Research Observations And Lessons Learned For The Future Combat Systems

This brief summarizes some of the important observations and lessons learned from training research and development conducted by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) over the past 15 years. Its purpose is to assist Future Combat Systems (FCS) designers and developers as they formulate plans for the systems and for the training that will accompany the systems. The topic summaries cover the need for a Master Training Plan, training development and implementation concerns, training and performance support and system issues, and a few non-training and non-system observations.

The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems program aimed to field an ambitious system of systems, with novel technologies integrated via an advanced wireless network. The largest and most ambitious planned acquisition program in the Army's history, it was cancelled in 2009, and some of its efforts transitioned to follow-on programs. This report documents the program's complex history and draws lessons from its experiences.

The Army's transformation to Future Combat Systems (FCS) poses an unprecedented alliance of humans and machines, particularly for Command and Control (C). Creating a human-machine alliance that actually improves command and control is a severe challenge in human-system integration for FCS. First, this report selectively identifies four overarching research issues for command and control: Allocation, Autonomy, Authority, and Awareness. Second, two complementary research approaches, mid-scale and small-scale transformation environments, for investigating human-system integration issues are described. An example of a mid-scale transformation environment from the FCS C2 program is provided with selected results from Experiment 1 on human-system integration. The value added by small-scale transformation environments, however, is needed to maintain a human-centric focus and provide two unique roles: a breeding ground for innovation to larger environments, and proving ground for issues from larger environments. An example of an emerging small-scale transformation environment directed at FCS concept exploration and training is provided. The core technical, operational and human performance assets currently available for this small-scale transformation environment are described. The report's intended audience includes any members of the user, researcher, and developer community who might benefit from, or provide benefit to, the Army's ongoing FCS research program."--DTIC.