The Mobile Counter-IED Trainer (MCIT) trains US Army and Marine Corps personnel to recognize and defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in geo-specific first-person environments. Deployed in a series of modified 40′ shipping containers, MCIT takes participants through the planning cycle of US and insurgent forces and then engages them in an immersive blue vs. red exercise.
Created at the direction of the Department of Defense Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO), MCIT was developed in cooperation with the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM-STTC), the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), and Quicksilver Software, Inc.
MCIT was nominated for the 2009 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Modeling & Simulation by the National Training and Simulation Association.
Goal
Teach tactics and terrain evaluation to help Coalition personnel defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Train Coalition personnel to "think like an insurgent“.
Challenges
Deployable simulator - Create a mobile simulation environment that can be deployed to training installations around the world.
Asymmetric experience - Facilitate realistic decision-making for both Coalition and ‘Insurgent’ participants.
Physical interface - Provide a realistic, highly immersive simulator experience utilizing a mix of real equipment and specialized hardware.
Solution
Built a mixed-reality simulation environment into a 40’ shipping container for transportation.
Developed software to send Soldiers through an accurate mission planning cycle, giving them the skills to compare and contrast Coalition and insurgent planning methodologies.
Governor’s Award for Excellence in Modeling and Simulation nominee.
