WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC) – A dedicated team of true professionals who love what they do and make a positive impact on the warfighter is how Col. John Kurian describes the Simulators Division in the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
The team of 550, comprised of military, civilians and contractors, supports 9 major commands, 26 platform offices and 20 international partners, delivering ground-based training to warfighters across the globe. The simulators portfolio includes more than 2,700 devices.
These devices give the Air Force on-demand access to safe, affordable and realistic training.
“Simulators are very critical in terms of giving you the opportunity to do a lot of your training where you don’t have access to the systems to go do it,” Kurian said.
The program office goes beyond the needs of pilots – the team delivers capability for maintainers, air traffic controllers, loadmasters, and Tactical Air Controllers, and more. Simulated training is critical, he said, in maintaining safety and proficiency for Airmen.
Additionally, much of this training is networked on a systems maintained by his team.
“That enables an operator sitting at say Nellis Air Force Base to connect with someone in Australia and be able to rehearse a particular mission,” Kurian said.
In other cases, he said, the virtual environment allows you to do training that you don’t want anyone to observe.
To hear the full conversation, you can watch Leadership Log on YouTube at https://youtu.be/x91uTt3M8sE. You can also listen by searching “Leadership Log” on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Overcast, Radio Public or Breaker.
Editor’s note: This interview was recorded prior to recent changes mandating masks at all times indoors.