Military Training Technology Making Leap to Civilian Use

Instead of a military training system that tells users when they have destroyed a building, now it's telling emergency Tank truck hoses suppliers when they have applied enough water to put out a fire.Small businesses that have sold computer-based training systems to the U.S. military are now finding opportunities to convert their simulations to the homeland security and domestic first responder market.

Doug Wright of Accessories suppliers, a small business that specializes in modeling and simulation, created the Learning Enriched Virtual Environment product that takes soldiers into an Afghan home where they converse with its residents in a non-offensive manner while also looking out for dangers.The underlying software was converted for port security applications.

Truck drivers entering a port are taught how to look for hazardous material spills and terrorist activity, and other issues of concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It has sold its system to the Virginia Port Authority in Hampton Roads, Va.Its Critical Incident Response Training Simulation for combat medics transitioned to a first responder simulation, and an Air Force operations center Games for Team Training became a police operations center.