NAVFAC Southeast Contract to Help Marines Save Energy, Money

From Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded a $5.2 million utility energy services contract (UESC) June 30, to TECO Peoples Gas Energy Systems Group, LLC for energy improvements to facilities at U.S. Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island.

The improvements will save the installation nearly $497,000 annually.

"We recognize that as residents of the Jacksonville community, Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island has a responsibility to do our part to conserve energy," said Blount Island base commander Col. Steven Peters. "This project puts us on the path to meet the goals of the Commandant of the Marine Corps Campaign Plan, increases our use of renewable energy, and reduces energy to meet executive order goals."

Projects under the UESC will include high efficiency lighting retrofits; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements; controls upgrades, motor upgrades, transformer replacements, metering, compressed air system repairs, insulation, and solar hot-water and geothermal energy systems.

"We are always looking ahead to find ways to conserve energy," said NAVFAC Southeast energy program manager Brad Clark. "When the analysis was complete we found many buildings that could use upgrades to conserve energy."

Thirteen facilities and five non-facility areas will see some type of energy saving improvements.

Solar hot water panels are to be installed on Building 100 to augment its existing electric water heating system.

Solar powered (photovoltaic) systems include solar powered water circulators in two retention ponds to maintain proper oxygen levels. Solar powered car charging systems will be installed at Buildings 350, 351, 390 and 450 to relieve 44 electric vehicles from the utility system.

Geothermal energy systems work will include replacing building 450 cooling equipment with a water-cooled chiller and water-source heat pump. Ground-source heat pumps and new air handling units will replace existing heating and cooling equipment in Building 150.

"The Department of Defense (DoD) has imposed strict guidance to reduce consumption," claims Clark.

The DoD has mandated that electric and natural gas consumption be reduced at least 30 percent by 2015. In addition, executive order (EO) 13514 was signed in 2009 by the President which intensifies the energy savings requirements even more.

The Commandant of the Marine Corps has provided a campaign plan called, "Ten by '10 -- Top ten things to do by 2010 to reduce USMC Energy Risks."

Construction on the UESC Phase II projects for Blount Island will begin in August and is expected to be completed during the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, approximately June 2012.

Read More >>

Face of Defense: Scientist Serves in Afghanistan

By Marine Corps 1st Lt. Megan Greathouse

II Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan, June 30, 2011 – Every Marine has a story. For one reservist serving in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the story is of a rocket scientist who answered the call to serve his country as a third-generation Marine.

Marine Corps 1st Lt. William J. Fredericks, a 29-year-old from Nantucket, Mass., works as an aerospace engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. He graduated from Purdue University in 2006 with a degree in aeronautical engineering, and moved to Williamsburg, Va., after landing the position with NASA.

While he enjoys the challenge of his prestigious career, sitting at a desk in the aeronautics systems analysis branch was not quite enough.

“I was out of college a year and I didn’t want to be 40 and say I sat in a cubical in my 20s and 30s,” explained Fredericks, whose military specialty is artillery. “I had a privileged upbringing, and I felt called to serve the country that gave me so many opportunities.”

That upbringing included a military heritage. Fredericks’ father and grandfather both served as Marines as well, a legacy that now spans three generations.

“Frankly, I consider my joining the Marine Corps more a coincidence than starting a legacy,” said the senior William Fredericks, a retired major who now resides in Mattapoisett, Mass., and flies for U.S. Airways. “With my son, Bill, a definite pattern is evolving. He is the one clearly beginning a legacy.”

Fredericks’ father signed his son’s commissioning papers and administered the oath of office, a moment he considers the greatest honor of his life. His wife held the Bible for their son as he repeated the oath, swearing to support and defend his country. The 2008 commissioning was followed by a celebratory dinner in which the retired major handed down to his son his Mameluke sword, the ceremonial sword carried exclusively by Marine officers.

“Recognizing the importance of the moment, it now represents one of the most valuable family possessions,” Fredericks’ father said.

The Marine Corps tradition began with Fredericks’ grandfather, Wesley Fredericks, a World War II veteran who fought in five island campaigns in the Pacific theater as a combat engineer with the 1st Marine Division. He passed away while his grandson was still young, and rarely spoke to his son about the war. The few stories he did share were of starvation at Guadalcanal, and savage fighting in the battles for Sugarloaf Hill and Shuri Castle on Okinawa.

“He didn’t go to boot camp until he got back from the battle of Guadalcanal,” Fredericks said of his grandfather. “Here he was a veteran getting yelled at by drill instructors who hadn’t been to combat yet.”

Wesley Fredericks was there as the Marines fought their way up Sugarloaf Hill 13 times before finally holding it. As a combat engineer, he often had to climb hills where the Japanese had dug their maze of entrenchments and use rope to swing dynamite satchels into caves, blasting the enemy from their positions.

After the war, Wesley Fredericks left the Marine Corps as a staff sergeant and returned to his pre-war career as a plumber in New York City.

“He made quite clear he did not want his sons to see what he saw,” the elder Fredericks said as he explained his father’s anger when he received a full Marine option ROTC scholarship during the Vietnam War. “He wouldn’t speak to me for two days.”

But the war veteran became proud of his son’s decision over time.

More than 60 years later the family service continues, with the youngest Fredericks now serving as an artillery officer with Kilo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment -- a high-mobility artillery rocket system battery operating in Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan.

“My Dad thought I should have joined the Air Force,” Fredericks said, explaining they had research positions similar to his job at NASA. Yet, he chose a combat arms specialty in the Marine Corps with “pretty much zero” similarities to his desk job.

“As a parent, I am very concerned,” Fredericks’ father said. “At the same time, I am very proud of Bill, and all the other Marines and service members willing to go into harm’s way in service to our country.”

As a reservist, Fredericks belongs to Hotel Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, an M777 155 mm howitzer battery based in Richmond, Va. Their sister battalion, 2/14, needed more lieutenants for their deployment, and Fredericks answered that call. He arrived in Afghanistan in mid-January and is scheduled to return home and pick up where he left off at NASA sometime late this summer.

Besides their military service, the Fredericks also share an interest in sailing and sailboat racing. Fredericks spent 10 months between high school and college sailing around the world on a 188-foot-long ship, visiting almost 40 different ports of call. Still, their Marine Corps heritage remains their strongest tie.

“The Marine Corps now provides our family a bedrock, or foundation, as a common denominator of what we represent,” Fredericks’ father said. “The ideals of self-sacrifice, discipline, honor, and the sense of being part of something much bigger than ourselves certainly leads to a lifetime of responsibility as contributing members of society.”

Read More >>

Navy Tests "Green" Hybrid Diesel Trucks

By Darrell E. Waller, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Public Affairs

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (NNS) -- Navy engineers in San Diego and Bangor, Wash., began testing diesel powered hybrid vehicle technology June 15, for possible deployment to Navy and Marine Corps bases worldwide.

The program kicked off with the delivery of two vehicles to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest Coastal Integrated Product Team (IPT) in San Diego, May 12. A second pair of trucks will be pressed into service with the recycling team in Bangor, Wash., this month.

The Navy has commissioned a total of four test vehicles - two diesel hybrids and two conventionally powered trucks - that will be compared side by side for six months at Bangor and the California site. Each location will receive a single hybrid to be tested against a similar, non-hybrid model. Both sites will operate the trucks under normal conditions, and the results will be compared at the end of the test period to determine potential fuel savings for the Fleet.

"The testing in this phase will be compared to earlier baseline tests to determine how well the hybrids match up in the real world against their conventional counterparts," said Capt. Paz B. Gomez, Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center commanding officer. "This has the potential to save millions of dollars for the fleet and taxpayers, enabling the Navy to move closer to achieving the SECNAV's energy goals of 50 percent reduction in petroleum used in naval vehicles by 2015."

NAVFAC ESC is working with the sites to monitor critical operating data on the truck use and hybrid system status for the duration of the test period. The trucks will be required to undergo weekly inspections of the hybrid systems. The fleet managers, operators and service teams will provide input on the truck status throughout the demonstration period.

"Both the NAVFAC Southwest Base Support Vehicles and Equipment Core team and the Coastal Integrated Product team worked closely with NAVFAC ESC and the manufacturer to make this happen," said Luann Benson, NAVFAC Southwest Base Support Vehicles and Equipment product line coordinator. "We are looking forward to reviewing the results and hopefully implementing more heavy hybrid vehicles."

One demonstration truck includes an innovative hybrid platform known as a hydraulic hybrid system, which works by charging an on-board gas accumulator. Its simple layout allows for rigorous use and frequent stops while delivering lower costs through high volume production. This type of technology becomes increasingly important with the rising costs of petroleum.

Hybrid electric systems will reduce noise, allowing quiet engine-off operation at low speeds or idling for work modes. This not only enhances environmental quality of life, but also improves safety and productivity. Line workers can better communicate without having to compete with diesel engine noise, and crews can work normal shifts without concerns about additional noise disturbance.

While improved fuel efficiency is a critical driver for this demonstration, the hybrid systems offer unique environmental benefits. The hybrid trucks' regenerative braking system will significantly eliminate the use of a conventional brake system. This not only avoids the downtime and cost of brake replacement, but it also avoids the fine particulate matter generated with each application of the brakes, better protecting air and water resources.

"This is just one small example of the Navy's many contributions to how our government is leading the charge toward a healthy and sustainable future," said Ken Furra, NAVFAC Southwest Coastal IPT Public Works Business Line team leader.

Test data will be released to other Department of Defense components and federal government organizations by 2012, and the technology may eventually benefit warfighters in all theaters.

Read More >>

SECNAV Stresses Alternative Energy at Current Strategy Forum

From Naval War College Public Affairs

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus spoke on the importance of pursuing alternative energy during a keynote speech at the U.S. Naval War College's 62nd annual Current Strategy Forum (CSF) in Newport, R.I., June 8.

Mabus discussed how the Navy and Marine Corps have made strides towards seeking alternative energy sources, but must continue to push ahead to be less reliant on fossil fuels. This challenge, he said, is a strategic issue that is important to U.S. national security.

"We use too much fossil fuel," he said. "We have to change the way we use, produce, get energy. We have to do it strategically, we have to do it tactically."

Every dollar rise in the price of a barrel of oil costs the Navy and Marine Corps $31 million, he said, noting that oil-price increases in fiscal year 2011 will result in a $562 million addition to the operating budget of both services - more than the cost of a littoral combat ship.

"We don't have that money to spare. We certainly don't have it to spare in this fiscal environment," he said.

The reliance on fossil fuels affects the Navy and Marine Corps at the tactical level as well. He used the complex process to transport fuel to Afghanistan as a costly example, from monetary costs to manpower resources, to lives lost in attacks while providing security.

To combat this issue, the secretary issued five energy goals, one of which is to ensure at least half of all energy used by the Navy and Marine Corps will come from non-fossil fuels no later than 2020. This type of challenge, he said, is not new to services that transitioned from sails to coal-fired steam in the 19th century, switched to oil 50 years later, and then added nuclear power to the fleet in the 1950s.

"I think we're right on the edge of another energy revolution," Mabus said, pointing out how quickly such change happens. He compared the potential for energy developments with the recent emergence of iPads, smart phones and other devices transforming the way we communicate.

"We have the opportunity to help create the new energy future and the new energy economy for this country," said Mabus.

In the energy arena, progress has been made, including completion of solar-power projects, energy-efficient buildings, and smart meters across the Department of the Navy.

Mabus described how private industry will play a key role in future developments in partnership with the Department of the Navy. Specific parameters, such as ensuring that energy alternatives are compatible with already existing platforms and equipment, and that any developments do not compete with food production, will need to be considered.

"Because while the military can lead, it's going to have to be industry that expands the market," he said.

Attended by the Naval War College community and participants from throughout the country, this year's two-day Current Strategy Forum explored the theme of "Energy and the U.S. National Security: Vulnerability and Opportunity."

The event featured speakers from military, academia and industry, discussing the critical role of energy in international security, the current and future impact of increasing global demands on natural resources, and the related vulnerabilities and opportunities for the nation and the maritime services in a more energy constrained environment.

The Current Strategy Forum is hosted annually by the Secretary of the Navy.

Read More >>

MIT-West Point Challenge Yields New Soldier Technologies

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2011 – Every year since 2003, cadets from the U.S. Military Academy and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have competed to develop technologies that help soldiers and Marines on the battlefield.

This year, six teams took home awards for advances such as slashing the time it takes to set up sand-filled barriers, designing a safer way to airdrop water supplies, harvesting wind energy from a cell-phone-sized generator, and more.

The MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, a research center founded in 2002 with a five-year, $50 million Army research contract, holds the Soldier Design Competition.

The institute is in its second five-year contract, and its mission is to use the power of nanotechnology to save the lives of soldiers and Marines.

Nanotechnology is science on the scale of single atoms and molecules. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

Nanotechnology offers the potential for making things small and lightweight. And because materials act differently at the nano scale than they do at everyday scales of inches, feet and pounds, engineers potentially can create unprecedented new materials and devices.

“Imagine a bullet-resistant jumpsuit,” the institute’s website says, “no thicker than ordinary spandex that monitors health, eases injuries, communicates automatically and reacts instantly to chemical and biological agents.”

This is the institute’s ultimate goal.

In the meantime, efforts such as the Soldier Design Competition harness the ideas and energies of students and cadets for low-cost, semester-length projects that awardees can commercialize quickly and use to help soldiers.

First prize went to a West Point team that redesigned Hercules Engineering Solutions Consortium, or HESCO, barriers, used by U.S., NATO and other military forces around the world. The redesign saved 60 percent of the time needed to protect against small-arms fire when soldiers have to shovel sand into the barriers by hand.

“The team talked to people in small-arms protection who said you only need a foot of sand in the HESCO barrier to stop gunfire, so you don’t need to fill the whole thing up right away,” John McConville, technology transfer officer for the Army Research Office, told American Forces Press Service.

McConville, assigned to the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, helps students and cadets link up with Army labs and commands to get the technologies into the field.

An MIT team earned second prize for designing a way to drop water supplies -- one large bottle or a pallet of them -- from aircraft and get them down safely and without help from people on the ground.

Their model was the wing-like maple-tree seed. Almost as soon as the seed leaves the tree, its aerodynamic shape causes it to rotate around its own center of mass as it spins slowly to the ground.

“The team made a [leaf-shaped wing] out of cardboard, did some calculations, strapped a little bag of water on it and threw it out their dorm window,” McConville said.

“They have a little video of this, and it comes spinning down really slow,” he said, noting that the team analyzed how heavy a bag could be and how fast it could come down without seriously hurting someone on the ground.

“They determined that if they had up to 500 milliliters of water and they used this device,” McConville added, “it wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

The Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center submitted the problem to the Soldier Design Competition as a humanitarian issue, and McConville said Natick was interested in the design.

For the third prize, an MIT team created a cell-phone-sized device with a lever whose wind-generated vibrations in an electromagnetic field produces electricity. The students, McConville said, “are trying to design it so a soldier can use it to charge a battery.”

Teams also received awards for an augmented reality battlefield smartphone application, a low-cost tactical unmanned aircraft system and a thin-film rechargeable battery in the form of a U.S. flag uniform patch.

Other entries included an advanced adaptable ear-protection system, a soldier sound system that allows vehicle operators to hear important environmental sounds, an exoskeleton, a personal nonlethal distraction device that can be hidden in everyday objects, and a smartphone vibrating-belt system for situational awareness on the battlefield.

Several teams are working with the Army to field their devices, McConville said, and some are patenting their designs in advance of taking them to the commercial market.

“We encourage whatever it takes to commercialize the product and get it to the soldier,” he added.

Even teams whose entries don’t receive awards contribute to the mission, the technology transfer officer noted. “They’re all out there trying to help the soldier,” he said. “There really are no losers.”

Read More >>

Marines Prove Energy Efficiencies in Afghanistan

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2011 – There’s a peculiar sight on Forward Operating Base Jackson in the Sangin district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The base is one of several in southern Afghanistan where the Marine Corps has set up solar panels and uses solar blankets as sources of renewable energy.

Col. Robert “Brutus” Charette Jr., director of expeditionary energy for the Marine Corps, is working to ensure that deploying such sources of renewable energy become standard procedure. But he admits it hasn’t come easy.

When 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, received orders last year to deploy to Afghanistan, experiments in environmentalism did not come to mind.

“When we told them they’d be taking renewables to the battlefield, they were not amused,” Charette told an audience at an energy, environment, defense and security conference here yesterday.

That was before they trained in renewable energy at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- before they’d proven the Corps’ new position that resource efficiency equals combat effectiveness.

At first, the Marines grudgingly accepted the solar panels and other renewable energy sources, saying they could go on “a slow boat to Afghanistan,” Charette said. After they trained with the equipment and experienced the efficiency of lighter packs and less reliance on resupplies, they said to put all of it on the planes, he said.

“That’s when I knew we had something,” he added.

Today, at least two forward operating bases in Afghanistan are powered entirely by solar energy, and several others get at least 90 percent of their energy from the sun. Marine Corps leaders are so pleased with the outcome that they’ve written renewable energy into training plans and doctrine -- something Charette said he hopes will become joint practice with other services.

“Today on the battlefield, we treat energy and water like it’s air, like it will always be there,” Charette said. “Logistics guys do such a tremendous job supplying warfighters that we don’t pay attention.”

The colonel added there still “are a lot of gaps to fill” to create an environment where the services have a steady supply of renewable resources from industry, and a system in place for fielding, training and using them.

“We need a methodical approach to doing it,” he said.

The results on the battlefield, though, are good enough to be an incentive. Six solar panels at Forward Operating Base Jackson can keep at least 17 computers and 15 lighting units running throughout the night. A Marine company on a three-day foot patrol uses solar blankets in place of radio batteries, savings hundreds of pounds from packs and thousands of dollars, Charette said.

When Marines in Helmand were given a solar refrigerator that kept water at 40 degrees on a 130-degree day, he said, the unit ordered 10 of them.

As an enduring example of the Marines’ energy initiatives in Helmand, they have shared their findings -- and equipment -- with local Afghans. “Without energy, they’re never going to be able to stand on their own,” Charette noted.

While Helmand residents “showed no interest in biofuels,” he said, they like the solar panels and blankets, which are providing much-needed energy.

By 2025, the Marine Corps plans to cut in half the amount of energy each Marine consumes on the battlefield. By writing alternative energy uses into service policies and procedures, Charette said, “it ensures we truly do change the way we do business.”

Read More >>

Troops Explore Emerging Energy Solutions

By Claire Heininger

Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications – Tactical

ORLANDO, Fla., May 2, 2011 – As the military works to shrink its operational energy footprint, experts in solar power, microgrids and “smart” generators recently took that technology to a crucial jury: the troops.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who deal hands-on with battlefield power converged here April 12-15 for the fourth annual Power User Conference held by the Defense Department’s mobile electric power project manager’s office, participating in small-group discussions, attending demonstrations and providing feedback on current and next-generation equipment.

“This is a way to get very deep inside the combat [experience] and understand the issues and concerns that soldiers are going through, because this is of paramount importance for us,” said Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Leonardo Bereton, who oversaw power equipment as part of his duties when deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2009. “This equipment [was] running through sandstorms and rain and cold and hot weather. … They are so valuable to our fight.”

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Joe Leija said he connected with experts “for every type of gear” with whom he previously had worked via email from Afghanistan.

“But now, putting a name with a face and being able to ask those hard questions, I think it will help out the Marine Corps,” he said.

Among Leija’s recommendations: minor changes to the Solar Stik, a hybrid energy system consisting of a lightweight tripod with a pair of 50-watt rigid-panel solar arrays, batteries and a military generator. Overall, he said, the system could be a valuable alternative to traditional energy sources for powering items with small loads, such as computers and batteries.

“I think it has potential,” he said. “Environment is going to determine whether it’s usable.”

Harnessing the potential of alternative energies so they meet the demands of a military environment is a major focus for the mobile electric power project manager’s office, which supplies tactical electric power solutions, training and support to the services. The organization also is developing a microgrid to be deployed in Afghanistan later this year composed of four larger generator sets and supporting power distribution equipment. It would intelligently manage the power supply to meet demand, reducing fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

“There’s more interest in operational energy than at any time in the last 40 years or so,” project manager Michael Padden told the more than 270 conference attendees. “What can we do to improve efficiencies on the battlefield? What other equipment can we get out there? How can we take tankers off the battlefields and reduce casualties? The answers are in this room.”

The office’s standardized military generators also are evolving. The next generation, known as the Advanced Medium Mobile Power Sources, or AMMPS, family, is 21 percent more fuel-efficient than current systems while reducing size and weight. While AMMPS fielding is expected to begin later this year, several models were on display at the conference for warfighters to explore.

“I’m impressed with the AMMPS from what I’ve seen so far,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Vince DiLoreto, who used the current Tactical Quiet Generator models while deployed. DiLoreto said the standardization between AMMPS units of different sizes would simplify maintenance, and the extra cooling fans would reduce a condition that impairs diesel engines.

As an “old-school guy,” DiLoreto said, his only concern with the transition is that the newer generators use digital control screens in place of dials. But he acknowledged that a younger generation of warfighters might prefer that.

“It will probably be easier for them to use a computer than it would be a dial,” he said.

Other systems on display included a variety of other small and large power sources, including the Deployable Power Generation and Distribution System, a 30,000-pound trailer-mounted system supplying 840 kilowatts of power to forward operating bases and to natural disaster sites in the United States.

“We respond to floods, ice storms and hurricanes,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Norris of the 249th Engineer Battalion, which relies on the system. “We have generators stationed across the country.”

Nearby, a new 60,000-British-thermal-units-per-hour Improved Environmental Control Unit rapidly cooled the interior of a tent, demonstrating its capability to protect key tactical communications equipment from harsh desert temperatures. The Marine Corps also demonstrated a Humvee with an in-line generator coupled to the transmission that provides 30 kilowatts of exportable power when stationary and 10 kilowatts when on the move.

The demonstrations anchored the conference, which also included presentation of the “Power Professional Awards” to recognize outstanding achievements across the Defense Department. The winners were Marine Corps Sgt. Victoria Wellman, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Duvall, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Silvia Stephens, Air Force Staff Sgt. Marcial Grinolds, Army Staff Sgt. Michael Kelly and Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brandon McCoy.

Grinolds won for saving the Defense Department $75,000 in vendor courses by developing a training curriculum for power generation specialists. He said standardized training ensures troops will have “the same level of expertise” to provide continuous support for equipment on the front lines.

“You never know about the power guy,” Grinolds said, “until the power goes out.”

Read More >>

ONR Seeks to Strengthen Tomorrow's Leaders Through Gaming

By Katherine H. Crawford, Office of Naval Research Public Affairs

ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- The Office of Naval Research announced April 18 that it is investing in today's youth and tomorrow's technical workforce using computer-based applications similar to programs originally designed for Navy recruits.

Playing a 3-D video game developed by ONR, the science and technology provider for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, recruits are learning at-sea safety long before setting sail. And now, applying the same underlying science in public education, digital tutors are helping high-school students to master math.

Program Officer Dr. Ray Perez leads ONR's Cognitive Science of Learning program. In collaboration with the Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) and a team of academic researchers, Perez and his colleagues are developing advanced training and education techniques with significant cost savings for the U.S. Navy.

"Training and education are national defense priorities," Perez said. "We're seeing an influx of recruits who are not as well equipped to handle the technological complexities of today's Navy, and we cannot wait for the standard education practices to fix that."

Virtual Learning Helps Recruits Retain Skills

Since fires and floods present the greatest threats on a ship or submarine, each recruit must complete training on containing a fire, controlling a flood and rescuing personnel during their initial seven-week boot camp. On completion, learned skills must be demonstrated on a capstone event or exam. For those who fail, it's back for another round of training.

NSTC Great Lakes employs computer-based simulations to measure individual performance and help recruits prepare for their final assessment. The first-person game emphasizes operational skills relating to flood and fire control and preventing casualties aboard ship � a critical skill in helping trainees prepare for duty at sea.

"During the game, users are given real-time feedback on their performance as well as guided instruction when they run into different challenges or have difficulty obtaining individual objectives," said John Drake, director of learning sciences at NSTC.

The results speak for themselves -- after gaming, recruits make 50 percent fewer errors, and locate ship or submarine compartments in 50 percent less time. In a study measuring how much information recruits retain after boot camp, game-playing recruits retained 83 percent of their reading gains, almost four times more than their counterparts.

Drake attributes improved scores to the appeal of video games among men and women who have grown up with consoles such as Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.

"They seem to align better with the learning preferences of this generation and be the next step in the direction that training needs to go," Drake said.

Among competitive trainees, the game has evolved into an extracurricular opportunity to excel.

"What we find is that during off-duty time, recruits play the game," Perez said. "You get points for how well you perform your tasks. For example, at NSTC Great Lakes, dormitories compete to see who gets the highest score."

At NSTC, computer-based games focus on teaching recruits their individual roles in a crisis situation, but it's equally important that seasoned Sailors learn and refresh on operating in a team setting.

Working with the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles (CRESST/UCLA), ONR has developed the game, 'Damage Control,' to help prepare Sailors for deployment. Currently in use at the Center for Naval Engineering in Norfolk, the simulation teaches Sailors what actions to take, and with which people and equipment at the appropriate time.

"The goal for the player is to manage what's called the 'repair locker,' a collection of people who are responsible � like a fire department � for responding to different fires or floods that may break out in that particular area of the ship," said Alan Koenig, CRESST/UCLA senior researcher."

Real-Time Learning Analysis

While its ability to engage players is one factor in its success against more traditional learning exercises, the game's built-in analysis tools rate equally as high among instructors and evaluators.

During play, the computer measures anxiety levels based on data retrieved from electronic sensors attached to the recruit. As students experience difficulty or frustration, the game reverts back to more basic tasks before advancing too far ahead. The game is continuously adjusting difficulty levels based on the player's ability.

The game allows players to assume different roles � such as repair locker leader, investigator and fire team member � and gives them access to casualty checklists that update automatically based on their actions.

'Damage Control' offers real-time feedback and captures data for reporting and future enhancement purposes. The game's back-end leverages graphic models of the relationships and probabilities among concepts and procedures that are critical to completion of the task. The computer-based game is integrated with the network in real time to provide analysis for after-action review. Performance data is reviewed post-game to measure proficiencies and can be displayed in multiple formats, including charts, curve graphs and checklists. The data are analyzed both within game and across games (over time) to model changes in knowledge, skills and abilities in key areas.

"More Without More"

The one-on-one instruction afforded by computer-based games is proving not only effective, but also economical. These applications save instructor expenses as well as overhead costs, such as building maintenance and classroom materials, since the instruction can take place almost anywhere.

Additionally, ONR seeks to lessen the cost of digital tutor development by working with partners to develop game-authoring tools. These products would enable the development of new games at a fraction of the cost and time while allowing the Navy to emphasize quality in education.

Currently reviewing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposals, Perez sees these tools as a means to counter the shrinking numbers of qualified naval instructors due to retirement and attrition.

"Ideally, in the future, it could be that we have these games available to recruits as they come in to lessen the time it takes them to learn some basic information; but more importantly, lessen the time for them to become experts," he said.

Applying Naval Science to High School Learning

The use of similar technologies may have wider implications within the public school system. ONR-sponsored researchers at Arizona State University have demonstrated the success of digital tutors among algebra students at Mountain Point High School, raising student grade levels.

"Using digital training standardizes what kids learn, and can increase learning by one third and do it in one third less time and at one third the cost," Perez said.

From the Navy's perspective, digital media could also lure students toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and provide them with critically needed technical skills that are important to the Navy. These one-on-one digital tutors and learning games could boost learning achievement in the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools, in keeping with Presidential Study Directive 9.

In response to the directive, the January 2011 "Strengthening our Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment" report proposes new measures to improve the quality of life for service members and their families. The Defense Department has pledged to boost educational excellence in military schools by investing in research, development and demonstration projects. The move, which supports one of four priorities outlined in the report, could advance DoDEA schools as leaders in advanced learning technologies.

Taking the STEM lead for the U.S. Navy, ONR will host the 2011 Naval STEM Forum in June, where cognitive learning sciences and educational initiatives � including computer-based training � will fuel an ambitious agenda.

However it is used, computer-based training is opening new possibilities for the Navy and beyond. Senior researcher Koenig predicts, "The ONR emphasis on this particular project is really quite groundbreaking. It will open doors for a lot of great things in the future."

The Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning and 914 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.

Read More >>