A major challenge for many Operations Air, Communication, and Surface crews is maintaining their proficiencies between missions, particularly for TCOs, who rarely get the opportunity to gain experience and practice in this vital area of the Auxiliary's Operations Triad.

To address this age-old issue, the Division-7 SPG has designed and established a five-thousand-square-mile practice and training area in and around the Florida Keys, where multiple distressed target types are placed at known positions, allowing crews to choose the object and search pattern they wish to practice on while selecting weather, visibility, and sea-state conditions of their choice.

With access to this additional training opportunity, Auxiliarists can maintain their currency and procedural skills by scheduling “Spring Training” at times that fit their personal schedules and convenience, without worrying about weather, daylight, aircraft availability, or mission orders. It can also be a valuable for those wishing to maintain their skills and competencies during medical, FAA, or personal downtimes.

With the two additional seats, flight crews (up to four) now have the opportunity to practice Crew Resource Management techniques by creating scenarios of their choice with varying levels of crew size and SAR complexity.

While nothing can replace the dynamics and experience of actual flight, the SPG will begin proof-of-concept validations with line crews in 2026 to test the hypothesis that this technology may be useful in maintaining perishable skills between assignments.

As this flight simulation research enters the planned Line Crew Evaluation phase in 2026, the SPG will be seeking crews to critique and evaluate these practice scenarios, and to provide feedback to researchers.