Reading, PA (1888PressRelease)
March 01, 2008 - In President Bush’s final State of the Union address, he issued a sweeping challenge to the military, saying “we have unfinished business before us and the American people expect us to get it done.”
As a defense contractor, who has been providing technological training systems to the U.S. military for two decades, I consider this a challenge, as well. After all, one of our military’s main advantages is that our soldiers are equipped with the most advanced surveillance and weapons systems available and that they receive extensive high-tech training in how to use them.
Fidelity Technologies Corp., like other defense contractors, is continually asked to develop and fine-tune training simulators that our war fighters can use to prepare for battle.
Our military, as well as our President and our other elected leaders, expect nothing less than perfection from defense contractors. We must be flexible and evolve to meet the demands of today’s battlefield, and we must anticipate changing technologies. To survive in this business, we can never provide anything less than perfection, even though that mark is a constantly moving target.
As a private company, we must accept the fact that next year’s business plan could quickly become obsolete, based on political and military strife worldwide and the demanding expectations of the military.
As we mark the 20th anniversary of our company, we are unveiling a simulation and training system for the Joint Terminal Attack Controller. We believe such a product is right in line with our President’s highest expectations.
A Joint Terminal Attack Controller, or JTAC, is an operator on the ground who directly supports the ground forces commander. JTACs direct and control air strikes, talking directly to pilots as they approach their targets. These highly trained war fighters are critical to conducting operations in the modern air-centric battlefield and must possess an amazing amount of knowledge and quick decision-making skills.
JTACs have an interesting history. They originated in World War II by firing smoke grenades at enemies to identify their locations, and have one of the most difficult roles on the battlefield because of the detailed coordination required. It is their job to cut through the “fog of war.” Today, they use lasers to point out targets, as well as global positioning satellites and battlefield data transfer to update the battle in “real time.”
Fidelity’s JTAC simulation trainer allows these soldiers and airmen to rehearse their skills and to prepare for missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else they may be needed. This trainer helps prepare JTACs to coordinate numerous fire assets, such as air support, artillery and mortars, bringing more efficiency, precision and safety to an air assault.
A certified JTAC needs extensive knowledge and must be prepared to make split second, life and death decisions. Our trainer creates a “simulated hostile environment” for war fighters to train in; complete with all of the tools they would have in a real battle. Simulation is a key part of the training regimen, from simple scenarios needed for initial qualifications training to reproductions of complex and difficult situations that would be too dangerous or expensive to create in any other way.
We demonstrated the JTAC technology to military officers attending the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando in December. Our new product received a warm reception, and there was no question that it would be an indispensable technology for the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
We expect our JTAC training simulator and other technologies now under development at Fidelity to define our company over the next few years, as the need for training additional JTACs has been identified as a critical need as the military confronts enemies around the world. Not only is there a shortage of certified JTACs, but existing ones require continuous rehearsal and training to maintain and update their abilities.
As Fidelity Technologies has learned since we first opened our doors in 1988, there are never any guarantees in our line of work. We must anticipate the challenges that the military will face as technology and the world situation develops, and do our best to stay ahead of the curve.
President Bush reiterated in his speech the importance of a military prepared to face a constantly changing enemy. To that end, we must ensure that our soldiers have the best training available. It is a challenge our President has issued and one that we must fulfill.
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