The Use of Constructive Simulation in the Educational Process of Military Engineers

The article deals with the use of the constructive simulation software tool in the educational process of military engineers. The simulation of two scenarios is based on the data obtained from the experiment within the framework of the Engineer Support Management Course; the created simulation model using MASA SWORD is used to verify the proposed scenarios, including graphic, but also analytical outputs. The statistical comparison of both scenarios proposed is also a part of the simulation model. It is clear from the results that constructive simulation can be a good addition to “regular” teaching methods, and with the use of an analytical tool, it enables the related research of combat effectiveness to be carried out. The wide use of a specific software tool and the implementation of Best Practices from abroad (e.g. from Slovakia) can facilitate the verification of selected combat activity scenarios in silico. In the future, this tool can become a regular part of teaching at a military university (University of Defence) and training at the Centre of Simulation and Training Technologies and increase the efficiency of the entire process for the Czech Armed Forces.

I. Introduction

The training of officers of the Czech Armed Forces (CAF) is a process that consists of accredited teaching (through the state university - University of Defence in the relevant modules, for higher education institutions in the Czech Republic, the National Accreditation Office provides accreditation of fields of study and programs, [1]) and non-accredited training (series of professional courses aimed at increasing the proficiency of officers). The aim of the accredited education is (inter alia) to achieve the title of BSc./MSc., which is one of the basic mandatory requirements for the career growth of an officer. For lower officers (up to captain including) it is at least a BSc. degree and for senior officers (from major above) it is an MSc. degree. The content of the relevant non-accredited courses is determined by the requirements of command levels across the CAF. One of them is the Engineer Support Management Course at the University of Defence organized for officers of the engineer specialization, i.e. for those who have already completed the accredited part of the study. In this course, students (military engineers) will acquire the theoretical foundations in the field of providing engineer support for the performance of functions in units in command and staff positions, [2], [3]. Within the course, topics are discussed that are one level higher than in the master's study, meaning the command level. This course covers teaching the brigade task force engineer support, while the master's study covers battalion engineer support.