Hill Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Forces Virtual reality is increasingly being used by Airmen to prepare for high-pressure scenarios.
Virtual reality is now being used to teach airmen at Hill Air Force Base to deal with high-pressure situations.
Hill’s military police have access to a range of situations thanks to headset technology.
Real life scenarios.
“These are the officers that patrol checkpoints and base entrances. On base, they also react to law enforcement calls. They sometimes have to make split-second decisions on whether or not to use force”.
“The benefit of having these virtual reality scenarios is to methodically educate our defenders,” said Sgt. Tech Elizabeth Gregson.
Gregson also presented one of these examples to a class. “You’ve been deployed to a domestic disturbance report involving a male and female.” Digital actors communicate and respond to orders, but much as in real life, they don’t always do so.
According to Gregson, “As law enforcement officers, we already know that using force is our bread and butter. It’s something we do on a regular basis in order to make the best selections possible.” It’s crucial to understand when to use force and when not to. Trainers can use this tool to load multiple scenarios and results and then repeat them afterwards.
“I think it’s incredibly important to be able to offer feedback and be able to see what they did wrong and what they may have done great, and be able to build on that,” Staff Sgt. Devon Ashton said.
“There’s nothing like putting on your gear, chasing each other, and fighting in a training setting,” says the author, “but this provides us another tool.”
Virtual reality provides an extra means of preparing for life-or-death decisions. “Making the proper judgments is critical,” Ashton remarked.
Last July, the 75th Security Squadron of Hill got three of the headsets. They may utilize them to workout as a group or split up and communicate via the helmets.