Step by step: how to train personnel in C4ISR software

C4ISR software is crucial in the modern battlespace, enabling militaries to integrate forces across land, sea, and air. This is essential in the era of multi-domain operations, delivering critical advantages in situational awareness and command and control (C2). But like any military resource, only the right training can ensure maximum effectiveness.

So what training is needed to become proficient – and what does skilled look like? How can training deliver the best C2 capability and maximise proficiency?

The right approach must strike a balance, said Christian Nørkjaer, Senior Domain Advisor/Training Manager at Systematic. On the one hand, there are common elements that all practitioners must learn and understand.

To this end, Systematic has developed a range of standardised courses, designed to maximise user competence in the SitaWare family of C4ISR products. This standardised training ensures that users gain recognised qualifications and can easily cooperate with other operators.

However, it is also vital that individual operator needs are reflected in the training approach, through choosing the right mix of training elements – and optimising the way they are delivered.

Three key phases

Systematic’s training work includes close support from the company’s in-house training experts, as well as the use of SitaWare Aspire, an e-training tool that combines digital training with hands-on exercises.

The first priority is to develop a training needs analysis in partnership with the customer, Nørkjaer explained. This leads to recommendations on the mix of courses and training support required to reach the perform phase. For example, Systematic will suggest different elements from the course catalogue based on customer-supplied information on the types of units they want to train and the functions they provide.

A SitaWare training package is then built on three steps, Nørkjaer said.

Learn

In this phase, individuals are trained on the basics of SitaWare products, no matter their background or their planned future use of the technology. This means that “everybody will have the right foundation” for using the C4ISR software, Nørkjaer explained.

Practice

After mastering the basics, operators practice using the software as it relates to their specific roles or functions. Systematic’s course catalogue contains a wide range of courses for specific roles, Nørkjaer noted. “If you’re an intelligence officer, we focus on the features inside our products that are directed at that function.”

Perform

Finally, trainees are brought together into collective training, known as the perform phase. For example, a staff group will gain the benefits and learn the value of using the product by working together in their normal staff procedures with the typical flow of information.

Individual needs, standardised excellence

Mikkel Senniksen, Product Manager for Training & Simulation at Systematic, noted that training needs will evolve depending on the organisational context. One user may wish to use a specific feature of SitaWare Headquarters in a different way to another user, for instance.

However, training is always built on standardised courses, to ensure that all users reach the right level of competence and to improve interoperability with others, whether within a specific military or with allies, Senniksen said.

For example, someone working in a G5 planning section will typically begin with SitaWare basic training, before then conducting two specific courses focused on SitaWare Headquarters, at a minimum. They will then take part in collective unit training.

“Our customers can have different requirements, but we still use our modules to build the right pathways.”

Future enhancements

Gauri Varma Heise, Systematic’s Director of Service Products, said SitaWare Aspire could evolve in the coming years to provide a wider range of training support services.

At present, the tool is focused on individual training, she noted. However, the company aims to expand SitaWare Aspire into collective training use. “There might be add-ons or extensions to SitaWare Aspire to support the collective level – we will get to this in the future,” she added.

Technology is continuously enhancing training provision. One of the major benefits of the SitaWare Aspire e-training tool is the ability to reduce the training burden for individuals and for the organisation as a whole, “without compromising on the quality of the training experience”, said Christian Overgaard, User Experience (UX) Designer in SitaWare Aspire.

“This is possible because we have skilled domain experts, but also because we are the manufacturers of the software,” he said. “Systematic can continuously update its training delivery and provision, bridging the gap between standardised training and an individualised approach.”