To assist armour personnel with effective and realistic training, the U.S. Army has developed and deployed a new mobile application. The application, called “The Standardized Armor Base of Training-Experimental” (SABO-X), allows users to train in operating armored vehicles through games. Initially, developers intended it for office use only. Still, due to its availability on smartphones since last August, soldiers have been able to perform gunnery practice wherever they may be.
Improving their gunnery skills wherever the U.S. Army
The SABO-X app aims to enhance weapons gunnery by allowing soldiers to practice shooting away from conventional gunnery simulators. Such a paradigm shift ensures that soldiers can practice without having to book physical simulation slots at the mid- or end of their training cycle.
Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Harris, the most senior military officer within the Training and Doctrine Command, shares the same perspective. With the help of the app, soldiers can better hone their skills on armored platforms.
“It’s worked as a virtual, tabletop simulation where you can actually train on Abrams, Bradley vehicles, and soon on M10 Booker,” Harris elaborated.
Characteristics of the M10 Booker U.S. Army
The app’s training modules include the M10 Booker, the newest addition to the U.S. Army family of maneuver warfare systems. This tracked vehicle follows into the M115 rest a 12.7mm tragic machine gun, a 7.62mm marauder machine gun, and a 105 mm M35 tank gun, making it a principal focus for gunnery training.
Advantages of the Use of Virtual Training
Replicating or reenacting the live fire exercises entails sophisticated tools, which in this case are a smartphone application. However, Harris pointed out that any additional training is worth the effort. The application helps the soldiers between simulator exercises to prepare them better.
“Once you do get those things, you’ve got to embrace them and use them,” Harris explained.
Developments in Gunnery Training
The military has been active in enhancing the training of tank and Bradley crews since 2021. Meaningful development has already been recorded in Fort Carson, Colorado, where the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment was cited with an amazing shift in the number of qualified crews.
Bradley crewsÂ
According to an article in the Gunnery Training Program in Armor Magazine, Lt Col Chuck Bies and Command SGT MAJ John Kurtzhals attributed these improvements mainly to the enhancement of skills training and preparation and the greater application of simulators. Their roles as leaders at Fort Cavazos, Texas, and the national training center also prove the relevance of such tools.
Within an Essential Tasks Training Framework, how critical and operational gunnery tasks are employed and taught. The SABO-X mobile application is a common step towards the advancement of structural gunnery training within the cover’s body. The use of technology, along with traditional training techniques, is aimed at developing well-armed and well-trained armored formations within the U.S. Army.
