DR SKO MAKES VIRTUAL HOUSE CALLS


O


ne of the trickier aspects of training military personnel to use protection and iden- tification equipment against


deadly weapons is the ability to train with- out using the capability. When you're the Dismounted Reconnaissance Sets Kits and Outfits (DR SKO) product office and your business is chemical and biological defense, you have to get creative, particu- larly during a pandemic.


DR SKO, which rhymes with low and is pronounced "Doctor Sko," resides within the Joint Project Manager for Chemi- cal, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Sensors at the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biolog- ical, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND).


DR SKO is a system of sensors and protective equipment that is a CBRN- defense toolbox packaged in a beige cargo container the size of a backyard shed. It's a suite of highly technical and expensive commercial off-the-shelf instrumentation and protective equipment. It provides specific feedback to the operator based on the threat, covering the gamut of biolog- ical threats, toxic chemicals, chemicals covered in the Chemical Warfare Conven- tion, and nontraditional threats like the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.


Te detector equipment is particularly expensive because of the complexity of the electronics within each of the devices, and


PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE


Interactive multimedia instruction on a Rigaku Progeny ResQ handheld analyzer for an individual to conduct preventative maintenance checks and services. (Photo by JPEO- CBRND)


the quantity of different devices required to conduct CBRN sensitive site assessment missions across the full range of military operations. An additional complexity to the DR SKO portfolio is that it is delivered to all four services with 10 tailored config- urations specific to their user and mission.


As you can imagine, it is nearly impossi- ble to train real-world-relevant chemical and biological warfare threats with a real chemical and biological agent. It is both exceedingly dangerous and cost prohib- itive. Instead,


COVID-19 and these initial fielding events paved the way for DR SKO to accept the unique opportunity to continue fielding virtually.


30 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2021


scenarios that look like real-world events and interject to the operator what their device feedback “should” look like.


training teams design


Picture this: You’re rehearsing in a ware- house with all of your gear, and you come across some basic high school chemistry laboratory equipment. Your trainer now leans over to you and says, “Now your Joint Chemical Agent Detector is alarm- ing for an overload condition of sulfur mustard”—hard to train when you’re responding to an instructor’s commands versus the actual device showing the actual alarm. Although training challenges are not new to the DR SKO team, the travel restrictions imposed under COVID-19’s deadly grip offered opportunity to win broader support to execute plans that may not have been possible otherwise.


SWEET NEW SUITE Te team, in coordination with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124