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Terrorism ISIS takes flight: Terror group training pilots at airbase in Libya ISIS is training pilots at an airbase in Libya, using small plane left over from the Qaddafi regime and at least one flight simulator in an effort experts fear could lead to aerial attacks targeting Europe, according to regional analysts. The terrorist group, which is bulking up its footprint in the chaotic north African nation even as airstrikes by Russia, the U.S. and other western allies pound its headquarters in Syria, is functioning unfettered in the Mediterranean city of Sirte. Given that Sirte is just a short flight...

Army Orders Soldiers to Wear Fake Breasts and 'Empathy' Bellies Soldiers don fake belly, breasts to better understand pregnant troops' exercise concerns By Seth Robson Stars and Stripes Published: February 16, 2012 CAMP ZAMA, Japan – The Army is ordering its hardened combat veterans to wear fake breasts and empathy bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training. This week, 14 noncommissioned officers at Camp Zama took turns wearing the “pregnancy simulators” as they stretched, twisted and exercised during a three-day class that teaches them to serve as fitness instructors for pregnant soldiers and new...

The Israel Air Force is set to launch a new squadron to conduct complex training missions without a single airman or jet leaving the ground. The new unit will run all of the IAF's flight simulators, and in two years will inaugurate a tactical simulator allowing eight fighter pilots - and two others posing as enemy pilots - to run training drills simultaneously. The IAF has operated flight simulators for over 30 years, mostly to train aircraft squadrons on procedures to be taken in the event of emergency or inclement weather. Once every few months, each flight squadron must undergo...

Live training and full-scale war games are ideal ways to test physical reflexes and give military trainees hands-on experience with equipment in the real world. However, increasingly various forms of computer-based training, including desktop software applications and full-room simulated environments, provide alternative learning opportunities. "We really believe there are certain skills you can train at each level of fidelity," said Denise Nicholson, director of the Applied Cognition and Training in Immersive Virtual Environments lab at the University of Central Florida. UCF is conducting research on the next version of the Marine Corps' Deployable Virtual Training Environment (DVTE). The corps has...

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan, Nov. 9, 2007 – From the pilot’s seat of a KC-130 air refueler, Mark Brainard carefully guided the craft over the ocean to the landing strip on the coast as his co-pilot coached him. Mark Brainard, chief of staff for the governor of Delaware, sits in the cockpit of a KC-130 air refueler flight simulator Nov. 9, 2007, at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Brainard is part of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, which landed here today on its fourth day of a week-long tour of military forces in the U.S. Pacific Command. Photo by...

The DOD is developing a parallel to Planet Earth, with billions of individual "nodes" to reflect every man, woman, and child this side of the dividing line between reality and AR. Called the Sentient World Simulation (SWS), it will be a "synthetic mirror of the real world with automated continuous calibration with respect to current real-world information", according to a concept paper for the project. SWS provides an environment for testing Psychological Operations (PSYOP)," the paper reads, so that military leaders can "develop and test multiple courses of action to anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners" SWS...

TORONTO (CNS) -- A Tanzanian priest aboard an Air France jet that crashed in Toronto and burst into flames said he was "prepared for death." "I was actually prepared for death. I said, 'God, we are dying. Save us God.' That was my last prayer," Father Ayub Mwampela told The Catholic Register of Toronto a day after the Aug. 2 crash. As Father Mwampela was praying, passengers around him began to shout. Panic mushroomed inside the plane as people realized something was very wrong. Passengers had gone from applauding the crew for a difficult landing to the grip of fear....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. pilots who bombed Baghdad say increasingly detailed flight simulators helped familiarize them with the terrain, the threats and even the weather conditions they would face on the battlefield. Related Quotes SGILLLLMTNOCRTNCAE.TODJIANASDAQ^SPC 1.0844.4050.0587.9529.933.498480.091464.31916.92 +0.02+0.15-0.20-1.34-0.26+0.27-22.90-6.99-0.92 delayed 20 mins - disclaimerQuote Data provided by Reuters   "The location of my flight and the tactics employed were exactly like we were practicing in the MTC (Mission Training Center) ... before we left," the F-16 pilot who dropped the first HARM missile on Baghdad wrote in an e-mail to trainers at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. "It was pretty cool...

ANATOMY OF A CRIME   The term "act of terrorism" is probably not comprehensive enough to fully describe what happened in the USA on the morning of September 11th. The number of human victims and the extent of the disaster, form a tragedy exceeding all other terrorism incidents, and similar only to major strikes during a war.   The anatomy of terror Terrorism has risen to a major international problem during the last 3 decades. In that period we have witnessed many evolutions in the terrorist incidents concerning the profile of the acts, the means employed and the goals as...