Army Training: Efforts to Adjust Training Requirements Should Consider the Use of Virtual Training Devices

Citation
Government Accountability Office, Army Training: Efforts to Adjust Training Requirements Should Consider the Use of Virtual Training Devices (GAO-16-636) (Aug. 16, 2016) (full-text).

Overview
For more than a decade, the U.S. Army focused its training on supporting operations in the Middle East. The Army is reassessing its training programs to ensure that its forces are able to perform a broader range of operations and has established training priority areas and sought to expand its use of virtual training.

This report (1) describes the Army's efforts to adjust its training requirements and resources to prepare units for a broader range of military operations and (2) evaluates the extent to which the Army has integrated virtual training devices into operational training.

The GAO recommends that the Army update its policies for virtual training devices to conduct additional front-end planning; define the process for analyzing the effectiveness of its devices; and better integrate the devices in training strategies.