6 JAX AIR NEWS, NAS JACKSONVILLE, Thursday, February 5, 2009


 Photo by John Price
L-3 Communications Engineers Alan Brown and Glen Claussen conduct final tests in the flight station during the installation of the Tactical Operational Readiness Trainer.


 Lt. William Klug (front) and Lt. John Grelli participate in a
 training session in the second-generation Tactical Operational
 Readiness Trainer. The second-generation trainer was limited
 due to the lack of a LCD screen, working gauges and real-life
 environmental conditions.


 P-3C Orion



 crews soar



 without,



 'ever leaving



 the ground

 By ATAA Adam Thomas
 Assistant Editor

 P-3C pilots and aircrews are now training on the
 cutting-edge Tactical Operational-Readiness
 Trainer (TORT) at NAS Jacksonville.
 The TORT allows flight crews to train at a level of real-
 ism never before available in their training devices and
 earn readiness points from sorties completed in the simu-
 lator. The sophisticated system is designed to not only
 train new operators, but also to maintain an operational
 crew's proficiency without leaving the ground.
 Built by L-3 Communications, Link Simulation &
 Training, TORT is a high fidelity, computer-controlled,
 real-time trainer that accurately simulates all surveil-
 lance equipment found on the P-3C Orion aircraft. The
 trainer includes crew stations for the tactical coordinator,
 navigation/communications officer, acoustic and non-
 acoustic operators, as well as a fully functional flight deck
 for the two pilots.
 "By placing a greater emphasis on simulation-based
 training in the form of TORT, VP-30 aircraft can be bet-
 ter used performing operational missions versus support-
 ing costly aerial training," explained VP-30 Commanding
 Officer Capt. Richard Fite.
 "With the use of the P-3C TORT trainers, the U.S.
 Navy has sufficient resources to meet its crew readi-
 ness training needs on simulation-based devices," said
 John McNellis, president of L-3 Communications, Link
 Simulation & Training. "The need to conduct antisubma-
 rine warfare or anti-surface warfare crew qualification
 flights in the aircraft will be dramatically reduced, which
 will lower training costs and extend the operational life of
. o 


Wing 11 Weapons Tactics Unit Lead Weapons Tactics Instructor Lt. Jason Mase scans the instruments of the tactical
Operational Readiness Trainer flight station while demonstrating the realism of the trainer.


 rot


As many as six instructors can program the Tactical Operational Readiness Trainer to simulate anything from differentweather -
conditions and combat scenarios to different geographical locations and water conditions. The instructors are able to interact
with the different aircraft operator stations, ensuring the students develop the skills needed to properly complete training
events.


the P-3C Orion platform."
 Patrol Squadron 30 (VP-30) Lead Fleet Projects Naval
Flight Officer Lt. Brad Davies and his team consisting of
Fleet Projects Lead Pilot Lt. George Adams, Fleet Projects
Naval Flight Officer Lt. Justin Jennings, Fleet Projects
Naval Flight Officer Lt. Seth Eisenmenger, Non-Acoustic
Operator AWO1 Mike Zivotofsky and Acoustic Operator
AWO1 Brian Oliastro, under the leadership of Division
Officer Lt. Matt Anderson worked in conjunction with L-3
Communications & Naval Air Systems Command during


the evaluating, testing and inspecting stages to insure
the TORT simulator could properly prepare crews for the
fleet.
 TORT takes P-3C training to new heights by providing
flight crews the ability to search for contacts, identify tar-
gets, program and release weapons and pass vital infor-
mation into the Department of Defense global information
grid (GIG). The GIG is a complex system of networks
 See TORT, Page 7