Integrators form Army training alliance

Four contractors have joined forces to address the Army’s desire to unite its simulation and training support requirements.

Anteon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Saab launched the Warfighter Field Operations Customer Support Alliance this week. The group plans to pursue an Army contract that will consolidate separate simulation and training support contracts into a single vehicle.

That deal, called Lifecycle Contractor Support, is just getting under way. “We are waiting for the draft solicitation to come out any day now,” said Jerry Ehleiter, group vice president of systems integration and training at Anteon. He said the contract is slated for award in 2007.

The Army maintains distinct contracts to manage three forms of training: live, virtual and constructive. Virtual training encompasses computer-based simulators, while constructive training involves computer-based war games.

The training categories “are all starting to merge,” Ehleiter said. “You can get economies of scale if you put out one large contract."

Anteon is the only member of the alliance that is an incumbent simulation and training support contractor. The company holds the Army’s support contract for constructive training.

As a consequence of the consolidated support contract, the Army will have a single pool of maintenance services, Ehleiter said. The approach, he added, provides a better availability rate for training systems and, therefore, more training time.