USAREUR’s training information available on apps

Photo By Michael Beaton | Spc. Limburg Neal, of the 7th U.S. Army Joint Multinational Training Command, uses the Army Range Mapper Mobile on his iPhone to reference driving routes on Grafenwoehr Training Area, April 18, 2012. The ARM Mobile is a mapping application that can help users pinpoint hard-to-find gates on more than 20 JMTC facilities, and with location-aware GPS-enabled devices, troops can also plot routes to their destinations in vehicles or on foot.  

GRAFENWOEHR, BY, GERMANY

05.17.2012

Story by Sgt. Jacqueline Fitzgerald 

129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - Soldiers rely on a multitude of reference materials from maps to technical manuals in order to properly execute their missions. Now they have these references in the palms of their hands.

Europe’s Sustainable Range Program, under the Training Support Activity Europe, has recently launched two new mobile applications available for download from the Apple App Store: the Army Range Mapper (or ARM Mobile) and the Soldier’s Field Card.

These two applications are currently available for selected facilities managed and operated by the Joint Multinational Training Command, the U.S. Army’s only overseas training command.

“I think the prevalence of mobile devices is such that it really benefits the Army to try to get as much of their information out and into the hands of soldiers, where they actually use them in the field, as opposed to being stuck to the desktop,” said James K. Batcheller, the integrated training project manager and app developer.

ARM Mobile

The ARM Mobile is a mapping application that can help users pinpoint hard-to-find gates on more than 20 JMTC facilities, and with location-aware GPS-enabled devices, troops can also plot routes to their destinations in vehicles or on foot.

According to Batcheller, the U.S. Army hasn’t released mobile map programs like this in the past because some officials were worried about releasing details to the public.

He said public affairs, operations and intelligence offices have approved all of the data in this application.

“It also uses publicly-available commercial data, including street maps, so there are no security violations with this information,” he added.

While the ARM Mobile is targeted for soldiers in the training environment, the app can help others, as well.

“We see it being useful for not only the training soldier, but also his or her family,” said Batcheller. “Basically, anybody who lives in or around installations within Europe.”

Soldier’s Field Card

The Soldier’s Field Card is a digital collection of guidelines and standards for each of the facilities operated by JMTC. The SFC compiles information that traditionally was distributed via hard copy to soldiers into one quick reference tool.

“Essentially, the Soldier’s Field Card contains the training area do’s and don’ts,” said Batcheller. “It outlines sound environmental stewardship practices for training on U.S. Army lands in Europe.”

Batcheller explained the app lists vital information to include vehicle movement, fire prevention and medical evacuation procedures. The Soldier’s Field Card app has cards for training areas in Germany, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, with information both U.S. troops and their multinational counterparts need to know while training on JMTC.

“I think the soldiers are really going to like it,” said Spc. Limburg Neal, 7th Army, JMTC. “We’re already on our phones 24/7, texting and taking pictures. This will save time and seems more financially feasible compared to printing the information on paper over and over.”

Soldiers, family members and Department of Defense civilians living in the JMTC area can consolidate installation information straight to their mobile devices. Anyone with an iPhone, iPad or even iPod touch can download the ARM Mobile and Soldier Field Card to their mobile device.

Besides these advances in handheld training devices JMTC is known for unique training capabilities. The JMTC regularly trains U.S. and multinational forces in expeditionary locations. It is the U.S. Army’s only overseas training command and regularly rains U.S. and forces for contingencies around the world.

For more information on free Army network-approved software, products and data DVDs that may be requested by authorized users go to https://srp.usareur.army.mil or follow the program via http://www.facebook.com/usareur.srp.

Learn more about the ARM Mobile and the Soldier Field Card and the Joint Multinational Training Command’s unique training mission by visiting the JMTC website at http://www.hqimtc.army.mil.

• Date Taken: 05.17.2012
• Date Posted: 05.17.2012 07:22
• Story ID: 88549
• Location: GRAFENWOEHR, BY, DE