INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: Northrop Grumman Technical Services' Training and Simulation

 

A: Northrop Grumman Technical Services’ Training & Simulation business group provides a full spectrum of training services to a wide array of customers. In the past, Northrop Grumman hasn’t provided a large amount of training support to company products.

When the Technical Services Sector was created in 2006, many of the associated training support roles to our platforms were already contracted to partners, and as a company, we felt it was vitally important to maintain these relationships. As these product-based programs now evolve, we are moving more and more into a role of providing this support to our product set.
We are presently working several large developmental pursuits where we can bring Technical Services’ collective life cycle and training support capabilities to the forefront early in the process.

Q: PEO STRI recently awarded Northrop Grumman a Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Omnibus Contract II. Please explain the significance of this award.

A: We were a STOC I awardee and used this vehicle to support several of our efforts, primarily our Battle Command Training Center support to U.S. Army III Corps. STOC II continues our relationship in support of Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation [PEO-STRI] and positions us to provide world-class responsive training support, products and services to our customers in the future.

Q: Your business group provides joint training and related support for combatant commanders’ staffs. Briefly describe the significance of this competency in your portfolio.

A: Our support to joint training and combatant commander’s staff is very significant in that it is very closely related to ongoing operational efforts around the world. We support both CONUS and deployed commands and their subordinate units, and through our strategic positioning throughout the U.S. Army’s training base. We have demonstrated the ability to rapidly assimilate the lessons learned from the theaters of operation into the most up-to-date tactics, techniques and procedures that are then introduced into live, virtual and constructive training. This is the type of training that ultimately enhances mission accomplishment and saves soldiers’ lives.

Q: Briefly provide your perspective on the near-term evolution of the live-virtual-constructive training environment. How is your business group supporting these developments?

A: We support several programs spanning across the live-virtual-constructive, or LVC, training domains. The convergence of these domains into a single training environment has been a thrust for many years. However, the full integration of LVC hasn’t occurred for a number of reasons. The primary reason may be there isn’t a common customer definition or requirements set to define LVC. Each user has their own view of what this means to them. We have all of the organic capability to continue to support our customers in addressing these requirements and working to arrive at a consensus view of LVC success while successfully meeting our customers’ needs.

Q: Please provide your insights on the use of commercial off-the-shelf games and products for DoD learning.

A: Gaming technologies are here to stay in DoD learning. Northrop Grumman, like many of our competitors, is assessing the impact of gaming technologies on the value of learning. Currently, there just isn’t sufficient evidence to conclude that gaming provides the next generation of training environments. These technologies do, however, provide an integral cost-effective environment where learning can be evaluated to determine if the gaming technologies improve specific task learning or retention of skills. Gaming technologies often support “fun” learning environments for the participant with learning taking a back seat. The question of “how good is good” for gaming-based training environments is an area we’ll continue to assess. Stay tuned.

Q: DoD’s 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review is expected to focus more attention on cyberwarfare, CBRN and other asymmetric missions. How is your team positioning itself to provide training services and products for these requirements?

A: As a global security company, we believe we are well positioned to succeed in this market space. We support many different customers in these areas, including those outside DoD. For DoD, we address specific customer cyberwarfare and CBRN operational and training requirements, which are specific to the asymmetric missions specified. For the Department of State, we provide peacekeeping training and operational support to African nations. For the Department of Homeland Security, we provide exercise and training support for the National Level Exercise and Regional Exercise programs. We see global growth in this market both inside and outside of DoD. In addition to these missions, we see significant growth requirements in the irregular warfare area in which we have significant experience and capability. ♦

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