Alion trains troops to respond to IED attacks

Alion Science and Technology Corp. will use simulation technology as an Army training method under a $1.1 million contract.

Under the award, the employee-owned technology solutions company is providing simulation tools to train soldiers to identify, react and respond to improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“The goal is to give deploying soldiers a realistic view of the current situation in the field,” said Dick Brooks, Alion senior vice president and manager of the Distributed Simulation Group. “In just a few days, we translate actual battlefield information into video simulations for classroom and field training,” he said.

The video simulations provide accurate re-creations of the enemy’s most recent tactics as well as how U.S. forces responded, he added.

Alion, as a subcontractor to BAE Systems Inc., runs the Systems Integration Modeling and Simulations Directorate within the Army’s Joint Training Counter Improvised Explosive Device Operations Integration Center.

The center provides animated simulations of actual IED events in four days or less by using a variety of terrain and analytical tools, physics-based constructive simulations and gaming software, Alion officials said.

Alion, of McLean, Va., ranks No. 31 on Washington Technology’s 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.