Another digital-training simulator being used at Fort Benning is known as the Engagement Skills Trainer, or EST. This system is designed to help soldiers learn shooting fundamentals before they ever pick up a gun with live rounds. The idea is that it helps the soldiers with their marksmanship by training them how to fire their weapons most efficiently; with how to incorporate proper rules of engagement in "shoot/don't shoot" situations; and how to work with their fellow soldiers in "collective" scenarios, in which group thinking is required.
Here, a soldier "fires" his weapon at a digital target. The system can measure how accurately he fired, as well as many different other metrics, such as how much his gun moved when it fired, whether he aimed at the target from left to right or right to left, and how long it took to fix on the target. The simulator is designed to train soldiers to be as efficient as they can when firing, all before ever shooting a live round. The system is saving the Army a lot of money on ammunition.
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Photo by Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com
