Combining Mission Analytics and Human Performance

In modern military training, warfighters can be outfitted with sensors to improve their readiness two ways. One is through mission analytics, which shows 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 the entire squad in unnecessary danger. The reason might appear to be because the warfighter lacks training and reps. But biometrics might show the trainee is anxious and jumpy, consistent with a lack of regular sleep.

Mission analytics have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. Sensors on warfighters and 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 can glean by watching warfighters from a distance, for example on overhead 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. These same technologies can be applied to soldiers. Data gives clues to soldiers’ cognitive performance—for example, whether stress is clouding their decision-making ability.

Bringing together mission analytics and human performance is a force multiplier. It helps pinpoint why warfighters might be having difficulty, and what to do about it. For example, trainees might find that when their heart rates are high and their breathing irregular, they do poorly in marksmanship. By focusing on lowering their heart rate and controlling breathing, they can increase target accuracy faster.

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 identify opportunities to try new tactics that boost performance.

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.