Performance Analysis and Training for Digital Command Staff: Training for the Battle Command Reengineering III

The transition to the digital Army of Force XXI and beyond is characterized by challenges to how the Army will train, maintain, and operate as an information age force. In response to the concerns and issues resulting from digitization, the U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI), Armored Forces Research Unit, is engaged in the design and development of training and performance evaluation techniques to support Force XXI digital capabilities. This paper summarizes an ARI project that addressed training for leaders and staffs of future digital environments. Based on learning and performance research on team training and operations in digital environments, a training support package for a future-battlefield experiment was constructed. Coordination between ARI and the Mounted Maneuver Battlespace Laboratory (MMBL) at Fort Knox, Kentucky enabled the two organizations to work together as a team to accomplish multiple goals. Observations and data collection during implementation of the training led to formulation of a series of lessons learned on training content and training structure. These lessons are addressed to several audiences, including developers of future staff training and researchers conducting future systems experiments and training.