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New RSS Facilities to Improve Seabee Skills

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060927-06
Release Date: 9/27/2006 9:27:00 AM

By Daryl C. Smith, 1st Naval Construction Division Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Reserve Seabees will have access to new, high-tech training facilities in the fall at each of their 12 readiness support sites (RSS) to help improve military skills.

New 40-by-80 foot, pre-engineered buildings have been constructed for every Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion at a cost of close to a million dollars each.

Each will be equipped with a variety of training systems designed to improve military skill levels. They will include a “smart classroom,” containing 20 computer work stations and audiovisual equipment, allowing Seabees to access online courses and to participate in distance learning events and instructor-led training. A complete communications suite provides the capability to use the classroom as a command operations center during command post exercises and other combat-related exercises.

All the facilities will have an armory where weapons can be stored and taken to the range for training qualifications. Up-to-date communications equipment will also be kept in the armory, providing the opportunity for reserve Seabees to become more proficient at communicating on the battlefield. There will be a simulator room, as well, to allow firearms training in a safe environment.

Two distinct systems will be available, the Beamhit Laser Marksmanship Trainer and the Firearms Training System (FATS).

The 12 facilities will be equipped with the Beamhit system, which allows instant targeting feedback to improve shooting skills. The weapon fires blanks to simulate a live-fire experience and includes a laser attached to the lower receiver of the weapon. The laser is aimed at electronic targets, which instantly register hits and misses.

While the Beamhit system is designed to improve marksmanship, the FATS system is designed to improve reactions in realistic situations. A variety of different scenarios can be programmed into the system and displayed on life-size screens, which tests a participant’s ability to respond appropriately. Used extensively in the law enforcement community, the FATS system uses a CO2 cartridge to give the weapon a realistic feel when fired. Simulations can also be tailored to represent the actual environment the unit will be deploying into. For example, a digital photograph of the deployed site can be projected as the background for the simulation.

“This system provides a safe environment to teach escalation of force, when to shoot and when not to shoot,” said Cmdr. George Steffen, assistant training officer for the First Naval Construction Division (1NCD).

Two of these mobile (FATS) systems will be shared among the different RSS sites, with priority given to those units getting ready to deploy.

Due to the fact that reserve battalions are comprised of numerous detachments spread out over a wide area, Steffen sees the new facilities as excellent tools to bring personnel together to practice command and control as well as military skills. The 1NCD training department will soon be developing a comprehensive employment plan to help ensure the maximum use of these new facilities.

“We will provide the guidance and the way ahead to make sure that all 12 sites are going down a line of progression that we want to see,” Steffen said. “This is the wave of the future, and soon our guys are going to be very plugged in.”