US Army Considers Developing Cognitive Training Programmes

Jane's Defence Weekly – 10 Nov 15

US Army Considers Developing Cognitive Training Programmes

By Daniel Wasserbly

Key Points

•             US Army planners are exploring psychological fitness programmes as technological advantages wane

•             An army event identified the importance of human performance, of cognitive performance specifically, and of more diverse recruits

The US Army may seek to develop and implement cognitive training tools to complement its physical fitness training, according to Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) officials.

The importance of buttressing physical fitness with psychological fitness emerged during TRADOC's 2015 Mad Scientist Conference, which this year was held on 27 October with a focus on the 'human dimension'. The event is one of the army's efforts to explore potential future operating environments and involves outside experts and thinkers, meant to help design the future army.

Three key findings from the event were the importance of human performance overall, the importance of cognitive performance specifically, and the necessity of having a diverse pool of recruits.

Participants mostly agreed that by 2030 human performance will be as important as or more important than technological advantages, since the latter may be waning for the United States because others are catching up or finding means to obviate US strengths, Tom Greco, TRADOC's deputy chief of staff (G-2), told reporters during a 9 November teleconference.

As part of this, Greco said the conference focused on a need to strike an appropriate ratio between physical and psychological fitness.

This could be done through continuous exercising with live and virtual reality training - including gaming, nutrition, and mental exercise - all meant to develop cognitive capability in a similar way to developing physical capability.

"The key thing is to measure [capability], you have to start with a baseline … and then as you train you have to continue to measure the individual and the team" and allow them to improve, Greco said. It could be manifested as a training regimen for squads and squad leaders, placing them in an immersive environment where their baseline abilities as individuals and as a team would be measured. Then trainers can push scenarios to be more or less challenging depending on where the individual or unit is at, he explained.

Officials expect that eventually, as the brain becomes better understood, this will be easier to tailor and easier to predict and gain improvements. "Neuroscience will cease to be a black box in the future," said Dr Kira Hutchinson, director of TRADOC Intelligence/Engagement (G29), and ultimately there will be a better idea of how the brain can change even late in adulthood - known as neuroplasticity.

Finally, the army believes it needs more diversity in its pool of recruits. Greco noted this is a wider issue in the United States, but said the army hopes to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines in order to have a better prepared society from which to recruit soldiers. "That must start early and be sustained throughout a student's lifetime," he said.

In 2016 TRADOC plans three Mad Scientist events: in the April-May timeframe it will explore urbanisation and megacities, then the future security environment and changing nature of crime and terrorism, and finally a cyber event simultaneously broadcast from multiple locations.

COMMENT

The upcoming Mad Scientist event on megacities - defined as having about 10 million or more inhabitants - should be particularly interesting in light of this most recent one, as it would be important to empower squad-level troops for such a challenging environment.

The US National Intelligence Council estimates that 60% of the Earth's population will be in cities by 2030, and congested and overpopulated megacities present a difficult theatre, particularly in the developing world, due to slums, uncontrolled urban sprawl, and lack of basic infrastructure such as roads, plumbing, and other public services. This would all significantly limit the US Army's ability to use manoeuvre forces and firepower, some of its key strengths.