How Virtual Reality is Helping Airmen Prepare for the Future Fight

There is no doubt that recent years have shown a marked shift in military strategies and operations. With strategic adversaries like China and Russia on the horizon, innovative concepts have been designed and implemented to prepare for the future fight. For example, Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, involves spreading out and moving quickly in various environments. It calls for Airmen to be “Multi-Capable Airmen” (MCA), or in other words, proficient in many of the skills necessary to support air operations, rather than only a few.

Backing these concepts requires a tremendous amount of new technology. Technological development within the United States accelerated as a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic. This implosion moved mountains in terms of human activity shifting online. Therefore, tomorrow’s fight may not need to wait for tomorrow’s technology—today, strides are being made to utilize current technology to make training easier, more efficient, and safer!

This technology includes virtual reality (VR) simulators, which place users in a simulated environment via VR headsets. While VR is not considered novel, its growth and prevalence are.

In simple use, VR headsets can be used for video games. For example, a soccer video game traditionally made for a television screen could be transformed to make the player feel as if they are on the soccer field. They can glance to their sides and see simulated players running beside them; they can glance down to see carefully kept grass.

Sadly, this technological feat is often written off as having not much potential outside of making video games a lot more fun to use. However, many people are excited about the future of VR.

The Air Force, for example, recognizes the vast potential for training. The nature of VR is helping prepare for the future fight and mitigate many of the risks involved in traditional training methods. Immersive VR simulators are used to teach a variety of tasks, such as piloting aircraft, maintenance, aerial refueling, emergency medicine, and more.

Following are a few of the reasons VR is being used more and more:

IT CAN LOWER COSTS

While the development of VR training systems can be pricey, the price per person may drop to be relatively low due to the high number of Airmen that can be trained this way. VR technology breaks the limits that traditional training methods often abide by; gone could be the days of limited space and resources. VR also cuts down the number of instructions needed.

According to a recent study, a topic that took over 2 hours to teach through traditional training methods took only half an hour to train using VR. This time savings is dependent on many factors; however, VR training can be built with efficiency in mind.

IT CAN ENSURE MORE EQUAL TRAINING

Again, with limited expertise and with varying experiences, training can differ greatly. VR technology allows Airmen to receive equal teaching by dispersing the same expertise to everyone. Imagine leadership being able to be in more than two places at once—they could be in thousands of places at once! This innovation could play a key role in ACE and MCA.

IT INCREASES PREPARATION

Some skills are considered achieved when they can be done with “muscle memory,” and VR can help Airmen achieve this level. By allowing frequent practice, Airmen can become proficient at many tasks as well as prepare for handling emergency situations. When disaster strikes, every second counts, and ample preparation can be crucial in the successful naviga­tion of perilous situations.

IT CAN BE SAFER—FOR BOTH AIRMAN AND RESOURCES

Learners can be placed in simulated precarious situations without facing real risks, which can be beneficial to both mental and physical health. By lowering stressful reactions, Airmen can handle situations that arise as well as avoid some of the lasting and harmful effects of stress on the body. Not only can VR training keep Airmen safer, but it can keep valuable equipment safer as well. Allowing a novice to learn on certain equipment can create expensive slip-ups, which are not good for the trainer or the trainee. It can also free up or limit the use of aircraft, which are essential for missions.

IT IS A BETTER PLACE TO FAIL

Preparing for the future fight can involve numerous tries, which can be hard on a person (and again, resources). However, the Air Force not only allows slip-ups during training, but often encourages them. If practice makes perfect, why would failure be acceptable? It is not because failure is the end goal, but because accepting failure often allows for more perfect practice. People tend to explore new methods as well as continue improving—all because they are not letting mistakes discourage them. VR can unlock doors to innovation because of the awareness that the environment is simulated and that it is all right to fail if the end goal is improvement.

VR IS APPEALING TO GENERATION Z

The latest generations of Airmen have grown up with video games and technology. The use of advanced VR training can appeal to Generation Z and aid in their recruitment. Not only is VR appealing, but it also may be a smart move due to the learning style of Gen Z—computer learning is widespread among today’s schools. VR amplifies the memorability of computer learning by increasing engagement; many would agree hands-on learning typically beats sitting through a long slideshow presentation or reading through theoretical text. Theory can come to life through these immersive, distraction-free, new training methods.

These are a few reasons why the Air Force is rapidly expanding VR training opportunities. There are many noteworthy developments, such as virtual reality suicide prevention training, which is being tested at Scott Air Force Base (AFB), IL, and Travis AFB, CA. This training helps Airmen learn how to best talk to someone in distress. Another exciting advancement is from Dyess AFB, TX, where VR technology is transforming the way C-130J Super Hercules aircraft maintainers are training. VR technology is even teaching Airmen how to paint an aircraft!

There are countless instances of the Air Force taking advantage of the exciting opportunity that is VR. It may never replace hands-on training, but it can certainly fill in needed gaps and speed up the process.

While it is still important to weigh and assess the benefits of real-life vs VR training, VR training certainly should not be ruled out. VR may be able to revolutionize certain areas of training and fill gaps. Real, hands-on training may reign supreme, but VR may beat out text-based teachings. VR may be an important player in winning the future fight.