Training Through Technology: Distance Learning Is More Than Hardware

As the Army enters the 2lst century, forward-thinking Army leaders are preparing to change the traditional methods of training soldiers for battle. Technology will play an ever-increasing role in how the Army prepares to accomplish its mission in the future. Decisions on how to train and sustain soldiers for the Army of the Future must be carefully considered in light of both technology and organizational requirements. The Army must continue to stay on the leading edge of technology as a means to train the force through Distance Learning (DL) methods. With increased deployments, reduced force structure (both Active and Reserve Components), and continued integration of Reserve Component units with the Active Component (multi-component units), Army leaders can no longer afford to train the force in the traditional manner. Neither military commanders nor civilian employers can release soldiers to schools for months at a time and still prepare for multiple deployments, before it affects both their military mission and civilian occupation. With declining budgets, the Army must take advantage of training and other opportunities with external institutions that are beyond the boundaries of current Department of Defense-specific training methods. As the Army becomes more training technology based, it must ensure that courseware developers and instructors have the professional training and experience to understand what is needed to develop a fully-integrated DL course. The Army must provide these developers with the proper tools that will enable them to create a DL environment that will train the soldier of the future with the skills, both personal and technical, that will sustain the Army in the 21st century.