He or she can call up the relevant doctrine relating to the specific mission and region. Four possible courses of action can be selected, and JDOL is designed to present information for four different user types. In this manner, joint force officers can meet on the Internet, acquire background data, begin working on how to form this specific joint task force, learn the doctrine, and become familiar with each other's moves and reactions, Parmentier notes. A virtual knowledge base of linked and related documents dictating joint force doctrine, the system features intelligent tutor technology to build tutorials into the doctrine base. Given the current national security environment, many officers become involved in joint operations before they ever get the training, Parmentier observes.
Students can apply a particular doctrine to a situation and see the outcome.
If they fail in their simulated mission, the system allows users to go back to see what other course of action they should have taken. The beta models are almost operational, Parmentier says. Perhaps the Defense Department organization that is the most advanced in applying ADL techniques is the Defense Acquisition University. By moving several courses to an online format, the school realized considerable cost savings, ADL Team Leader Donald B. Johnson maintains. For example, in just one course, the university was able to realize the equivalent of 215 man-years and 19,800 hours in work savings in one year.