The Use of Computer Games in Military Training by the British Army

The Use of Computer Games in Military Training by the British Army

John Curry (Bath College, UK) and Tom Mouat (Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, UK)
Copyright: © 2012 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0149-9.ch058

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of how serious computer games are being used for training, education, and decision support within the British Army and gives an in-depth example of the use of JCOVE training system used to train soldiers in convoy driving. Initial evaluations on the effectiveness of the use of serious games in preparing UK forces for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan show they have had a significant positive impact. Further research is needed on the business issue of better public procurement systems to introduce innovation in games faster into the training cycle and on the education aspects of using serious games as part of preparation to work in hazardous environments.
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Background

The British military view of the relationship between training, education and wargaming is to identify each as distinct functions. Training involves teaching individuals to undertake set tasks, for example teaching a soldier to fire a rifle or a driver to drive a main battle tank. Education is seen as teaching service men to apply this training to solve tactical problems, such as getting a number of soldiers who know how to fire the assault rifles to successfully work as a team to storm a building. The UK Defence Academy teaches officers to solve tactical problems from the tactical to the operational and strategic levels. Wargaming is seen in terms of decision support, for example evaluating different courses of action to identify the one with the lowest level of risk.

Military Training systems can be divided into three:

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