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Cost Effectiveness of Embedded Training On Army Ground Vehicles
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Short Description: indicated earlier, operating costs for ET equipment is. not currently available and will be added later. The. estimated cost for 22 M1A2 tanks and 22 M2 ...
Content Inside: Cost Effectiveness of Embedded Training On Army Ground Vehicles L. Bruce McDonald, Ph.D. McDonald Research Associates, Inc. Hubert Bahr U.S. Army Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation Command Claude Abate Madison Research Corporation Orlando, Florida Abstract This paper describes the cost and operational effectiveness analyses being conducted on the STRICOM Embedded Simulation program. The program is developing Embedded Simulation (ES) to support Embedded Training (ET) and Embedded Operations (EO) for Army ground vehicles. The near term target for this program is the M1A2 SEP Abrams main battle tank. The basic approach to this cost effectiveness analysis is to determine the costs of various live training exercises and compare these costs to those that would be incurred using ET technology. Live training costs include operation and maintenance costs for the trainees' vehicles, other blue forces (BLUFOR) vehicles and for the opposing force (OPFOR) vehicles, as well as for range operation costs . The authors have gathered data on miles driven for various training exercises (e.g. Hasty Attack) as well as detailed operating costs (e.g. O&S Class IX Parts, Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL), and Intermediate Maintenance) for the Abrams Tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. These data were derived from the OSMIS (Operating and Support Management Information System) database. OSMIS is the U.S. Army's source of historical operating and support cost information for tactical units. With this information, we were able to calculate the costs of various live training exercises. We then calculated the costs of equivalent exercises using ET technology. During embedded training exercises, some vehicle components are active and other components are not. Consequently, we were able to calculate the operating costs of vehicles during various types of embedded training exercises (moving, vehicle stationary, turret stationary). This allows us to predict the relative cost effectiveness of embedded vs full-up live exercises without making the naïve assumption that embedded training costs nothing. These cost savings are compared to ET acquisition costs to determine the payback period. These costs are expected to decline over time as the state-of-the-art produces smaller, faster and cheaper computers and displays. This paper discusses the results of this cost effectiveness analysis. Biographical Sketch: Bruce McDonald has been working in the area of Embedded Training since 1988 and has over 25 years of experience in modeling, simulation and training systems. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1973. He is conducting the cost effectiveness analyses on the STRICOM Embedded Simulation program. He is charged with determining when the state-of-the-art in embedded simulation will be sufficiently robust to reduce the costs of live training in Army ground vehicles while providing equal or superior training effectiveness. His research interests are in embedded training, advanced distributed learning, small scale contingencies and force protection. Hubert Bahr is a Decorated Vietnam Veteran with 30 years of Federal Service. He received his BS degree in engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1972 and his Masters Degree in computer engineering from the University of Central Florida in 1994. For the past 18 years he has been involved with instrumented Force-on-Force Ranges. He is currently the lead engineer for the STRICOM Embedded Simulation program in the Research and
