NAVAL AIR STATION-PENSACOLA, Florida –
A combat systems operator at
Naval Air Station-Pensacola let innovation be his guide in the creation of a
low-cost simulator designed to make the career field’s technical training more
realistic.
With only user-manuals and
support from his leaders and colleagues, Capt. Andrew Byrd, 451st Flying
Training Squadron CSO flight commander, designed the “T-28” computer simulator;
the name a nod to the aircraft he had previously served aboard.
“Sensor operators have to be
able to think on their feet because the situation on the ground is always
changing,” said Byrd, a former U-28A tactical airborne intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft crew member. “I hope the simulator will improve training,
increase effectiveness and be an inexpensive solution for training realism.”
To start, he figured out a way to
allow two different in-house computers to “talk” to each other through a generic
router. Next, to simulate airborne
operations, Byrd combined software programs for gaming and one that portrays
modern air combat.
All together, the simulator
costs roughly $17 thousand, which is less expensive than a simulator requiring
contractor support, Byrd said. Another
added benefit is the fact the Air Force owns the design, so it can be updated
or new scenarios can be created as needed or wanted, he said.
“Annually, 48 to 64 CSOs will
train on the T-28 before assignment to U-28 and AC-130s,” Byrd said.
Byrd thus far has designed
scenarios where new CSOs learn the art of surveillance, direction finding and
communication. Currently, up to seven
scenarios allow student CSOs to experience their role while orbiting a target
area in support of realistic-looking friendly troops the CSO sees on a
monitor.
“Walled compounds appear as they
might at night with enemy and noncombatants arrayed throughout urban areas,”
Byrd said, further adding that while he and other experienced officers watch,
new CSOs get experience communicating with a ground force commander and
tactical air controllers using brevity codes exclusive to combat operations.
The idea to create the “T-28”
came from a wealth of experience downrange. Byrd’s experience aboard the U-28A supporting
ground forces in actual combat gave him insight to the many missions a CSO
might experience.
Byrd,
who hails from Big Sandy, Texas, has spent 670 days overseas during eight
deployments as a sensor operator. After joining
the Air Force in 2007 with a degree in mechanical engineering and commissioning
through the Oklahoma State University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, he was intrigued
by the opportunity to serve as a CSO because his particular program supported
highly sensitive operations he thought would make a difference in the post-9/11
world.
After
graduating CSO training in 2008, Byrd was assigned to the newly-procured U-28A. “We learned to innovate to make the computers
aboard the new aircraft work together,” Byrd said.
When
the opportunity came, Byrd took his real-world experience to NAS-Pensacola as a
CSO instructor with the 479th Flying Training Group, part of the 12th Flying
Training Wing headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.
“I was and continue to be
excited to share my experience with new CSOs,” Byrd said.