U.S. Navy launches Train-REX to address Fleet training gaps
The event represented the initial, "build" phase of Train-REX, during which six commercial training developers worked with Navy subject matter experts and hardware manufacturers to capture data needed to create turnkey training packages for six new maintenance and repair technologies currently being used and transitioned to the fleet. These included alternative power systems, flange-facing machines, composite repair products and distance support kits. The second phase, a "validation" phase where Sailors and maintainers from the local maintenance community will test the newly created training packages, is scheduled for November.
Train-REX seeks to improve upon the Navy’s traditional training pipeline to ensure Sailors are ready to operate new maintenance tools immediately upon delivery to the Fleet.
"One of the things we realized was it's great to have all this new technology, but we don't always have the training fully developed for it," said Jeff Campbell, a NAVSEA technology manager based at Keyport and one of the planners of Train-REX. "Imagine getting a container somewhere forward deployed. You open it up and there are all these wonderful tools in there, but you may not know how to operate them. Our idea is to develop standalone training for all the tools in that box, because you may not be able to go online when you're forward deployed."
The data the training developers collected during phase one—which included spatial scans, close-up photos, and voice recordings of experts as they took apart and reassembled gear—represents the majority of the information they will have to work with as they create their training modules. They will have six weeks to do so, with only one additional chance to confer with Navy subject matter experts before the final validation phase.
Dan Stanley—program manager within NAVSEA’s Naval Systems Engineering Directorate, who also oversees the NESAR program—said it was fascinating to watch how differently each company gathered its data.
"Each [training developer] had four hours with the equipment manufacturers to capture their data, and most were done after about two to two-and-a-half hours," said Stanley. "You could really watch the folks and how they asked questions just to validate they were understanding the technology appropriately to create training for it. Some of them literally just watched the SMEs do the work, asked questions and just kind of pushed [that technical information] into their product."
Technology Manager Omar Ramos, also representing NAVSEA’s Naval Systems Engineering Directorate at the event, said he was impressed by what the teams were able to capture.
"Most importantly, they focused heavily on capturing the unwritten nuances, the operational 'gotchas' and tribal knowledge," said Ramos. "These are the nuances that may not be written in technical manuals but make a Sailor's life incredibly difficult when trying to use hardware under stress."
According to Mathew VanRavenhorst, the Train-REX project lead at NUWC Division, Keyport, the initial build phase exceeded expectations.
"The idea was to create a collaborative environment where we allowed our training developers and technology vendors to interface, communicate and build relationships, because this is a team sport,” said VanRavenhorst. “This front end was very much aligned with what we expected, and it ran smoother than any repair technology exercise I've been a part of in the past. It was very good, and I’m very pleased with how it went."
The November event will bring more than 144 Sailors and civilian maintainers from NUWC Division, Keyport; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility; and Trident Refit Facility Bangor to test the finished modules against real-world challenges faced by maintainers in the Fleet.
"We're going to see the proof of the training vendors’ hard work in November," said Stanley. "I'm really excited to see what some of the reactions will be to the training that's been created, because this is a novel method for delivering instruction, and I'm going to be curious to see how folks like it."
-KPT-
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
