Defense Training Technology Applications

The Joint Service Research and Development program promotes the application of technology to solve manpower, personnel, and training (MPT) problems common to the military Services. The program originated in the 1978 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearings on military MPT issues, and subsequent HASC requests for tri-service coordination and funding of Defense-wide efforts. It is administered through a Joint Service Research and Development Steering Committee, which has representatives of each Service. Since funding for the program is in the engineering development category, it is essential that products be demonstrated and evaluated within a short time, usually three years. The products represent a culmination of successful laboratory research and development. The panel describes five of the products.

TRAID consists of a library of computer-based instructional programs which is sufficiently flexible to support development, delivery, and management to meet most Service instructional requirements. Each of the Service training laboratories participate, to synthesize work related to computer-based instruction across are those which have been successfully demonstrated within the developing Service.

Language Skills Computer Assisted Instruction, developed by the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center (NPRDC), automates literacy instruction It applies a diagnostic-prescriptive approach to remedial reading, using material from Navy manuals.

The Computerized Hand-held Instructional Prototype, CHIP, is a revision of the Army Research Institute's (ARI) tutor device CHIP combines the miniaturization advances in semiconductor technology with the advantages of computer-based instruction, providing adaptive training, controlled feedback, self-pacing, and effective drill and practice in non-traditional settings.

The Personal Electronic Aid for Maintenance (PEAM) is a joint venture of the Naval Training Equipment Center and ARI. PEAM improves the productivity of the organizational level maintenance technician by enhancing the quality, management, and delivery of technical information through an automated maintenance information system.

Interactive Videodisc Instruction for Basic Skills Training, supported by 14 video-discs, is an ARI program. The training covers spatial orientation and navigational skills, study and test-taking skills, problem solving, and other learning strategies. Instruction is presented in the context of the Army Skill Qualification Test, Expert Infantryman's Badge, and tactical exercises. Additional land navigation materials are under development for the commander of the MI Abrams tank.

Demonstrations of the technologies, following the presentations, allow the audience to sample these Joint Service program products.