DAHLGREN, Va. – Commander, Navy Regional Maintenance Center (CNRMC) and Director, Surface Ship Maintenance, Modernization and Sustainment (SEA 21), Rear Admiral Eric Ver Hage, visited the Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) and its co-located learning site, AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC), onboard Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren, 10 Sept., to see warfighting training first-hand.
Capt. Dave Stoner, CSCS commanding officer, and Capt. Russ Sanchez, ATRC commanding officer, welcomed Rear Adm. Ver Hage, and highlighted how the schoolhouse trains warfighters to fight and win.
“Every shipboard Sailor needs to be confident and competent to fight and win against any adversary,” Stoner explained. “Throughout the CSCS domain and here at the schoolhouse, we are shaping a more capable and lethal force by implementing Ready, Relevant Learning [RRL] and Surface Training Advanced Virtual Environment-Combat Systems [STAVE-CS] training solutions. To be victorious in our next fight, Sailors must know how to extract every bit of warfighting capability resident in our ships.”
Sanchez demonstrated the Reconfigurable Combat Information Center Trainer’s (RCT) capabilities and emphasized how it is engineered in every detail to replicate a naval warship’s actual combat suite.
“The RCT provides an environment where we can realistically recreate the high-end tactical training needed to build lethality, warfighting, and tactical proficiency,” Sanchez said. “We are no longer in a 1980s fight. We are in a future fight and we need to train that way.”
After the RCT, Ver Hage observed an Aegis Virtual Maintenance Trainer (VMT) demonstration.
“The VMT is a high-fidelity 3D gaming environment engineered to respond to current and future training scenarios,” explained student Fire Controlman (Aegis) 3rd Class Felice Hahn. “It provides a virtual depiction of the Aegis Weapon System computer network. It has many advanced features including maintenance and troubleshooting procedures. For example, if a student has a safety violation, the student’s progression is suspended and the instructor is immediately notified.”
The RCT and VMT are two of many training systems that were developed, funded and delivered as part of the Director, Surface Warfare’s, OPNAV N96, program of record, STAVE-CS,. This program was introduced in 2015 as a means to provide better quality training for Navy Officers and Sailors. It comprises of instructional systems and simulated physical environments that provide watchstanders and maintainers the ability to gain proficiency through repeatable and repetitive exercises, drills and evolutions ashore.
After the Aegis VMT demonstration concluded, Ver Hage remarked on ATRC’s training efforts.
”It is impressive to see the progress that this combined CSCS, ATRC, PMS 339 and NSWC Dahlgren team has made,” Ver Hage said. “In the areas of Aegis operations and maintenance, our ships and Sailors will be better prepared as a result of these training systems.”
The Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) is a global organization that consists of 14 learning sites / detachments, including the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center (ATRC), located throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, Japan, and Spain. It falls under the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC). NETC, led by Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, is the U.S. Navy’s Force Development pillar and largest shore command. Through its “Street to Fleet” focus, NETC recruits civilians and transforms them into skilled warfighters ready to meet the current and future needs of the U.S. Navy.
ATRC provides Sailors with the knowledge, ability, and skill to operate and maintain the AEGIS Combat System through timely, effective, and integrated training delivered across Sailors' careers. ATRC also provides Officers the knowledge, ability, and skill to operate, employ, and assess the readiness of the AEGIS combat system aboard surface warships.
For information on the AEGIS Training and Readiness Center, visit
https://www.netc.navy.mil/ATRC/
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https://www.facebook.com/AEGISTrainingReadinessCenter/