Combining Mission Analytics and Human Performance– A Force Multiplier

With modern training for the military, warfighters can be outfitted with sensors to improve their readiness in two ways. One is through mission analytics, which show how well soldiers follow doctrine in performing activities such as room clearing. The other is through human performance, which shows what their heart rate, respiration and other measures say about their physical and mental readiness.

Mission analytics and human performance have grown and matured as separate disciplines. But defense organizations now have the opportunity to bring the two together to provide much greater insight into how warfighters are performing – and what they need to do to improve overall readiness.

For example, sensors in a room-clearing exercise might show that a warfighter does not fully scan the room, putting himself and his squad in unnecessary danger. That might be because he lacks training and reps. But measures of his physical state might show that he’s anxious and jumpy, consistent with a lack of regular sleep.

Advances in Data Analytics-Based Training 

Mission analytics have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. Sensors on warfighters and on their weapons can show exactly what the soldiers are doing in any given moment – for example, whether they’re pointing their weapons in the right direction at the right time. Trainers can apply this approach in a live or virtual-reality environment (which adds eye-tracking). And they can gain detailed and objective information beyond what they might glean by watching warfighters from catwalks.

The field of human performance data is also advancing rapidly, and wearables and other sensors are now commonly used by sports teams to improve athletes’ fitness and performance. For example, heart rate variability – the slight fluctuation of time between heartbeats – can help identify fitness and fatigue, and issues like anxiety and depression. Other kinds of data can give clues to soldiers’ cognitive performance – for example, whether stress is clouding their decision-making ability.

The Power of Integrating the Data 

Bringing together mission analytics and human performance is a force multiplier – it helps pinpoint why a warfighter might be having difficulty, and what to do about it. For example, a warfighter might find that when his heart rate is high, and his breathing is irregular, he tends to do poorly in marksmanship training. The warfighter can then work on lowering his heart rate and controlling his breathing when he is firing his weapon.

This kind of feedback gives warfighters a greater ability to improve their readiness on their own. They can track how changes they make – such as getting more sleep, improving their diet, or reducing their stress levels through breathing exercises – can help them do a much better job at adhering to doctrine.

Bringing together mission analytics and human performance also paves the way to improve training with AI machine learning. By analyzing large datasets, machine learning models can help identify which types of training lead to greater readiness and opportunities to enhance readiness by changing training tactics.

Mission analytics and human performance are essentially two sides of the same coin. When applied together, they give defense organizations the opportunity to enhance training and accelerate readiness in powerful new ways. 

Cameron Mayer, a senior vice president at Booz Allen, leads the firm’s Defense Accelerated Readiness business with a focus on data driven solutions. He has led Defense transformation and modernization efforts for over 20 years.