WES - Weapons Effects Simulation training
By Michelle Minnoch

The Weapons Effects Simulation (WES) gear is worn by those taking part in the training. This land base combat training unit provides a realism never used before in training soldiers. WES monitors, tracks, and records all actions taken by every individual soldier. Everything is seen, monitored and recorded for After Action Reviews (AAR) for the reserves.

WES can accurately determine when a soldier fires a weapon, when and where a soldier is hit and monitors vehicles to see if they have come into contact with land mines, mortars and the effects of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.

The gear is comprised of a detector, player unit, GPS, speaker and battery power module, GPS antenna, IR link emitter, player unit antenna, control unit and small arms transmitter.

The computer monitored, laser guided system, for example, can inform a soldier if he or she has been fired at, where they have been hit, and how long they have if the wound is potentially fatal. If a soldier has been killed, he or she is taken to the morgue for six hours, and is 'out of play' if their troop is redeployed in that time frame. If they have been instantly killed, a noise goes off in their helmets and does not shut off until they lie down - dead.

"We always know where the soldiers are, when they have made a shot, and where they have taken a shot, and if they are dead," said Col. John Hansen. There is a Master Control Centre (MCC) on the base, where the performance of the mission is constantly being monitored.

"Once the soldier has been killed, we have to figure out how to get them back to the base, as we would if reenforcements were needed," said Col. Hansen. "There are people out there that may be going to Afghanistan, some that have just come back. We need them to be prepared and this is the best tool for that. This is the closest it can get for them."

"We have the world's leading system here," said Col. Hansen. "We have been working on this system for five years now, and it is not being used like this anywhere else in the world." He said Australia and Spain are watching to see how the technology plays out in Wainwright. "This is not a combat system, but a training aid." He said it is the closest they can get to combat and live bullets.