The Secretary of the Navy, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Chief of Naval Operations have each expressed their support for increasing the use of simulation to foster innovation and prepare for operations. But how far can the DON go in these virtual worlds? We are about to find out as the SECNAV directs key leaders to develop a DON roadmap....
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus issued a memorandum July 7 directing the expansion of virtual environments in which he writes:
Virtual and simulated environments offer an unprecedented opportunity for the
Department of the Navy (DON) to transform how it connects people, ideas, and information. They also provide a risk-friendly environment to experiment with innovative ideas and have the potential to reduce cost.
The appropriate Navy and Marine Corps activities shall fully support this effort and pertinent findings from the Marine Corps' Simulation Assessment Working Groups will inform this initiative.
The DON has been exploring the use of virtual environments across four primary domains:
• Training and Education
• Modeling and Simulation
• Integration and Interoperability
• Rapid Prototyping
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) (ASN (M&RA))
will co-lead, with Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and
Acquisition) (ASN (RD&A)), in a DON wide effort to:
• Identify centers of excellence within the DON, across the Department of Defense, commercial industry, then document findings and lessons learned.
• Identify where, and in what conditions virtual environments demonstrate value.
• Develop a roadmap for the DON that includes the opportunities, risks, and barriers
associated with scaling up the use of virtual environments.
ASN (M&RA) and ASN (RD&A) will present a plan of actions and milestones to
the Under Secretary of the Navy within 60 days of this memo and implementation will begin immediately upon approval.
Download SECNAV’s memo here.
Share your ideas on the DON/SECNAV Innovation website: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/.