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Ottawa - Video simulation, including commercial, first-person shooting games such as Call of Duty, will play an increasing role in the Canadian military in the coming years.
But a tug-of-war is underway between skeptics who see video as a mere cost-cutting tool, and soldiers who regard the technology as a welcome addition to the existing training regime.
National Defence is examining how computer-generated scenarios boost ordinary training, and for the first time is considering their use in mission rehearsals.
"That's something that's being seriously looked at," Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, head of special forces, said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"It would be complementary. You wouldn't be replacing (rehearsal-of-concept) drills. It would be a complementary asset," said Thompson.
Before almost every major operation, troops carry out rehearsals to test the strengths and pitfalls of various battle plans. It's a practice that goes back at least to the First World War.
Whether storming full-sized mock-ups of targets, or taking notes based on sand models of the battlefield, preparation has until the last two decades been decidedly low-tech.
Computer simulations have changed that to the point where dozens of troops and even pilots can be linked to together in a virtual world, which includes realistically rendered enemies, right down to uniforms and faces.
Thompson stressed the technology does not substitute for the rugged dress rehearsals soldiers carry out before operations, such as commando raids and anti-terrorism missions.
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