Contact:
Robert Findlay
Laser Shot, Inc.
Phone: 281-240-1122
Email: rfindlay@lasershot.com

Laser Shot Delivers Modular Range to Navy

Chesapeake, Virginia – November 28, 2011 –

Laser Shot, Inc. of Stafford Texas, is proud to announce the building and acceptance of the US Navy’s newest indoor live fire facility.  The modular, non-permanent structure contains many unique innovations, and is the latest offering in Laser Shot’s growing line-up of live fire facilities.

Personnel present during testing, commissioning and acceptance of the facility exclaimed that the new modular range was, one of the nicest and most well put-together range facilities in the Navy!

Training has already begun in the Center for Security Force’s new 3,800sf Modular Indoor Firing Range facility, located at their Learning Site on the NSA Northwest Annex in Chesapeake, VA.  The facility is unique in the Navy in that it is the Department’s only modular firing range having a completely clear-spanned 32’ x 90’ area, which allows trainees to safely advance downrange and hone their tactical skills unimpeded by interior columns or walls and without risk of ricochet.

The range boasts state-of-the-art, touch screen computer-controlled ventilation, lighting, security and communications systems, and can safely handle handgun, shotgun and rifle ammunition up to and including 7.62mm x 51. Though the main granular rubber bullet trap is designed to safely capture and collect bullets fired in one direction, the entire range is protected in every direction so that rounds can neither escape nor ricochet, nor injure trainees and staff.

The facility, includes its own specially-designed HVAC system and integrated control room.  It was constructed, completed and accepted in less than 240 days, surviving an earthquake, a swamp fire and even a near-direct hit by Hurricane Irene, all during the construction – In fact the entire process including solicitation and award took less than 18 total months; a far cry from the MILCON range projects averaging five years or more.  The majority of the pre-fabrication took place in Sugar Land, TX at Laser Shot Inc.’s fabrication facility.The range’s 16 structural modules were shipped by standard flatbed trucks to the site where they were assembled and finally covered with metal siding and roof, thereby blending the building with other facilities on base.  If the Navy should require relocation, the facility can be disassembled, shipped to a new location, and reassembled.

Laser Shot, perhaps even more well-known for their superior simulation systems, offers modular ranges in multiple length and width configurations, live-fire shoot houses and completely mobile live-fire solutions as well.  The Laser Shot range team has more than 70 years of combined experience in firing range design and construction.

About Laser Shot. Laser Shot is a market-leading provider of firearm and force option training solutions. Laser Shot designs innovative products that incorporate the latest technology to develop accurate, dependable, and effective training solutions.  Laser Shot’s unique solutions enable progressive training from laser based systems to live fire, and from individual marksmanship to crew level gunnery.  Classified as a small business in the development of software applications and computer related hardware, Laser Shot also designs and manufactures simulated weapons and designs, produces, and installs armor plate and SACON live-fire shooting facilities. For more information, please visit www.lasershot.com.

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Source: MS&T, 2011, Issue 2. “Game Tech 2011”

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Contact:
Joe Miller
Laser Shot, Inc.
Phone: 281-240-1122
Email: JMiller@lasershot.com

Laser Shot’s CQB Shoot House Featured as a Graded Event at The 2011 Best Ranger Competition

Laser Shot Inc. is proud to announce the participation of their Close Quarters Battle (CQB) training products in the 2011 Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning, GA.  The 4^th Ranger Training Brigade featured one of Laser Shot’s flagship products, The CQB Shoot House with virtual targetry, as a graded event in their highly respected competition.

The extremely high skill levels required to compete in this annual event provided a more than suitable opportunity for Laser Shot to host a brand new CQB event. On day two of this three day demanding event competitors were tasked with individually clearing a three room shoot house and were graded on speed, accuracy, and threat detection.  The aggregate total points accrued by both members were used as their final total score in the event.

A customized scenario was tailored to specifically meet the requirements of this event  using Laser Shot’s patented software Lasershot Virtual Shoothouse (LVS).The LVS scenario featured life sized realistic virtual avatars throughout the building that competitors engaged with Laser Shot’s simulated recoil laser weapons. Virtual avatars mainly consisted of armed hostiles with the ability to move freely throughout the building during the battle until neutralized.  . As an added shoot/don’t shoot challenge virtual noncombatant characters  were strategically placed throughout the building.

The feedback received from competitors, RTB Instructors, as well as military personnel viewing the competition was overwhelmingly positive. Laser Shot’s CQB Laser Shoot House, and its sister product – the CQB live fire shoot house with virtual targetry, are revolutionizing the way soldiers train for CQB engagements. It was Laser Shot’s pleasure to participate with cutting edge technology in this longstanding competition.

About Laser Shot. Laser Shot is a market-leading provider of firearm and force option training solutions. Laser Shot designs innovative products that incorporate the latest technology to develop accurate, dependable, and effective training solutions.  Laser Shot’s unique solutions enable progressive training from laser based systems to live fire, and from individual marksmanship to crew level gunnery.  Classified as a small business in the development of software applications and computer related hardware, Laser Shot also designs and manufactures simulated weapons and designs, produces, and installs armor plate and SACON live-fire shooting facilities. For more information, please visit www.lasershot.com.

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François Prins discusses with The Boeing Company their reasoning behind using the latest technology coupled with good old-fashioned practical training scenarios to get the best out of the dismounted soldier

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The Boeing Company was part of a team that demonstrated a fully immersive and integrated environment for ground forces training at a Missouri location in the USA. The environment replicated an urban setting in Afghanistan, including costumed actors fluent in the local languages, realistic audio effects and typical architecture. The training was conducted at the Military Operations in Urban Terrain training facility at Fort Leonard Wood. The desired setting was an Afghan village; the participants were hired by the Boeing team and compensated for their participation. They portrayed dismounted soldiers in an urban

training scenario. The mission during the scenario was to continue security operations and conduct a medical civil action programme in an Afghan village to improve health services and create public support.

To ensure authenticity, Boeing recruited personnel that had seen action in Afghanistan to advise the team. David Irwin, Boeing director of Ground Forces Training told ETS News: “Senior noncommissioned officers were hired by our team and compensated to serve as advisors to ensure all military actions were accurate. The advisors have both combat and instructor experience. Several of the personnel portrayed as dismounted soldiers were combat veterans and others have extensive military experience. Also, several members of our team have military experience and backgrounds across all services”.

There is a vital requirement that any such training is thorough and accurate, as Mark McGraw, Boeing vice president for Training Systems and Services said: “Our customers want to provide their soldier and Marines with a training environment as comprehensive as aircrews receive in aircraft simulators. If we can train them in immersive and stressful environments before they deploy, we can help them make better decisions to accomplish their missions and return home safely”.

David Irwin explained further: “Our goal here was to create a more immersive environment for the trainees than they would normally see at a site like this one. We integrated sound and weapons effects, live and virtual role players, virtual unmanned air systems, language and cultural experts in an Afghanistan scenario, realistic weapons, as well as laser shot technologies for force-on-force engagement. We also covered one of the buildings to make it look more realistic than a cinder block building.”

Boeing has identified and created innovative training tools that can be seamlessly integrated into existing facilities at other military installations. These include the virtual mission board (VMB) – a table with a built-in touch screen for tracking participants, controlling the exercise and recording data for the after-action review (AAR).

We asked David Irwin to explain the value of the VMB: “The VMB has multiple applications and was used three different ways. First, it was used for mission planning with soldiers planning this operation by drawing and placing military graphics on a three-dimensional model of the terrain for this operation. The ‘menu’ of military graphics and icons are easily tailored to support any specific military operation. The user could also do a virtual walk-through of the mission using the VMB.Our vision is the VMB replaces the sand table and accelerates the rehearsal process. Second, exercise observer/controllers used the VMB to track all participants in the exercise within the three-dimensional model. They were able to do this because each participant was tracked with an RFID tracker. The VMB also displayed video from cameras located throughout the training area.“

The VMB allows the viewing of the exercise in a virtual or a real-time environment or a combination of the two based on the desire of the controllers. Controllers also could hear audio of the participants who were outfitted with very small unobtrusive microphones during the exercise. This enabled the exercise observer/controllers to trigger effects and actions by the role players without being seen by the soldiers – a key to creating a more immersive environment as soldiers were not able to anticipate what would happen next. All of the tracking, video and microphone feeds were recorded, enabling the third use of the VMB which was to playback any portion of the exercise selected by the exercise observer/controllers to provide participants with a world-class AAR capability which was available upon completion of the training event. The VMB facilitates this by allowing the observer/controllers to mark on a timeline key events that they want to come back to during the AAR.”

To make the training more authentic the team included a virtual unmanned air system (UAS) into the exercise and a Raven UAV platform was modelled and integrated in to the scenario. “The UAS sensor package depicted the same digital three- dimensional terrain as was used on the VMB”, explained Irwin. “The UAS virtual feed also incorporated virtual representations of each soldier based upon the location of the RFID tracker they were wearing; providing the soldiers with what appeared to be a ‘live’ UAS feed gave much needed situational awareness of friendly and combatant individual locations on the UAS feed. This is an example of our ability to execute seamless integration of live and virtual training in support of ground forces training.

We asked Boeing if the team was a self-contained unit and how it saw its role in training the US Army for operations with equipment and tactics. David Irwin replied: “The Boeing team is ready to provide this immersive

key to creating a more immersive environment as soldiers were not able to anticipate what would happen next. All of the tracking, video and microphone feeds were recorded, enabling the third use of the VMB which was to playback any portion of the exercise selected by the exercise observer/controllers to provide participants with a world-class AAR capability which was available upon completion of the training event. The VMB facilitates this by allowing the observer/controllers to mark on a timeline key events that they want to come back to during the AAR.”

To make the training more authentic the team included a virtual unmanned air system (UAS) into the exercise and a Raven UAV platform was modelled and integrated in to the scenario. “The UAS sensor package depicted the same digital three- dimensional terrain as was used on the VMB”, explained Irwin. “The UAS virtual feed also incorporated virtual representations of each soldier based upon the location of the RFID tracker they were wearing; providing the soldiers with what appeared to be a ‘live’ UAS feed gave much needed situational awareness of friendly and combatant individual locations on the UAS feed. This is an example of our ability to execute seamless integration of live and virtual training in support of ground forces training.”

We asked Boeing if the team was a self-contained unit and how it saw its role in training the US Army for operations with equipment and tactics.

David Irwin replied: “The Boeing team is ready to provide this immersive
training environment capability to customers. Our goal was not to teach tactics or train soldiers on new equipment, but rather to provide customers with a more realistic environment in which to train. We can equip existing training facilities with mature technologies to generate a more immersive environment. Our systems’ engineering approach and the selection of mature technologies facilitates low risk integration in to existing facilities at an affordable cost.

“We also demonstrated a capability for soldiers to train up for live training events like this one by incorporating our threedimensional terrain model into the Army’s game engine – Virtual Battlespace 2. This enabled the soldiers to work on communications, teamwork and tactics in a virtual environment, better preparing them for this live collective training event.”

Boeing worked with several industry partners for the event that included Advantage Mold Inc.; Creative Technologies Inc.; the Leonard Wood Institute; Iowa State University; Laser Shot Inc.; MiLanguages; Military Wraps; Ubisense and Zebra Imaging. The partnership enabled a really accurate and realistic battle scenario to be written for the training event that will help give US soldiers a better understanding of what may be expected in the changing scene in Afghanistan. Comprehensive training, such as this, is valuable and very necessary as the standard training in any army does not prepare a dismounted soldier to cope with the very different environment that is to be found in current operation in Afghanistan

Contact:
Joe Miller
Laser Shot, Inc.
Phone: 281-240-1122
Email: JMiller@lasershot.com

Laser Shot announces $10 million in new orders for the US Marine Corps

Laser Shot, Inc. is proud to announce the signing of two major Delivery Orders under the Home Station MOUT contract for the US Marine Corps. The Delivery Orders encompass several live fire structures to be built at Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps Base, California and Phakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. The Delivery Order value is approximately $10 million.

The subcontract for live fire structures is part of the overarching HS MOUT contract, which includes non-live fire and live fire facilities under the management of Parsons and Allied Container Systems.  The work in Laser Shot’s current Delivery Orders is primarily for Shock Absorbing Concrete (SACON) structures, one of the newest business lines for Laser Shot. Laser Shot is one of a few companies licensed to produce SACON by the US Army corps of Engineers. Laser Shot and its partner, Amidon Verus, will accomplish the work in 2011.

Already a long time producer of innovative live fire virtual targetry, these Delivery Orders highlight Laser Shot’s growing portfolio of live fire facility offerings. Laser Shot produces several types of shooting ranges and shoothouses using modular and mobile designs, and a variety of construction materials from armor plate steel and ballistic rubber, concrete and ballistic rubber, and SACON.

About Laser Shot. Laser Shot is a market-leading provider of firearm and force option training solutions. Laser Shot designs innovative products that incorporate the latest technology to develop accurate, dependable, and effective training solutions.  Laser Shot’s unique solutions enable progressive training from laser based systems to live fire, and from individual marksmanship to crew level gunnery.  Classified as a small business in the development of software applications and computer related hardware, Laser Shot also designs and manufactures simulated weapons and  designs, produces, and installs armor plate and SACON live-fire shooting facilities. For more information, please visit www.lasershot.com.

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For new soldiers who have never fired a weapon before-or those who need to brush up on the skills that may have gotten a little rusty-firearms simulators can be an invaluable tool to help get them up to speed. In fact, military forces around the world are incorporating simulation into their training programs more and more, and in some cases, soldiers are required to qualify on simulators before they are even given the opportunity to fire a live round on a shooting range.

 ”For example, the Australian Army has it written into their doctrine that when you are qualifying on any small arms, you must qualify on a simulator before you’re allowed to progress to a live fire range.”

“And this approach to small arms training has gotten quantifiable results. According to a study conducted by the Australian Army, 100 percent of the trainees who first practiced on a simulator passed their live fire qualifying exams on their first or second attempt. On the other hand, only 40 percent of trainees who did not practice on a simulator were able to pass the same test the first or second time they took it.

BENEFITS OF FIREARMS SIMULATORS

Simulated weapons training systems are generally easy to use and include a replica of the weapon that trainees are learning about, a projector that generates the training scenarios that students work with, and a screen that trainees shoot at. Despite the relatively simple nature of those systems, the military has reaped tremendous benefits by incorporating simulators into their training regimens.

Cost savings. With the current conflicts straining military training budgets, simulation has become a proven way for the military to save on the costs associated with training-such as ammunition and travel expenses.

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Just about everyone would agree that technology continues to transform how we live – from cell phones that link to theweb, to the laptops and networks that enable us to communicate, work, and even be entertained. The use of technologyand graphic simulation programs can be large in scale, such as multi-million dollar weapon system trainers for militarypilots, to the everyday Xboxes®, PlayStations™, and Wiis™ that entertain us with simulations of military operations,sports, and rock bands. Since 2007, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) has been using technologyto enhance student learning through the use of driving and marine simulators. More recently, the Avatar Based InterviewSimulator (ABIS) is being studied as a viable training tool for teaching students to conduct an interview using thefive-step process they are taught in class. Even the Firearms Division (FAD) uses laser handguns and branching videosto teach the Judgment Pistol Shooting Course. Most recently, the FLETC explored using simulation to teach basicmarksmanship shooting skills by conducting a Firearms Simulation study.

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FLETC marksmanship instructors coach basic students using the Laser Shot simulation laser handgun during the Firearms Simulation Study.

FLETC marksmanship instructors coach basic students using the Laser Shot simulation laser handgun during the Firearms Simulation Study.

AT THE FLETC a basic student’s first exposure to the use of handguns is in the Basic Marksmanship Instruction (BMI) course. BMI includes basic weapons handling skills, including stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger control. So, in partnership with the FAD, the Training Innovation Division (TID) began looking at various Firearms simulators for the study.

One such simulator is Laser Shot’s “FLETC Course of Fire.” As an enterprise supplier at FLETC, Laser Shot products are used by the FAD in the Judgment Pistol Shooting Course and by the Driver Marine Division (DMD) in marine boat boarding training. Laser Shot’s “FLETC Course of Fire” accurately simulates what a real range looks like, including targets that move, turn, and face for specific time intervals. In addition, Laser Shot’s “FLETC Course of Fire” can display practically any target while accurately simulating target size at various distances. Finally, the Laser Shot “FLETC Course of Fire” can easily be set up in a large classroom.

Next, the TID and FAD began looking at various styles of handguns. Essentially, there are two styles of handguns available; those with recoil and those without recoil. Research by the U.S. Army indicates that recoil is not necessarily required to teach Basic Marksmanship (Smith & Hagman, 2000). Other research has found that though the technology of simulating recoil has advanced, it’s not always reliable, and can actually hinder training (Grant & Galanis, 2009). This is especially true when using a system which requires the weapon to be tethered to a canister that is attached to the shooters belt and supplies the carbon dioxide gas necessary to simulate recoil. Untethered systems, which incorporate carbon dioxide gas canisters into the magazine are available; but at this time, they are also cost prohibitive.

Based on these findings, TID decided to first conduct research using a handgun without recoil. Specifically, TID, in concert with FAD, decided to use a Glock 17 R with a resetting trigger. Each Glock was fitted with a laser insert that would fire an invisible infrared laser each time the trigger was pressed. Therefore, the basics of stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger control would be similar to dry firing a real weapon. However, a major advantage over regular dry fire is that the Laser Shot system provides immediate feedback as to shot placement.

Though basic students enrolled in the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) start out in BMI, their real goal is to shoot a qualifying score at the end of the Semiautomatic Pistol Course (SPC). After attending BMI, students receive 18 hours of SPC instruction. At the end, students shoot the FLETC SPC Course of Fire and must achieve a qualifying score of 210 out of 300 possible points. Therefore, the real question to be answered is whether or not the final qualifying SPC score of those using a laser handgun in BMI is significantly different from the final qualifying SPC score of those using a live-fire handgun in BMI.

CHART 1

CHART 1

To answer this question, TID approached the College of Coastal Georgia (CCGA) about allowing college students to participate in the Firearms Simulation Study. Once approved, TID staff and FAD instructors met with CCGA students majoring in Criminal Justice. As a result, 14 college students initially volunteered to participate. Students were then stratified based on criteria including age, gender, and prior experience with a handgun. The students were then randomly assigned to one of two groups, those who would use a laser handgun in BMI, and those who would use a live-fire handgun in BMI. All instruction was conducted in accordance with FAD lessons plans and by FAD instructors. After completing BMI, all students participated in the FLETC SPC course of fire.

Due to the time constraints of the CCGA semester system, SPC instruction was limited to only 14 hours rather than the normal 18 hours. After completing SPC instruction, students shot a final qualification round. The average SPC qualifying score for those college students who trained in BMI with a laser weapon was 257.8. The average SPC qualifying score for those who trained in BMI with a live-fire weapon was 260.4. Average scores for each group beginning with SPC-4 are shown in Chart 1, above.

Though there was only a 2.6 point difference, 14 participants were not enough to draw a conclusion about whether or not the difference was statistically insignificant. However, the results were strong enough to suggest that the FAD and TID staff approach Partner Organizations about allowing their students to participate in the study. (To that end, the FAD and TID want to thank the United States Marshals Service (USMS) for volunteering three classes of their students enrolled in the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP) to participate in the study.) This allowed for a total of 140 students to be assigned to either BMI using a laser handgun or to BMI using a live-fire weapon.

As with the college students, the USMS CITP students were stratified into groups based on age, gender, and prior Law Enforcement or Military experience which included training on the use of a handgun. The students were then randomly assigned to either train in BMI with a laser handgun or with a live-fire Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun. Specific demographics for each group are shown in Table 1, page 30.

As with the college students, all instruction was conducted in accordance with FAD BMI and SPC lesson plans. Rod Burnett and Kevin Erdmier served as the lead instructors with FAD staff providing all class and line instruction. Given that these were regularly scheduled training sessions, the full 18 hours of SPC instruction was provided using the Glock 22.

Those who used a laser weapon during BMI training shot a SPC average qualifying score of 275.8. Those who used a live-fire weapon during BMI training shot a SPC average qualifying score of 278.2. An independent t-test found this difference to be statistically

insignificant. Average scores for each group during the last seven SPC sessions are shown in Chart 2, below.
To determine if the students in the research study performed differently than students who receive routine firearms training, data was compared to the three previous USMS CITP SPC classes. These USMS CITP classes were used as the control group. In total, 138 students in prior classes who trained with a live-fire handgun in BMI shot a SPC average qualifying score of 275.8. This is the same average as those who trained with a laser handgun in BMI. Data analysis indicated that differences between the control group and the study group were statistically insignificant. See Table 2 below for a summary of SPC qualification scores.

The students with prior military and/or law enforcement firearms training who trained with a laser handgun in BMI shot an average SPC qualifying score of 280.1 compared to an average SPC qualifying score of 282.5 for those who trained with a live-fire handgun. These differences were also statistically insignificant.

Those with no prior military and/or law enforcement firearms training who trained with a laser handgun in BMI shot an average SPC qualifying score of 265.0 compared to an average SPC qualifying score of 266.8 for those who trained with a live-fire handgun in BMI. Again, these differences were statistically insignificant. These results are presented in Table 3, page 31.

Based on the score a student shoots, they are given one of five possible classifications. Scores below 210 are classified as “Did Not Qualify,” scores from 210 to 254 are classified as “Marksman,” scores from 255 to 284 are classified as “Sharp Shooter,” scores from 285 to 299 are classified as “Expert,” and a score of 300 is classified as “Distinguished Expert.” Results by category are shown in Table 4, page 31. Though there is some variation within each classification, based on the BMI training method, no statistical differences were found. All students in the study group who “Did Not Qualify” were provided with four hours of live-fire handgun training on BMI; subsequently, they shot a qualifying score during the reshoot.

As mentioned before, all training was done in accordance with the applicable lesson plans. However, those training with the laser handguns during BMI did not need to wear hearing protection. This allowed instructors to carry on normal conversations while instructing students in the proper stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger control. Students could freely ask questions and get answers without having to “yell” or “read lips.” One instructor commented that because he could get “up close and personal,” he was able to see errors in weapon handling, especially in respect to grip and trigger press, that he would not have normally been able to see.

Other benefits include both a reduction in ammunition usage,

accompanying cost savings associated with range maintenance, and in freeing up valuable range time. This additional range time could then be used to teach more advanced live-fire courses and/or increase the through-put of basic training classes. Furthermore, since BMI using a laser handgun can be taught in a large classroom, those without an indoor range can still train no matter what the weather conditions might be outside.

If a laser handgun is to accurately simulate a live-fire handgun, the impact of recoil must be considered. As mentioned before, there are recoil systems that incorporate carbon dioxide gas cylinders into the magazine. When the trigger is pressed, gas is released causing the slide to operate. This also forces a student to reacquire their sights. Some of the more advanced simulated handguns can even be programmed to simulate a weapon malfunction that can be cleared by the “Primary Immediate Action” procedure and emergency reloads. However, even the best simulated weapon with recoil cannot simulate the concussion blast of a live-fire handgun. Still, future research should be designed to incorporate simulated recoil and should seek to partner with other agencies in order to evaluate the success rate with the full range of FLETC students.

In conclusion, it does appear that the CCGA students and the USMS CITP students training with a non-recoil laser handgun in BMI achieve statistically similar SPC qualification scores that students training with a live-fire weapon achieve. In addition to the potential cost savings, laser handgun BMI training offers several instructional advantages and also provides a safer environment than live-fire. In the end, nothing will ever replace actual live-fire or “putting rounds down range.” However, several studies, to include the FLETC Live-Fire/Simulation Study, seem to indicate that firearm simulation is a viable approach to certain introductory phases of marksmanship training and is on the verge of becoming a valuable tool in both the teaching and learning of psychomotor skills.

Grant, S. C., & Galanis, G. (2009). Assessment and prediction of effectiveness of virtual environments: Lessons learned from small arms simulation. In Cohn, J. & Nicholson, D. & Schmorrow, D. (Ed.) The PSI Handbook of Virtual Environments for Training and Education, Volume 3, Integrated systems, Training Evaluation, and Future Directions, Westport, CT.-Smith, M., & Hagman, J. (2000). Predicting Rifle and Pistol Marksmanship performance with the Laser Marksmanship Training System (Tech. Rep. 1106). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral Sciences.

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“As the prime contractor for the Game After Ambush effort, which provides the enterprise license to the U.S. Army for Virtual Battlespace 2, our team of contractors are leading the U.S. Army’s integration of several LVC efforts,” said Christopher M. Chambers, president of Laser Shot Inc. “The HLA/ DIS compatibility of VBS2 makes it a natural platform for integrating the virtual aspect of training into the live and constructive realms.”

On the hardware side, Laser Shot’s firearm trainers are being integrated into a variety of LVC training. Most notably, Laser Shot’s IED defeat and mounted gunnery trainers are truly integrated LVC training systems. In these trainers, Chambers said training units conduct pre-mission planning and rehearsal in a virtual setting using VBS2 with geo-specific terrain that replicates the actual mission/ training area.

The unit then mounts up in Laser Shot’s crew trainers that feature gunnery training and crew tasks, as well as small unit leader tasks in a 360 degree simulated world around their vehicle mockups. Chambers said unit leaders have access to topographic map functions in VBS2 which assist in planning and provide a constructive element to an overall mission scenario for higher levels. VBS2 also sends location data for use in other constructive training systems.

“Lastly and most importantly, the soldiers mount up in their real vehicles and proceed to execute a live fire training mission that includes IED defeat and mounted gunnery tasks,” Chambers said. “This last phase, the ‘live’ phase has shown huge increases in first-time exercise ‘go’ rates owing to the integration of LVC approaches to training, leading to better training outcomes at drastically reduced resources including time.”

Laser Shot is proud of its contribution to this form of LVC training and has replicated the model at three different Army locations and their systems have effectively trained tens of thousands of soldiers before they deploy to combat theaters.

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