ABSTRACT
A combination of training events in virtual and live environments is usually employed to achieve the objectives of the training managers by exploiting the strengths of one environment and/or avoiding the drawbacks of others. Analytic approaches use characteristics of the training requirement and available technologies to identify mixes. Mixes of live and virtual training are employed to deliver training in a way that satisfies multiple criteria. However, finding a Pareto-optimal solution is challenging because the number of possible solutions for consideration can become extremely large, and obtaining data to evaluate them can be difficult. Changes in technology, doctrine, and operating cost present another set of challenges to setting a training mix. Treating the selection of training media as a binary choice between live and virtual systems is a useful caricature for organizing the discussion that can be applied to the ongoing evolution of training systems being offered to defense organizations.
