them.

“This Tactical Decision Center will get us away [from] building the airplane while we fly it,” he said. “The complexity of the modern battlefield demands that we have these technologies. We cannot afford to fail.”

The center will use the Battle Command Sustainment Support System, Command and Control Personal Computer, Warehouse to Warfighter, and Common Logistics Command and Control System.

Students will be allowed to use radio frequency identification apparatus and simulate convoy operations simultaneously with Combat Logistics Operations Center operations.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Time is precious to Marines

JENNIFER HLAD
August 31, 2007 - 2:34AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF

A new "tactical decision center" at Camp Johnson is helping Marines take their training out of the classroom and into a virtual simulation of the real world.

The Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools unveiled the new center Thursday, giving tours to illustrate how the facility will help Marines prepare for live training and deployments.

The center boasts new technology that allows Marines to practice convoy operations, recognize roadside bombs and suicide bombers, work at a check point, employ tactical language skills and make decisions in real time as a team.

"Time is our biggest enemy. Hopefully, this facility will allow us to use every training minute we have," said Brig. Gen. John Wissler, senior military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense.

"The complexity of the modern battlefield demands these technologies," he said. "We cannot afford to fail."

The technology will roll out on the battalion level to the entire Marine Corps next year, and more updates are on the way, said Capt. Nathan Dmochoswki, project officer for the deployable virtual training environment.

The goal with all the training centers and equipment is preparing Marines for the real thing, Dmochoswki said.

"Marine Corps training is crawl, walk, run," he said. "This is the crawl, walk training."

Training in a virtual environment is crucial, Dmochoswki said, because Marines can work through command and control issues, reacting to roadside bombs and other scenarios that are difficult to replicate.

The center's technology can "actually represent a combat environment in the virtual world," said Col. Joel Berry, commanding officer of the Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools at Camp Johnson.

They will face the "exact scenarios they may face when they go into a combat environment," he said.

Marines can actually look out the window of their virtual humvee to spots possible signs of a roadside bomb or interact with civilians at a checkpoint, said Cal Hughes, deployable virtual training environment analyst.

Other computers simulate a live data feed, showing where convoys, helicopters and enemy forces are traveling, said Chris Branham, a senior mentor for the tactical decision center.

It's all a way to practice what to do when things go wrong, Branham said, and gives units a chance to practice making those decisions as a staff.

"It's all about logistics command and control," Berry said.

Contact military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 8449. To comment on this story and see a video, visit www.jdnews.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

New Tactical Decision Center at Camp Johnson
Randy Davey
August 30, 2007 - 5:14PM

A new Tactical Decision Center opened today Aug 30,2007 at Camp Johnson.
Here is a look into how it works.

http://www.jdnews.com/video/decision...hnson_new.html

Ellie