Success on the battlefield can be attributed to a number of things, a key component of successful low-level military operations being good teamwork and nowhere is this more obvious than in the context of the crew of an armoured fighting vehicle (AFV). The AFV, whether it be a MBT or an IFV, is a complex piece of military hardware with a number of weapons and sensors, which can move across country and which operates in concert both with other AFVs and with other arms. To do this a crew of three or four must drive, be aware of what is going on both in the immediate vicinity and on the wider battlefield, operate the weapons systems, make tactical decisions and in some cases exercise command over other platforms or sub-units. To achieve this successfully requires a crew that not only has a high level of individual skills but also one that works as a team, so that actions become instinctive. This requires constant practise. As the Commandant of the USMC said at I/ITSEC 2015: "Repetition builds competence, proficiency and mastery." Sports teams need to practise the same routines over and over again until they become second nature and this is just as true for the military team. To do this effectively in an AFV requires a simulator, as only by using simulation can you achieve multiple repetitions of crew activity in a realistic environment at an affordable level and in such a way that the activity can be monitored and debriefed, with an After Action Report (AAR) on the training.
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