Quote:
Originally Posted by CBDR
Yesterday I had a very enjoyable opportunity to put Destroyer Command to use in a professional training environment. In my engineering section there are two other former Surface Warfare Officers, such as myself, as well as about 8 other engineers who do not have naval experience. On a monthly basis we have a section meeting followed by a training session where the presenter can present a training topic of his choice as long as it relates to our business. As we make marine navigation and control systems, I chose the topic of relative motion.
My colleagues are all very good at math and vectors, so they didn't have too much trouble following the "classroom" power point presentation and working out the problem on maneuvering boards. However, after that I fired up my laptop with a Destroyer Command scenario exactly the same as the one we had just covered in the power point presentation. It was a simple crossing situation and my colleagues had to determine the other ship's true course and speed (no looking at F2 CIC!) as well as the range, bearing and time of Closest Point of Approach (CPA). I told them that once I hit OK on the Game Paused window there would be no pausing the simulation as real mariners do not have a pause button. As the projector wasn't very powerful we had to turn off the overhead lights in the conference room, making it very much like being on the darkened bridge of a ship at night. My colleagues very quickly learned how easy it was in real time, even in a simple one on one situation, to quickly get behind the power curve and "lose the bubble."
For a second go in the simulation I placed my colleagues in a situation where the two ships were Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range (CBDR - my, where have I heard that before?). Things went much better this time as they eventually realized they were in a collision situation and they even took the appropriate avoiding action.
All in all it was a most enjoyable training session for all involved, and I was very glad that I had a real time simulation that allowed my colleagues to experience something they would otherwise not likely have had the chance to.
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Ahoy CBDR, i am greeting you! Good to hear from you again, how are you doing lately, my friend ?
This is a fascinating story and reminds me on the experiences with my own project when i get the aha effects when i put new advanced features into place, test run them and then make startling discoveries that i haven't even expected.