European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Or it Etc stateside a Michael Hass an electronics Engineer stands in front of the virtual reality screen at Wright Patterson fab in  backdrop of Jungles or forests to test vis by James Hannah the associated press he wars of the future Are being fought right now. Quot the battlefields Are 3-d, computer generated images projected on a big screen. It s Quot virtual reality Quot a and the military has jumped into the new technology. Tucked away in Armstrong Laboratory at Wright Patterson fab in Dayton Ohio is a curved screen nearly four stories High. With six projectors firing away viewers find themselves in a virtual sky chasing nonexistent enemy fighter planes a plummeting helplessly through a bottomless Tunnel or bounding Over an alien moonscape. The screen is called sire a for synthesized immersion research environment. Quot the kind of work that s being done Here is not being duplicated anywhere else said Michael Haas an electronics Engineer at the lab. Quot it s absolutely critical for design but it s not being done in Industry or  v Haas said the lab will be used As a flight simulator to improve the cockpit design and Pilot performance. For example the lab will be used to measure How aware pilots Are of the combat environment from inside the cockpit and whether there comes a Point when the computer generated information being fed to them creates a mental overload. Flight simulation is just the beginning. Haas said images of human Heads have been enlarged and displayed on the screen to improve the helmet and body suit design. New camouflage designs have been flashed on the screen against a Quot it s a virtual alternative to going out and painting a real truck and hoping for the Best Quot said Haas. The lab also represents the military s Effort to Transfer technology to private businesses. Companies have  lab to visualize new products or to improve a design. Quot one of the things we want to do is blow that screen up so that people Are actually inside the thing that they re designing Quot said Haas. Across the base the air Force Institute of technology also is doing research. He Battlefield will come to life for soldiers who Wear upper body suits and helmets with visors that generate computer images on the inside. To determine whether virtual reality can help improve flight simulation techniques a at a lower Price. Existing flight simulators can Cost As much As $40 million said it. Col. Martin Stytz associate professor of computer science and engineering. Virtual reality testing can Cut that Price to $150,000. A it also will improve Pilot performance. A. Quot if we re going to go in and drop bombs you la be Able to Fly that Mission five six 10, 20 times before you take off Quot he said. Quot you re going to see the pilots be Able to fight  Mike Zyda professor of computer science at the naval postgraduate school in Monterey calif., said a virtual. Reality simulator developed by the army to train tank operators now is being used to train air plane and helicopter pilots Zyda is getting ready to demonstrate an experimental virtual reality Battlefield. The Battlefield will come to life for soldiers who Wear upper body suits and helmets with visors that generate computer images on the inside. Virtual reality could reduce the need for military exercises save Money on fuel for military vehicles and reduce the stress on soldiers he said. Gerald Pitts professor of computer science at Trinity University in san Antonio said the army is using virtual reality to train medics and doctors. Battlefield medics wearing helmets equipped with video cameras and microphones can transmit pictures Back to surgeons at hospitals behind the lines. Pitts said virtual reality is a great training tool because it allows doctors and medics to operate without real patients. The government s use of virtual reality is not confined to the military. Jeff Carr spokesman for the Johnson space Center in Houston said the National aeronautics and space administration last year began using a virtual reality lab to train astronauts. The lab simulates space conditions with computers a special helmet and gloves with sensors that allow astronauts to navigate through the environment. The astronauts sent to repair the Hubble space Telescope got first crack at it in the virtual reality lab. Quot the astronauts were Able to virtually explore the Telescope itself Quot said Carr. Short subject decision to move jets does t Fly critics say by Alan Sayre the associated press Nineteen huge air Force cargo jets Are being moved from their Louisiana Home to a new Jersey base that has neither the facilities to handle them nor the airspace they need to Fly formations. The move to Mcguire fab which runs contrary to an air Force recommendation will Cost taxpayers at least $150 million and some estimates approach $270 million. Critics say politics Are behind the  it s an absolutely goofy decision Quot says . Sen j. Bennett Johnston a la. Quot Mcguire should have been closed. They were looking for a Way to keep Mcguire  a the big jets called pc los carry huge amounts of cargo and can refuel b-52s aloft. For 13 years they be been housed at Barksdale fab outside Bossier City la., at Seymour Johnson fab in North Carolina and at March fab in California. By the time the air Force finishes moving them around in Early 1996, its Fleet of 59 Kc-10s will be stationed almost entirely at Mcguire and at californians Travis fab. R a year ago a commission appointed by Congress to determine which military bases should close and do it without political influence vetoed an air Force recommendation to downgrade Mcguire to a Reserve facility which would have Cut More than 3,500 jobs in new Jersey. The air Force wanted to move the Kc-10s to Plattsburgh fab in upstate new York the defense base closure and realignment a commission however voted not Only to keep Mcguire open but also to upgrade it with the Kc-10 Post and an additional 2,600 jobs. Plattsburgh was ordered closed. The commission chairman was James courier a former new Jersey congressman now in private Legal practice in Northern new Jersey. He did not return phone Calls seeking an explanation of his role in the decision. But . Rep. Jim Saxton r-n.j., argues that the impetus for the move was not politics but the air Force s own restructuring decision that required putting Kc-1qs on both coasts. He said Mcguire was clearly the cheapest location for the East coast. Quot the air Force decided it is Cost efficient a said Saxton whose District includes Mcguire. Quot in a not going to second guess them is amps fu0 kc10s Are at Center of a big Flap. The stars and stripes