Destroyer Command As Training Aid

[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.

[Sailor Steve]

Cool! It's nice to hear about an old favorite having a real-life application. It's also nice to find out where someone's screen name comes from.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Hearing this story is highly encouraging. I have plans to propose an interactive exhibit at the museum I am interning at using SHII/DC to better show patrons how "frisky" World War II era ASW could get. Knowing that the sim has been used by others as a training aid makes presenting my proposal easier.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Hinrich Schwab

Hearing this story is highly encouraging. I have plans to propose an interactive exhibit at the museum I am interning at using SHII/DC to better show patrons how "frisky" World War II era ASW could get. Knowing that the sim has been used by others as a training aid makes presenting my proposal easier.

That sounds awesome!

I want to visit that musuem.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

That sounds awesome!

I want to visit that musuem.

Ok.

http://museumofmilitaryhistory.com/

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Hinrich Schwab

Ok.

http://museumofmilitaryhistory.com/

Looks awesome. I wish there was a good museum like that around here.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Cool! It's nice to hear about an old favorite having a real-life application. It's also nice to find out where someone's screen name comes from.

Dear Sailor Steve : just re-perusing who still plays Destroyer Command which does come in handy when skirting Alcatraz in a 37 ft ketch with a Maersk container about to make a a hard port (without hitting the Baybridge tower) 90 degrees to Japan (and at me), dead ahead and the Marin Jet Cat on NNE to the Sacramento estuary off my 30 degree bearing-closing, with a prevailing westerly on two old Volvos, astern-the only constant. The only channel for the big guy IS called the Maersk trench and the carrier Enterprise captain lost his command on a known rock there awhile back. My screen name is from the old album, you guessed it, "Achtung Baby U2"! Too bad the Andrea Doria captain didn't play... talk about CBDR. Can SHII be played on Win 7 or just my old 98 windows?

[UncleBoomer]

Check this post in case you run into any problems . I cant say for sure cause im not using win 7.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=177938

Its cool to see ppl still trying to play DC and sh2 though .. hope it works out for you.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by UncleBoomer

Check this post in case you run into any problems . I cant say for sure cause im not using win 7.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=177938

Its cool to see ppl still trying to play DC and sh2 though .. hope it works out for you.

Good Stuff THNX!

[CaptainCruise]

I have SH2 and DC loaded on my Win7 laptop and they both play fine. The only game I had a problem with was SH3. The older version wouldn't play on Win7. I had to buy a newer copy of the game and that solved my probems.

Its great to see DC being used like this. That was a great game and the interop ability with SH2 was ground-breaking at the time. I remember one of the big gaming magazines...I think it was "Computer Gaming World" doing a story about it, and all of us here in the SubClub for all the work done creating our own mods and game patches to fix each game. We all remember how buggy and almost unplayable these games were when they were first released, and how "helpful" UBI was as far as fixing their mess. ACK!!! What a nightmare!!
CC

[Deamon]

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.

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.