SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- SCOTT AFB, Illinois – Air Mobility Command (AMC) hosted its first-ever Human Performance Industry Days (HPID) here, Dec. 11-12, 2023.
The intent of the event was to share and develop solutions in the human performance space to maximize physical and mental performance for Airmen. A cross-functional team from academia, the Air Force, and industry collaborated and shared insights and developments across the human performance spectrum.
HPID topics derived from lessons learned during Mobility Guardian 2023, AMC’s flagship exercise. Mobility Guardian 23 showed max endurance operations were needed to operate at the pace and scale required in the Pacific theater. To combat the strain on those who fly, fix and support these missions, AMC is researching human performance tools and concepts which could be adopted to optimize performance in the event of sustained operations.
Gen. Mike Minihan, AMC’s commander, highlighted the need for events such as the HPID.
“My mission statement for this event is ' a deliberate whole of DoD, whole of industry effort, to maximize performance of mobility Airmen to execute, to a standard, mobility operations for 48-hours,’” said Minihan.
The tyranny of distance in the Pacific necessitates max endurance efforts, and this was made apparent during Mobility Guardian, and was recognized by exercise evaluators as a “game changer” when it comes to mobility operations in that theater.
To address this shortfall, HPID was created to add greater depth to tactics, techniques and procedures, identify policy and funding barriers, and work potential solutions.
“I'm not interested in a solution that’s two or three years down the road. I've got about nine months before I hand over this command and this problem set needs to be in an incredibly better place than it is right now. We're looking to get things done quickly,” said Minihan.
Solutions discussed included tools in development with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). DIU, already a partner with Fairchild Air Force Base, showcased some of their equipment during HPID, including digital fatigue tests, which give aircraft commanders the data needed to make decisions that are best for their crew, as well as wearable technology which provides biometric data to properly evaluate an Airman’s own level of fatigue.
Major Nathan Mocalis, Director of the Innovation Cell at Fairchild Air Force Base and a KC-135 pilot, described how solutions being presented during the HPID can enhance aircrew decision-making.
“These tools can provide crews with recommendations on when to adjust their sleep schedules for missions, providing operators with information on the most optimal time for performance,” said Mocalis. “Aircraft commanders can utilize objective data to drive their decision calculus for their crews.”
The event’s second day included an exposition hall, where more than 35 companies within the human performance industry showcased emergent technologies.
AMC will continue to partner with industry to cultivate new solutions to problems and improve upon existing technology while minimizing costs for solution implementation.