TED HARMER
Ted Harmer develops ways to improve Air Force training programs, specifically those related to medical readiness and personnel recovery. His research focuses on continuous learning, performance assessment and validation of training. Since he specializes in applied training research, Harmer often works directly with Airmen in the field.
He explains that his ultimate goal is to enhance “the instruction that the Airmen need to successfully complete their missions.” Harmer says he aims “increase the realism and fidelity of the training.”
To fulfill this duty, Harmer and his team develop “tools and methodologies to support operational training infrastructure (OTI) and simulation capabilities.” He characterizes the methodologies that support effective training as “virtual and constructive.”
He explains that his team employs various techniques to analyze training programs.
“We capture data about performance and scenario complexity, and we dynamically adapt training to the trainee, he asserts. “We also establish debriefing methods, user assessment techniques, and proficiency based training models.”
Recently, Harmer’s team enhanced the training program for combat injury and casualty care. He explains that this program now utilizes human patient simulators, which replicate injuries and bodily processes, and then react dynamically to the interventions applied.
Harmer is also leading the development of a Live, Virtual Constructive (LVC) training solution that is mobile, modular and compact. He describes LVC as “an instrumented training range that fits into a truck” and says that it can be integrated with existing simulators. Harmer asserts that the system supports a customizable battle space that can replicate real world problems.
Harmer explains that, “outreach programs are definitely important to verify that the technologies being developed (at AFRL) have that operational validation capability to meet the current needs of the Air Force.”
One such base-to-base support effort stemmed from a visit to Fairchild Air Force Base (Washington) in which Harmer and a group from Wright Patterson AFB toured the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) schoolhouse where specialists develop rigorous training exercises.
During this immersion visit, the SERE instructors discussed areas that needed R&D solutions. The Commander of the Survival School, Col. John Groves, spoke of the need to infuse innovation in Air Force training programs, many of which hadn’t changed since the 1960s.
The need to monitor trainees stemmed from a 2016 incident in which a candidate suffered a heat stroke during a six-hour solo exercise in 100-degree weather. Since regular safety checks did not detect the threat in time, SERE leaders decided to incorporate additional safety measures.
After “the SERE instructors took [our group] through the phases of training they provide students, we discussed ways we could assist them with this need,” recalls Harmer. Collectively, we “determined that health-monitoring technology would be most beneficial in training exercises where students survive in extreme, isolated environments.”
Harmer explains that “safety is paramount in many of the training venues,” and therefore, “some of the realism is knocked down” to eliminate danger.
This presented his team with an “opportunity to provide safety and comfort, while increasing the realism offered to the students in this scenario,” he said.
After leaving Fairchild AFB, Harmer returned to the 711th Human Performance Wing and recruited team members to develop and design these wearable monitoring devices. He formed the SERE Health Awareness Responders Kit (SHARK) team along with Dr. James Christensen and 1st Lt. David Feibus.
“With support from leadership and a highly engaged customer, the team easily recruited members who were eager to work,” Christensen said.
The SHARK team documented the key customer requirements and agreed that the devices should determine heart rate, detect location, estimate core temperature and transmit this data via long-range communications. Christensen provided technical expertise in physiology and metrics while 1st Lt. Feibus managed the software development efforts. Harmer supported the concept of operations (CONOPS) and devised the best way to employ the monitoring device in the training environment.
“My goal was to launch the capability without influencing the ongoing training,” Harmer explained.
He selected the most appropriate relay mechanism to support instances where isolated students need timely medical assistance. Harmer also made recommendations regarding the device’s design, makeup and functionality based on his research and expertise.
In the end, the team used shirts with wearable sensors. The data collected from students travels via satellite and is pulled from a server to enable real-time monitoring.
The SHARK team traveled to Camp Bullis, a 28,000-acre site in Texas, to test the device out on SERE students. At the end of the exercise, the team confirmed that the data transmitted met the needs of the instructors. Furthermore, the students expressed interest in using the devices once they understood the purpose.
Harmer said he believes “that [the device] can definitely support safety while increasing the overall realism of the training.” He describes the device as “an amazing tool that can be used for situational real time awareness”
He asserts that, “use of this device will help save lives by quickly alerting instructors when trainees are in danger.”
For their initial design and software development activities, the SHARK team received $100,000 from AFRL’s Small Business Office. The team will use this money to enhance their monitoring devices further. Harmer says they plan to test the device in Fairchild, Washington to validate its ability in cold-weather environments.