United States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center

The United States Army Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC) provide the United States Department of Defense and United States Department of Homeland Security with state-of-the-art applied research to develop simulation technologies, build on current simulation knowledge, and understand system of systems environments where human, agent, and teams are involved.

History
The STTC traces its lineage to 1983 when the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) started work on a technology to network a large number of manned simulators, emulators and semi-automated force simulations to form a Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) of a battlefield. DARPA ran the project from 1983–1989 and convinced the Army to use DIS technology.

The Army Science Board studied the technology in 1991 and found a central management structure was necessary to ensure an integrated system. The Board’s recommendation resulted in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) sharing management responsibility for the new system. TRADOC designated its National Simulation Center (NSC) as its functional manager for controlling the requirements process. AMC created a new major subordinate command in 1992, the U.S. Army Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM) (its current name is PEO STRI), headquartered in Orlando, FL, to serve as the technical manager for system execution. STRICOM consisted of two existing organizations, Project Manager Training Devices (PM TRADE) and Project Manager Instrumentation, Targets and Threat Simulators (PM ITTS), and two new organizations, Project Manager for Combined Arms Tactical Training (PM CATT) and Project Manager for Distributed Interactive Simulation (PM DIS).

In the 1990s, the technology base group of STRICOM formed the Technology Development Center (TDC) and moved to a separate building from the rest of STRICOM. One of TDC’s major efforts was the University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) at the University of Southern California. The UARC was later renamed the Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT).

On October 1, 2002, TDC became provisionally part of RDECOM and was redesignated the STTC. The remaining elements of STRICOM became the Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation. In November 2003, STTC was renamed in honor of SFC Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. RDECOM took permanent control of STTC effective March 1, 2004 in accordance with AMC Permanent Orders 049-2.

Mission
STTC's stated mission is to:


 * Enhance Warfighter readiness through research and development of applied simulation technologies for learning, training, testing and mission rehearsal.

Vision
STTC's stated vision is to:


 * Provide the United States Department of Defense and United States Department of Homeland Security with state-of-the-art applied research to develop simulation technologies, build on current simulation knowledge, and understand system of systems environments where human, agent, and teams are involved.

Goals
STTC's stated goals in support of its mission are:


 * Focus on key competencies
 * Real-Time human-in-the-Loop simulation technologies
 * Behavioral representation
 * Shared simulation environments
 * Establish partnering through the U.S. Federal Government to optimize value
 * Support the U.S. Army Training Transformation (T2) initiative
 * Maintain a state-of-the-art facility
 * Promote learning
 * Optimize the financial resources
 * Develop and maintain processes to support the most efficient and effective use of resources

ICT
In 1997 the National Research Council's Report "Modeling and Simulation: Linking Entertainment and Defense" identified a technology opportunity for leveraging DoD and Entertainment research. On 10 August 1999, DDRE approved the University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) as a DoD University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) as a collaboration between the Army, the University of Southern California, and the entertainment industry.

STTC is the executive agent for the Army's partnership with the ICT. As the executive agent, the STTC co-chairs the Technical Advisory Board with a representative from ASA(ALT) to review and execute research topics. STTC plays a major role is identifying opportunities and assisting the ICT with the integration and transition of technologies to the Army.

MATREX
The purpose of the Modeling Architecture for Technology, Research, and EXperimentation (MATREX) Science and Technology Objective (STO) is to design a persistent, distributed simulation capability leveraging Government & industry assets with the ultimate objective of providing a persistent, distributed simulation environment for evaluation of Future Combat Systems and Future Force concepts. Through the goal of fulfilling this objective we are able to create and produce a realistic engineering representation of systems and environments for Simulation & Modeling for Acquisition, Requirements, and Training (SMART), a reusable environment where sub-system models can be integrated into an established architecture for analysis & technology tradeoffs, as well as a component repository to support “building block” implementations and the ability to generate code that will bind components automatically, thereby reducing the prospect of errors in coding and the time required to write tedious code. We are also working to create a Meta Model to ensure appropriate model interactions while providing RDECOM expertise, M&S tools and solutions to Lead Systems Integrators (LSI), Program Executive Offices (PEO), & Program Managers (PM).

Current events
The Federal Virtual World Challenge is a competition led by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Simulation and Training Technology Center. The event is conducted in order to reach a global development community who will create innovative and interactive training and analysis solutions in virtual worlds. The criterion is intentionally unbounded to allow for creative solutions. This challenge is intended to:


 * Provide an opportunity to explore possibilities for using virtual worlds that have not, and may not have ever been considered by the Government
 * Gain access to training concepts to assist in developing training requirements
 * Expand the training and analysis areas that can be supported by this domain
 * Explore the global collaboration concept as a procurement strategy for future training and analysis needs
 * Build public and inter-Government organization awareness on work being conducted in virtual worlds

The inaugural event began in 2009 with the awards being conducted during March 2010 GameTech conference in Orlando, Florida. The deadline for submittals is 15 November 2009. Entries are sorted into logical categories upon receipt. The public qualitative feedback period will begin in February 2010. Every individual and entity is invited to participate in the event for recognition and awards. The website for additional information is: www.fvc.army.mil

Social Networking Sites

 * STTC on Facebook
 * STTC on Twitter
 * STTC on YouTube
 * STTC Photo Stream on Flickr