The U.S. Army’s Capability Program Executive for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (CPE STRI) demonstrated its latest simulation hardware and software at the 2025 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education (I/ITSEC) conference at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, Dec. 1 – 4.
The annual event, sponsored by the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA), is the world’s largest modeling, simulation and training conference, drawing more than 17,000 attendees and exhibitors from more than 60 countries. This year’s conference theme was, “Optimizing Training: Ensuring Operational Dominance.” displays
The four-day event consisted of professional development workshops, panel discussions, tutorials, paper reviews, a large commercial exhibit hall, military exhibits from all the armed service branches, a gaming competition, a career fair, and STEM events for teachers and students.
“This year, we gather at a critical inflection point for defense transformation,” said the President of NTSA, retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Sean S. Buck. “On 7 November, The Honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, outlined an ambitious vision to accelerate acquisition reform—calling for faster decision-making, greater alignment between requirements and outcomes, and the empowerment of those closest to the fight. I/ITSEC 2025 is where that vision begins to take root. Under one roof, we bring together the full spectrum of the defense ecosystem—program managers, policy leaders, engineers, innovators, educators, and end-users. Together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to translate strategy into action.”
The former Program Executive Office (PEO) STRI became CPE STRI as part of the Army Transformation Initiative, which has a goal to prioritize speed and efficiencies over traditional acquisition approaches to enable a faster, more agile and more lethal Army.
Army Brig. Gen. Christine A. Beeler, Capability Program Executive for STRI, told I/ITSEC attendees, “We are seeking the newest ideas, the newest technologies and the most relevant solutions industry can provide, including AI solutions, 3D gaming and simulation engines, and even new edge devices that can bring these capabilities to the edge faster as we work with the cloud environment.”
Beeler said several members of her staff were in attendance to conduct market research in hopes of identifying existing technology and commercial off-the-shelf solutions for future Army training requirements.
“For industry,” Beeler added, “this is about faster contracts, clearer points of entry and fewer bureaucratic hoops. For Soldiers, it means getting new capabilities years faster than before.”
The 190,000 square foot I/ITSEC exhibit hall featured over 400 organizations displaying their latest technologies and training systems. CPE STRI showcased live, virtual and constructive training systems, including Next Generation Constructive (NGC), Synthetic Training Environment Live Training System (STE LTS) and Threat-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (T-UAS).
“The work we do in simulating and building those models and bringing that to life absolutely improves our lethality and our understanding in that space,” Beeler said. “When you look at all the industry partners and academic partners who have brought their ‘A game’ to I/ITSEC, this is the place for us to help improve Army training, Army readiness and ultimately Army lethality.”
One of the featured panels at this year’s I/ITSEC was the Joint Senior Enlisted Panel, which focused on Joint Readiness Priorities. CPE STRI’s senior enlisted advisor Sgt. Maj. Chuck Houston joined senior enlisted representatives from the Navy, Air Force, Marines and Space Force to discuss joint training priorities, leadership roles in strengthening training culture, and practical partnership approaches that help to increase readiness.
“Beyond the Battlefield: Training Readiness and Lethality for All-Domain Dominance,” is the I/ITSEC 26 theme. The Army is the lead service for I/ITSEC 26, and CPE STRI will spearhead those service responsibilities.
“The way we’re looking at it is, we simulate the fight, and we replicate the threat so that we can win in all domains. The Army is committed to work jointly in delivering cutting-edge simulation and training solutions that prepare Soldiers to dominate across all domains – land, air, sea, space and cyber,” Beeler said. “By leveraging the Synthetic Training Environment, we ensure Soldiers are equipped with the tools, skills and data-driven decision-making capabilities needed to be agile and succeed in complex, contested environments.”
Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, CPE STRI is comprised of a highly skilled and diverse workforce of more than 1,100 Soldiers, Army civilians and contractors, who work with Army partners to enhance operational readiness and support the Army’s modernization efforts by fielding and sustaining the next generation of multi-domain operations testing, training and information operations capabilities.