Soldier Performance in Sociotechnical Environments (Summary Technical Report, Oct 2020–Sep 2023)

Author(s):

Heather Roy, Leah Enders, Russell Cohen-Hoffing, Jonathan Touryan, Thomas Rohaly, Bianca Dalangin, Angela Jeter, Jessica Villarreal, Alex Stauff, Adam Wachsman, William Gerichs, Robert Smith, Ashley Rabin, and Stephen Gordon

Abstract:

The U.S. Army Futures Command’s Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team and U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (ARL) initiated the research program Soldier Performance in Sociotechnical Environments in 2020 to increase Warfighter lethality and situational awareness (SA). The goal of this program was to conduct foundational research and develop technologies to quantify, predict, and enhance shared SA and situational understanding across volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous operating environments. To achieve this goal, ARL developed the Tactical Awareness via Collective Knowledge (TACK) concept leveraging the science of opportunistic sensing to reason over the environment, enable command and control, and inform intelligent systems. Specifically, within this program, TACK applies opportunistic sensing to understand how Soldiers’ behaviors, intent, cognitive state, and attention can be quantified in real time during small-unit dismount operations. TACK leverages next-generation dismount technologies to measure Soldiers as they are conducting simulated missions to make inferences about the environment and convey actionable information to a commander and/or autonomous agent, improving mission outcomes. This report details several TACK research thrusts and test beds falling under this effort. While the concepts and technologies developed under this program focused on dismounted operations, the science behind TACK is generalizable and can be applied across domains.