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CNN Saturday Morning News
Who Trains Those Who Train Troops?
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As the military prepares for a possible war, we consider a crucial question that sounds like a tongue-twister. Who trains those who train the troops? Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has some answers -- Daniel.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Anderson.
You know, the military has a lot of high tech at its disposal. But right now, we're going to be looking at some technology that allows some interactive stimulation even before they get to the battlefield and on the potential war with Iraq that we're looking at right now.
This technology is from a company called Firearms Systems Training. And I'm joined by Todd Haley to talk about what we've got here. And these are weapons that have been converted into interactive weaponry. And tell me what we're looking at right here.
TODD HALEY, FIREARMS SYSTEMS TRAINING TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR: What we're looking at, Daniel, is, we've got an array of weapons, everything from the machine guns to the standard rifle with the grenade launcher, antitank rocket, and a automatic grenade launcher.
SIEBERG: And now, we're going to get a demonstration of them shooting these weapons at the screen that we've got set up here as well. Is there are real deal with these weapons? Do you get the recoil and the effect you would get with a normal weapon?
HALEY: Yes, you do. We use CO2 to provide recoil. Provides about 70 percent of the actual recoil, and that's enough to cause the soldier to have to realign his sights on the target.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, let's get a quick demonstration here with these guys shooting at the screen. We got the scenario set up here.
And you can set this up just about anywhere. It's already deployed right now in the Gulf on board some ships, even on the ground. They can just set this up and start practicing. It's meant to enhance training, right, not to replace it?
HALEY: Right. We're not replacing training at all. This is just an enhancement. We're enhancing the marksmanship skills and the leadership coordination. SIEBERG: And why simulate? What is important about simulating something? Is it -- you know, can you really reenact the feel of a real weapon or the feel of a real situation?
HALEY: Yes, we can. The whole reason we would simulate things is, we can go into some very dangerous situations and do it in a controlled environment. The controlled environment saves us time, and it also lets us train in various conditions that we can control, such as nighttime, low visibility, and with the different terrain scenes we might encounter.
SIEBERG: And a whole array of different weapons, too, right? We got right here these -- they've got some handheld this is an M-16, I think he's got right now.
HALEY: Right, exactly.
SIEBERG: What else? Tell me about some of these other weapons we've got set up here.
HALEY: Well, the Mark 19, that is a 40-millimeter automatic grenade launcher. It's normally mounted on a vehicle, such as a Humvee or maybe a tank. In this case, we have it ground-mounted on a tripod.
We also have an antitank rocket, the 72-millimeter rocket there. We also simulate that. That is a fire-and-forget. You use it one time, and it's done. But in our case, we replicate it as a simulator, and you can fire it over and over and over.
SIEBERG: And you can get performance feedback. I mean, that's...
HALEY: Exactly.
SIEBERG: ... part of what all this is about. The core is this computer you've got set up here, the software. And you can measure the performance of the marksmanship of these guys.
HALEY: Right. For every training event we do, we record everything that happens, right down to each individual shot. And we can identify if the soldier performed the basic fundamentals of marksmanship. Was he doing something he shouldn't have been? Did he violate any safety procedures?
SIEBERG: And you can have even -- we've just got two guys set up here right now -- who aren't actual soldiers, we should point out -- but you can have more than that too. You could have even a team of, say, 12 or 15.
HALEY: Right, exactly. You could have 12 or 15 in one particular room. And then you can network multiple simulators together to put a larger fight, if you will.
SIEBERG: What is the future of this technology? Is it evolving? Have you seen it change over the few years that you guys have been (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
HALEY: Oh, most definitely. I've been with the company for five years, and the technology just continues to change as the commercial of technology changes. We're doing things. You see these weapons have cords now. They provide the CO2, the recoiling things. We're trying to go to cordless weapons to allow the soldier to move around more.
And the networking is a big thing for us.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, let's get another demonstration, if we can, of this weaponry here. And you can -- if we can get a shot of the screen, you can see even the -- you can actually see the explosions on the screen, right? You're getting real feedback (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HALEY: Exactly. And the enemy's out there. They also have some intelligence. They can perform some tactical maneuvers on us.
SIEBERG: Artificial intelligence (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HALEY: Exactly, exactly. So if we are engaged in a particular area too much, they will actually go to the area of least resistance and perform some maneuvers around us. You'll also see the enemy artillery coming in on us as well.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, Todd Haley, thanks so much for joining us.
HALEY: Thank you.
SIEBERG: ... from FATS.
And, you know, Anderson and Arthel, we're going to be talking about this a little bit more throughout the day and demonstrating some of the other weapons that we've got here. So some pretty amazing technology that's at the disposal of the military right now, and being used and deployed right now in the Gulf.
Back to you guys.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: It really is amazing.
COOPER: Yes, really interesting to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) see that. Thanks, Daniel, appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 15, 2003 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As the military prepares for a possible war, we consider a crucial question that sounds like a tongue-twister. Who trains those who train the troops? Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has some answers -- Daniel.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Anderson.
You know, the military has a lot of high tech at its disposal. But right now, we're going to be looking at some technology that allows some interactive stimulation even before they get to the battlefield and on the potential war with Iraq that we're looking at right now.
This technology is from a company called Firearms Systems Training. And I'm joined by Todd Haley to talk about what we've got here. And these are weapons that have been converted into interactive weaponry. And tell me what we're looking at right here.
TODD HALEY, FIREARMS SYSTEMS TRAINING TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR: What we're looking at, Daniel, is, we've got an array of weapons, everything from the machine guns to the standard rifle with the grenade launcher, antitank rocket, and a automatic grenade launcher.
SIEBERG: And now, we're going to get a demonstration of them shooting these weapons at the screen that we've got set up here as well. Is there are real deal with these weapons? Do you get the recoil and the effect you would get with a normal weapon?
HALEY: Yes, you do. We use CO2 to provide recoil. Provides about 70 percent of the actual recoil, and that's enough to cause the soldier to have to realign his sights on the target.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, let's get a quick demonstration here with these guys shooting at the screen. We got the scenario set up here.
And you can set this up just about anywhere. It's already deployed right now in the Gulf on board some ships, even on the ground. They can just set this up and start practicing. It's meant to enhance training, right, not to replace it?
HALEY: Right. We're not replacing training at all. This is just an enhancement. We're enhancing the marksmanship skills and the leadership coordination. SIEBERG: And why simulate? What is important about simulating something? Is it -- you know, can you really reenact the feel of a real weapon or the feel of a real situation?
HALEY: Yes, we can. The whole reason we would simulate things is, we can go into some very dangerous situations and do it in a controlled environment. The controlled environment saves us time, and it also lets us train in various conditions that we can control, such as nighttime, low visibility, and with the different terrain scenes we might encounter.
SIEBERG: And a whole array of different weapons, too, right? We got right here these -- they've got some handheld this is an M-16, I think he's got right now.
HALEY: Right, exactly.
SIEBERG: What else? Tell me about some of these other weapons we've got set up here.
HALEY: Well, the Mark 19, that is a 40-millimeter automatic grenade launcher. It's normally mounted on a vehicle, such as a Humvee or maybe a tank. In this case, we have it ground-mounted on a tripod.
We also have an antitank rocket, the 72-millimeter rocket there. We also simulate that. That is a fire-and-forget. You use it one time, and it's done. But in our case, we replicate it as a simulator, and you can fire it over and over and over.
SIEBERG: And you can get performance feedback. I mean, that's...
HALEY: Exactly.
SIEBERG: ... part of what all this is about. The core is this computer you've got set up here, the software. And you can measure the performance of the marksmanship of these guys.
HALEY: Right. For every training event we do, we record everything that happens, right down to each individual shot. And we can identify if the soldier performed the basic fundamentals of marksmanship. Was he doing something he shouldn't have been? Did he violate any safety procedures?
SIEBERG: And you can have even -- we've just got two guys set up here right now -- who aren't actual soldiers, we should point out -- but you can have more than that too. You could have even a team of, say, 12 or 15.
HALEY: Right, exactly. You could have 12 or 15 in one particular room. And then you can network multiple simulators together to put a larger fight, if you will.
SIEBERG: What is the future of this technology? Is it evolving? Have you seen it change over the few years that you guys have been (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
HALEY: Oh, most definitely. I've been with the company for five years, and the technology just continues to change as the commercial of technology changes. We're doing things. You see these weapons have cords now. They provide the CO2, the recoiling things. We're trying to go to cordless weapons to allow the soldier to move around more.
And the networking is a big thing for us.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, let's get another demonstration, if we can, of this weaponry here. And you can -- if we can get a shot of the screen, you can see even the -- you can actually see the explosions on the screen, right? You're getting real feedback (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HALEY: Exactly. And the enemy's out there. They also have some intelligence. They can perform some tactical maneuvers on us.
SIEBERG: Artificial intelligence (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HALEY: Exactly, exactly. So if we are engaged in a particular area too much, they will actually go to the area of least resistance and perform some maneuvers around us. You'll also see the enemy artillery coming in on us as well.
SIEBERG: All right. Well, Todd Haley, thanks so much for joining us.
HALEY: Thank you.
SIEBERG: ... from FATS.
And, you know, Anderson and Arthel, we're going to be talking about this a little bit more throughout the day and demonstrating some of the other weapons that we've got here. So some pretty amazing technology that's at the disposal of the military right now, and being used and deployed right now in the Gulf.
Back to you guys.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: It really is amazing.
COOPER: Yes, really interesting to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) see that. Thanks, Daniel, appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
