367th TRSS wins federal innovation award

  • Published
  • By Frank Carter
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA) presented the 367th Training Support Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, with its innovation award August 15th.
 
The 367th TRSS is a detachment of the 782nd Training Group, which is headquartered at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

Organizations win this award by their efforts to create innovative products. These innovations support the development and application of distance learning technologies of the federal government.

"During the past year, the 367th TRSS has developed a wide range of new capabilities, including mobile learning applications, 3D immersive simulators, motion capture for classrooms and a streamlined animation process," said Alex Autry,FGDLA president. "Additionally, the 367th TRSS was the first Air Force unit to convert a pre-existing course onto mobile devices and integrated a mobile gaming app to reinforce the learning objectives and engage the students."

The innovative distance learning achievements effect over 100,000 personnel. Advanced development techniques were continuously improved upon by creating a tablet-based, interactive 3D airfield driving simulation that supported deployed forces
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There were some obstacles along the way in developing the application.

"The biggest challenge was developing for a mobile application when the standard desktop doesn't support this type of development," Master Sgt Bozeman said. "We had to procure the hardware and either transport the mobile native file or application via an approved hard drive or simply email it to an account to download to the device. The network policies don't allow us to hook the devices up to the computer for testing the application because of the flash memory issues."

Motion capture technology was designed to evaluate performance based movements and marching without the need of an instructor. This same technology was re-purposed to capture actors' movements to put in simulations, shortening development time from two weeks to one day per animation, as recorded on the FGDLA Award Nomination.

Benefits of the 367th TRSS's innovations are the use of realistic emergency procedures in training, enhanced aircraft availability and the savings of both instructor time and fuel costs.

"Mobile devices are ubiquitous and they can help us in our everyday job by the use of the abundant amount of information like checklists, tutorials, podcasts, manuals and other information," said Master Sgt Donald Bozeman, 367th Training Support Squadron, Immersive Technology Flight Chief. "Mobile devices have the capability of cutting down classroom time by blending learning with m-Learning, or an Airman can get a review while waiting at the doctor's office."