ACQUISITION AT SPEED
cohort of 600 infantry Soldiers, but hopes to expand that figure to 4,000, evaluating the impact on an entire brigade combat team.
“It’s a true partnership between research and the operational community,” Patterson said, emphasizing that the point is not the specific hardware or software but rather enabling more reliable and robust human data to inform operational decision-making.
OHWS is also exploring whether a bring-your-own-device model would be feasible for Soldiers already using personal commercial wearables, in order to “leverage the investments that people are already making for themselves.”
Athlete-management systems and wearables are influential because they can amplify training, education and leadership around Soldier health and wellness. If devices can show indi- viduals how their choices impact their performance, they can then feel empowered to make changes that result in a healthier lifestyle and greater longevity. At the same time, health track- ers worn by a group of Soldiers can collectively provide leaders with additional engagement tools and new information on how to create the best performance ecosystems possible.
“When it comes to data, context is king,” Patterson said.
Beyond the operational environment, OHWS program wear- ables have been tested in combat diver qualification and maritime preparatory courses, as well as in best warrior, leader or medic competitions. Using the devices in elite training settings can illustrate “how states in readiness ebb and flow,” providing OHWS researchers and unit leaders with insights on how to hone performance. “We look at these tools and how they actu- ally make people smarter, faster, more lethal and precise at the individual level,” as well as how they influence “echelon-based decision-making,” Patterson explained.
“Our goal is that human performance data becomes an integral part of mission command, movement, maneuver, protection and sustainment, which are warfighting functions,” he elaborated. “If we can figure out how we fight with this data, then we’re always putting our formations in a position to succeed instead of fail.”
Initial results have already prompted some adjustments to training battle rhythms at the battalion level to allow for more deliberate and effective rest cycles. Signals captured by the wear- ables have also increased leaders’ awareness of Soldier social and emotional well-being and enabled timely interventions with indi- viduals experiencing abnormal levels of stress.
Te program’s evaluation of devices is carried out in coordination with complementary efforts by other branches of the military as well as with university research partners.
“We work synergistically across DOD to make sure we under- stand the validation of these devices,” including “what they’re good for and what they’re not good for,” Patterson said. “Tis is all about trying to have a ‘coalition of the willing’ across the services, because the human is the only capability that is constant within the services.”
OHWS, like H2FMS, looks to support health and wellness as part of the Army holistic health and fitness effort.
CONCLUSION In addition to creating programs that assess how to best collect and use Soldier fitness and wellness data, the Army conducts an array of in-depth research focused on understanding and improv- ing Soldier health.
Researchers at the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, for example, investigate and publish research papers on topics rang- ing from neurological impacts of sleeping during the day to the effects of prior mental fatigue on marksmanship. Meanwhile, researchers at MRDC’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine have performed research on the effects of sleep loss on marks- manship, musculoskeletal injuries and resilience; with additional research on how to support readiness and recovery from sleep restriction and deprivation in the operational environment.
By uniting these and other activities with performance devel- opment programs being carried out across the joint force, the Army is helping to ensure that tomorrow’s Soldiers are equipped with the advanced human performance knowledge, skills and resources they need to succeed in future operational envi- ronments.
For more information, go to:
https://armyfuturescommand.com.
MAUREENA THOMPSON is a contracted writer and editor with Army Futures Command in Austin, Texas. She holds a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in national security from Duke University and a B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles.
https://asc.ar my.mil
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