Focusing on the development of the United States Army's National Training Center (NTC) from conceptualization and initial implementation in 1981 to the end of the first phase of development in 1984, this monograph provides a documented historical analysis of how and why the landmark event in army training was launched and examines attendant policy issues, funding, instrumentation, and training problems involved in bringing the project from conception to reality. Soldiers stationed in the continental United States trained for war at the NTC at Fort Irwin, California in a setting as close as possible to the reality of combat. Chapters 1-4 focus on the initial conceptualization, the choice of Fort Irwin, and the early problems. Descriptions of the training evaluation and instrumentation system utilized at the Center precede explanations of the NTC experience and are detailed in chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 7 presents information on the lessons learned, and chapter 8 describes the United States Air Force presence at the National Training Center. Charts, tables, maps, and photographs support the information in the text and provide further detail. By 1984 the National Training Center appeared to reach a break-even point between what had been an excellent but unproven concept in the mid 1970s to the reality of a facility that, by the close of 1984, offered the best possible training short of war. A majority of the combat troops in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield gained experience in desert warfare at the NTC. A list of military acronyms and abbreviations appear at the end of the document. (CK)