Mobile app gives armored soldiers a training simulator in their pocket

A recently launched mobile software application combines virtual armor training with a video game-like experience on a soldier’s smartphone.

The application, called the Standardized Armor Base of Training-Experimental, or SABO-X, is a featured simulator training system for armored soldiers in an office setup.

But since the mobile app came online in August, leaders hope it will help soldiers practice more of their shooting skills while providing detailed feedback to the Army as the service looks to improve the use of firepower by armored formations.

Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Harris, senior enlisted leader at Training and Doctrine Command, specifically mentioned the application as one that Soldiers should use.

“It’s a virtual tabletop way to train on the Abrams, Bradley and soon the M10 Booker,” Harris said.

The first soldiers pinned on the master marksman’s identification badge

The M10 Booker is the Army’s newest armored fighting vehicle. It is a tracked vehicle equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun, 7.62mm machine gun and 105mm M35 tank gun.

With the mobile app, soldiers do not have to reserve a limited time in an on-site simulator to practice their craft.

“Once you have those things, you have to embrace them and use them,” Harris said.

Tapping on a smartphone may not look much like firing real bullets, but any additional practice could help, he added.

And the Army has been working on improving its guns for tanks and Bradleys since at least 2021.

Lt. Col. Chuck Bies and Command Sgt. Major John Kurtzhals detailed a notable increase in qualified tank and Bradley crews in the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment out of Fort Carson, Colorado.

The pair co-authored an article, “The Gunnery Training Program,” published in the Winter-Spring edition of Armor magazine.

Earlier this year, Bies served as a senior observer at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and Command Sgt. Major John Kurtzhals was assigned as the senior enlisted leader for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos, Texas.

The duo noted that from 2021 to 2023, the battalion was able to increase the number of qualified tank crews and Bradley crews by 87% and 29%, respectively.

The pair cited skills training, platform preparation and simulator use as factors behind the improvement.

However, soldiers at that time relied on installation-based simulator systems, which required certified simulator operators. The operator’s rate for the Abrams platform was no longer supported by the Army.

That meant the battalion master gunners had to develop their own simulator operator training and certification course to effectively use the simulators for their tank simulation training, the pair wrote.

The SABOT-X software collects performance data on how soldiers operate these virtual machines.

The Combined Arms Center then uses trends in the output data to analyze the training and determine how to improve marksmanship courses for armored soldiers, said Gen. Gary Brito, TRADOC commander.

SABOT-X is one of approximately nine TRADOC mobile applications in the Apple App Store. It is the only one currently available that is specific to soldiers’ combat skills.