NASA adds to list of IES users

National Aeronautic and Space Agency

Two of NASA's ten space centers will be the latest federal facilities to train security personnel with use-of-force training simulators.

NASA awarded contracts totaling about $200,000 to IES Interactive Training Inc. for its digital simulation technology. NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Ames Research Center will use several units of IES' Range 3000 xp4, a digital training simulator that provides real-life training scenarios to security officers.

The IES training simulator runs under the Microsoft Corp. Windows operating system and is in use at NASA's Johnson Space Center and several other federal agencies.

Other federal agencies use the Range 3000 xp4, such as the FBI, the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Secret Service and 12 Veterans Administration Medical Center police sites.

Each simulator contains more than 100 digital video scenarios, which are used to develop the judgment and decision-making skills of security officers. The program allows for post-training debriefing by recording officers' reactions and providing picture-in-picture playback capability.

The Range 3000 xp4 measures a user's shooting accuracy and evaluates someone's judgment in situations that require a trainee to refrain from using lethal force to successfully pass the test.

As part of the agreement, IES will send training personnel from its home base in Littleton, Colo., to Ames to train NASA/Security instructors on the use of the system.

"Government agencies in the United States clearly understand that it is absolutely mission critical to train security and law enforcement personnel using the most advanced training methods and technology available," said IES President Greg Otte.