Mobile app gives armor soldiers a training simulator in their pockets 

A recently launched mobile software application merges 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, has been a featured simulator training system for armor soldiers in an office setup.

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

Command Sgt. Maj. Raymond Harris, senior enlisted leader at Training and Doctrine Command, specifically named the application as one that soldiers should be using.

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

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

With the mobile app, soldiers don’t have to reserve limited time in an on-post simulator to practice their craft.

“Once you do get those things you’ve got to embrace them and you’ve got to use them,” Harris said.

Tapping away at a smartphone may not closely resemble firing real rounds downrange, but any extra practice could help, he added.

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

Lt. Col. Chuck Bies and Command Sgt. Maj. John Kurtzhals explained, in detail, 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 Armor magazine’s Winter-Spring edition.

Earlier this year, Bies served as a senior observer at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and Command Sgt. Maj. John Kurtzhals was assigned as the senior enlisted leader for 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 its number of qualified tank crews and Bradley crews by 87% and 29%, respectively.

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

However, soldiers during that time relied on installation-based simulator systems, which required certified simulator operators. The operator’s course 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 training and determine how gunnery courses for armor soldiers can be improved, said Gen. Gary Brito, TRADOC commander.

SABOT-X is one of about nine TRADOC mobile applications on the Apple App Store. It is the only one currently available that is specific to soldier combat skills.