RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Air Force Night-Vision Goggle Advanced Academic course, which was transferred to Randolph two years ago, will soon be taught in a new classroom using a state-of-the-art training system.
Construction is under way inside Building 747, home of the 12th Aeromedical-Dental Squadron's Aerospace Physiology Flight, to add another classroom as well as offices and storage areas for the flight. The classroom, to be built on a new second floor, will accommodate the new training system.
"The old lab will be replaced by a classroom featuring stadium-type seating to support the new training device, which is called a Virtual Terrain Board," said Maj. Tom "Vito" Massa, flight commander. "We've stepped into the 21st century."
The VTB replaces the terrain board, a scale model of a landscape depicting desert, mountain and urban environments. It projects an image from a photograph of an actual place onto a screen or wall in a darkened classroom. The image can be manipulated to show different stages of nighttime illumination, from total darkness to a full moon.
The specialized lighting demonstrates the effects of illumination, contrast and shadows on the performance of night-vision goggles and on individual visual acuity.
"We've gone from a static terrain board to a computer-based digital terrain," Major Massa said. "It looks like you're operating in the real world. You can choose different spots in the world and demonstrate what kind of problems aircrews will have in different environments such as desert, mountain and jungle terrain."
The course, which is taught by aerospace physiologists and rated aviators with NVG experience, prepares pilots, navigators, load masters, flight surgeons and others to provide initial academic instruction on the use of NVGs to personnel in their units. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Mesa, Ariz., and the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base also conduct initial NVG ground training.
Maj. Mike Boyer, course director, said the VTB "increases NVG users' situational awareness."
The one-and-a-half-day, 12-hour course at Randolph consists of nine hours of academic instruction and three hours of practical application using NVGs. Topics include vision, technology, focus and adjustment, night environment misperceptions and other operational issues.
Major Boyer said the course is offered once a month, but instructors will sometimes travel to other bases if the need is great. He said it will soon be offered to some international allies who have requested it.
"We're working on an international version so we can support requests from the international community," he said. "We're still modifying the syllabus, but it should be ready in the next six months."
Major Massa said the flight is always looking for qualified instructors with an NVG background. He said NVG users with a variety of experiences enhance the effectiveness of the course.
"A lot of guys have firsthand stories they can tell," he said. "Their experiences provide a real good learning experience for students."
Major Boyer said the new classroom, which should be completed in August, will "increase the capability of the course" and will also accommodate other classes offered by the Aerospace Physiology Flight.
He said the flight also provides all original and refresher physiology training that supports the Combat Officer Systems course and the Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate course, International Physiology training, advanced Human Factors training, Spatial Disorientation training, Crew Resource Management training and Airsickness Management training.
New construction will also give the flight room to expand its boundaries and/or capabilities.
"There will be a mezzanine area that can be expanded, if necessary," Major Boyer said. "We'll be able to accommodate other training they task us to do."