Changing the Army's weapon training strategies to meet operational requirements more efficiently and effectively

"The ability of soldiers to engage the enemy effectively is fundamental to the operational success of the U.S. Army. As a result, the Army devotes considerable effort and resources to weapon training. The Army's current challenge is to adapt weapon training strategies to meet complex operational environments and changing unit readiness processes; take full advantage of training technologies; and, in an era of declining defense budgets, make weapon training strategies more efficient. This report documents the findings, conclusions, and implications of a two-year project supporting the Army's efforts to adapt its weapon training strategies and the processes through which they are developed. The potential of emerging technologies to make weapon training strategies more effective and efficient is also examined. The report outlines directions the Army could take to improve its weapon training strategies and the processes for adapting them. It concludes that improving the processes for adapting weapon training to new requirements can make them more effective and efficient, but that improvements should be made in the context of holistically improving the Army's training and leader development programs. In addition, while there are many potential benefits to increasing the use of technologies in weapon training strategies, there are many factors that act to limit the amount of improvement that must be considered before deciding on implementation."--"Abstract" on web page.