The STTC traces its lineage to 1983, when the
Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) started work on a technology to network a large number of manned simulators, emulators, and semi-automated force simulations to form a
Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) of a battlefield. DARPA ran the project from 1983 to 1989, and convinced the Army to use DIS technology. The
Army Science Board studied the technology in 1991, and found a central management structure was necessary to ensure an integrated system. The board's recommendation resulted in the
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and
U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) sharing management responsibility for the new system. TRADOC designated its National Simulation Center (NSC) as its functional manager for controlling the requirements process. AMC created a new major subordinate command in 1992—the U.S. Army Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command (STRICOM) (its current name being PEO STRI), headquartered in Orlando, Florida—to serve as the technical manager for system execution. STRICOM consisted of two existing organizations, the Project Manager Training Devices (PM TRADE) and Project Manager Instrumentation, Targets and Threat Simulators (PM ITTS), plus two new organizations, the Project Manager for Combined Arms Tactical Training (PM CATT) and the Project Manager for Distributed Interactive Simulation (PM DIS). In the 1990s, the technology base group of STRICOM formed the Technology Development Center (TDC) and moved to a separate building from the rest of STRICOM. One of TDC's major efforts was the
University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) at the
University of Southern California. The UARC was later renamed the
Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). On October 1, 2002, TDC provisionally became part of
RDECOM, being redesignated U.S. Army Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC). The remaining elements of STRICOM became the Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI). In November 2003, the STTC was renamed in honor of
SFC Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in
Operation Iraqi Freedom. RDECOM took permanent control of STTC effective March 1, 2004 in accordance with AMC Permanent Orders 049–2. The STTC is now a component of the
DEVCOM Soldier Center. ==Components==