Playing War: How Technology is Helping to Train the Military’s Next Great Soldiers

IT Visionaries

For years there has been a debate about whether video games are the next great learning tool, or gateways to desensitization due to violence and a lack of face-to-face interaction. The debate rages on, but regardless of the long-term side effects of video games, there are scenarios where they are being put to use in practical ways as it relates to military training.

“The idea of training soldiers using computer games was like, ‘There's no way a computer game can train my guys how to shoot. You have to go out into the mud and do it for real.’ And while there's some truth there, what we offered was like an accelerator for decision-making processes.”

Mark Dzulko had been serving in the military for 13 years when he recognized the potential that computer-based simulation tactics could have in the military. As the CTO and Director at Bohemia Simulations, Mark is now turning the potential into something practical. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Mark breaks down the difference between traditional consumer-based video games and Bohemia’s simulation device, plus, he explains how the company scaled despite having a limited customer base.

Main Takeaways

• An Open World: By using open source tools, engineers are able to quickly draft up different scenarios to fit a potential need rather than completely build a model from scratch. This gives simulation a sense of agility and scalability that traditional training models, such as pre-built flight simulators, do not have.
• Game vs Reality: Video games are built with an end goal in mind: to achieve the highest possible score. Simulations are designed to recreate actual life tactics. By being put in a simulated scenario, soldiers can hone their response times and get a better sense of how to react before being deployed.
• How to Make It: When you bring any product to market, it’s important to have an understanding of if you have product-market fit first. But when your customer base is limited it’s even more important to know that you will solve a problem for that base of customers in a reliable way, which will help ensure your success from the start. Constantly testing and gathering feedback from potential buyers before you hit that market is a strategy to put in place so that when you are ready to launch your product, it’s already set up for the customer to succeed.

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