GOTS software for advanced training data tracking and visualization
Training Data Tracking and Visualization for Proficiency-Based Training
Tracking, analyzing, warehousing, and visualizing human performance data are key enabling components of proficiency-based training.
The Performance Evaluation and Tracking System (PETS™) is an intelligent data human-performance analysis tool developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) under Dr. Winston “Wink” Bennett, Technical Advisor for the Warfighter Readiness Research Division of the 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Systems Directorate, with support from Aptima, Inc. (previously Lumir Research Institute) and the 711th HPW Contractor Team’. The United States Air Force (USAF) has been using the system since 2001 within AFRL’s F-16 Distributed Mission Operations (DMO) testbed and has fielded it to numerous national, international, and coalition partner training sites.
PETS contains Subject Matter Expert (SME)-vetted measurement algorithms for many USAF platforms. Most recently, PETS has been applied to the Combat Air Forces (CAF)-wide Proficiency Based Training (PBT) program being fielded to operational units throughout the CAF, with the first selected Mission Design Series (MDS) units being F-16, F-15E Strike Eagle, and the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). To support a data-driven approach such as ACC’s Proficiency-Based Training, the PETS team has focused on leveraging system-level native data inputs along with the multitude of measurement algorithm outputs to develop and refine a series of output “products” that support PBT. These output products, in the form of proficiency dashboards, are designed to provide feedback and enhanced after action review opportunities to Learners; at the Instructor level the products show local readiness and capability trends for a particular mission set or experience; and fleet-wide readiness at any point in time at the Decision Maker level.
Proficiency Dashboard during Mission Execution (Screen shot courtesy of Warfighter Readiness Research Division; Air Force Released)
The Live, Virtual and Constructive Network Control Suite (LNCS™) multi-domain Instructor Operator Station, also developed by AFRL under Dr. Bennett with support from Aptima (formerly Lumir), provides a single point of visualization, recording, and environment control for live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) exercises. The USAF has been using LNCS since 2008, where its initial mission was providing exercise control for the F-16 testbed. LNCS, operationally certified on the AF-EPL list along with PETS, is now used across AFRL testbeds and at local and international operational Air Force sites as the primary Brief-Debrief (BDB) system of choice.
LNCS provides operators and trainees with industry-leading visualization capabilities during and after exercises and contains a robust set of plug-ins that both enhance the core software capabilities and support third party development. LNCS and PETS work in tandem to support PBT efforts, with LNCS providing the visualization capabilities and PETS computing Measures of Performance (MOPs). LNCS and PETS work together to enable enhanced feedback for Instructors and trainees by visualizing key elements and situations during a mission where decisions are made that can affect mission outcomes. Key mission events are overlaid onto the LNCS visualization and provide feedback to Instructors during a mission and additional learning opportunities during an AAR.
Enhanced Mission Display with Performance Measurement Overlay (Screen shot courtesy of the Warfighter Readiness Research Division; Air Force Released)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The above material is excerpted from AFRL’s Fight’s On, Volume 36, Fall 2019, pages 18-19 (Air Force Released).