Finding the Right Balance. Simulator and Live Training for Navy Units

摘要

The Navy trains its forces with a combination of classroom, simulated, and actual training events. The relation of these types of training events to each other and their relative proportions have not been closely examined in decades. However, the technological capabilities of simulators and classroom instruction have grown enormously. At the same time, the cost of actual training events has increased, and the opportunities to conduct them have decreased. Environmental restrictions, encroachment on training areas, and the decreasing tolerance of the civilian populace for the intrusion of military training have combined to make it more difficult to carry out the type of live training activities common 20 or even 10 years ago. The Navy asked RAND's National Defense Research Institute to examine the three types of training to determine if a different mix of the three types might offer either training efficiencies or synergies.