May 28, 2003

Trip Report

Department of Defense

Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group (DOD HFE TAG) Meeting #49 – May 12-15, 2003

 

The 49th meeting of the DoD HFE TAG held in Augusta, Georgia. The meeting was chaired LCDR Sean Biggerstaff, MSC, PhD, PMA-205, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Approximately 85 people attended the meeting, representing the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, DISA/DTIC, NASA, FAA, several human factors-related technical societies and industry associations.

 

Four items are attached:

·      Background of the DoD HFE TAG, attachment (1)

·      Meeting schedule, attachment (2) 

·      Current DoD HFE TAG Operating Board, attachment (3)

·      TAG attendees, attachment (4)

·      DoD HFE TAG Policies, attachment (5)

 

Plenary Session Presentations:

 

The DoD HFE TAG Chair for the 49th meeting, LCDR Sean Biggerstaff, welcomed attendees to the meeting and reviewed the theme for the meeting: Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

 

Welcome Address:   Brigadier General Janet E. A. Hicks, Commanding General of the Signal Center and Fort Gordon, welcomed the TAG attendees to Augusta and Ft. Gordon. The current trend in the Army is trading armor for information superiority.  This is reflected, for example in the new generation of armored vehicles built on the Striker baseline (a fraction of a tank’s weight and very fast).  Ft. Gordon’s job is to get vast amounts of information across the battlefield, allowing first understanding and first action. “Information University” at Ft. Gordon has virtual campuses all around the country.  There are currently 17,000 soldiers at Ft. Gordon. 
 
Directorate of Combat Developments. Col Keith H. Snook, Director of Combat Developments (snookk@gordon.army.mil, (706) 791-6223), provided an overview of the DCD organization, where there are 30 military, 20 civilians and 32 contractor personnel (see Figure 1.) One of the major difficulties is getting the current procurement process to support current, rapidly growing and evolving needs. If something is needed in war, you can now purchase new Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment with the required capabilities. The issue is…does everyone need this “stuff” and do we need the Doctrine and Training to properly employ it?

 

Command Battle Laboratory. Col. Joe Yavorski, Director of the Command Battle Lab (yaworski@gordon.army.mil, (706) 971-2557,) informed TAG attendees of the Purpose of Battle Labs is to jointly develop (with industry) required technologies and matching employment concepts. The Battle Lab Cooperative Simulation Environments can be used to evaluate new technologies and products, acting as an “honest broker.” The triad of Battle Labs (Ft.Leavenworth - Leadership, Ft. Gordon - C4I and Ft. Huachuca - ISR) work together to evaluate emerging technologies and concepts. An example is when the Objective Force program took the Future Combat Systems (FCS) operational concepts for 2015 and overlaid state-of-the-art communications concepts for the same time period. They can simulate interfaces with joint forces and combat in multi-national environments. They can also help to point out “disconnects” between systems being acquired to fight in the same time frames. In this regard, DoD/Industry coordination is critical.  Industry is not very ‘open” due to competitive pressures, so it is often difficult to get an accurate picture of how systems will work with one another in the next decade.

 

WIN-T. Mr. Bill Little spoke for the TRADOC System Manager of the Warfighter Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T).  WIN-T is the Signal Regiment’s #1 priority.  It is a mission-critical system. It is the integrating communications network for the Objective Force.  It is the replacement architecture for several existing systems such as MSE, Tri-Tac and Trojan Spirit. It will be “owned, operated and maintained” by both signal and non-signal units. It will provide SATCOM terminals, voice communications and services, data communications, infrastructure and wireless communications on-the-move. Milestone “B” is July 2003. Initial units are to be equipped in FY-08.

 

SEA-03.  Mr. David Anderson, Naval Sea Systems Command (andersonde@navsea.navy.mil, (202) 781-3608) provided an Update on the NAVSEA HSI Directorate (SEA-03). The driving force behind this development is “Sea Power 21.” Whereas the “old” model of system development included only hardware and software, the “new” model includes people too. SEA-03 is responsible for measuring the degree to which people are considered in system development and is also responsible for certifying that they have been adequately integrated. SEA-03 was established by NAVSEANOTE 5400 of September 2002. It has a current staffing level of 32 personnel. Mr. Bob Bost, the technical director of SEA-03, may be reached at (202) 781-2653 or at bostjr@navsea.navy.mil.

 

SEA-03 has caused the following changes within NAVSEA:

·      Development of Policy and Standards for the Command – NAVSEA 3900.8 was revised and many inputs were made to other requirements documents.

·      Development of human performance metric and criteria – Initiated to define human performance metrics. Ten templates have been developed for different acquisition programs.

·      Development and application of certification criteria - An HSI technical authority was established. HSI inputs are made to FORCENET and HSI is participating in a variety of programs such as LCS, CVN-21, etc.

·      Support the revolution in training and Task Force Excel human performance-based initiatives – Currently educating the Navy workforce on HSI process and established human performance centers.

·      Institutionalize HSI and systems engineering – Incorporating HSI into the system design process. Updating total system engineering instructions to include HSI. HSI is now reviewing project budgets to determine how much funding has been set aside for HSI. This review will be completed this year.

·      Implement and integrate HSI policy, procedures and best practices – Currently educating PEO and NAVSEA work force. This item ensures that HSI stays a part of the process.

 

Joint Urban Operations.  CAPT Michael Lillianthal, Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Science and Technology) updated the attendees on Urban Operations Initiatives.  CAPT Lillianthal indicated that there are lots of changes in progress – shifting from a requirements-based to a capability-based acquisition system, where the transformation capability attributes are: Knowledge, Agility, Survivability and Lethality.  Operations are becoming more “Joint.” Planning starts with a Joint Vision and progresses to a Joint Concept of Operations, then to a Joint Integrated Architecture and finally to a Joint Capability. CAPT Lillianthal is focusing his attentions on Joint Urban Operations, or the “three block war.” There are three components of urban operations: Environment (e.g., air, space, undersea), Society (e.g., culture) and Infrastructure (e.g., power, water). The HSI challenges are:

 

Human Factors personnel are currently being added to the Joint Staff (J-9). A joint urban operations directive (DODD 5100.88) has been promulgated. Capt Lillianthal is wrestling with how to bring the various dimensions of HSI (M&P, simulation and training, human factors, habitability, survivability, medical, modeling, etc.) to bear on improving Joint Urban Operations. DUSD (S&T) will release a Joint Request for Information in the near future. Any and all serious suggestions would be gratefully received. CAPT Lillianthal can be reached at: michael.lillianthal@osd.mil.

 

Objective Force Warrior. Ms. Cynthia Blackwell, US Army Objective Force Warrior Technical Program Office (cynthia.blackwell@natick.army.mil, (508) 233-5210) spoke on the Objective Force Warrior Technical Demonstration (see Figure 2). There should be a considerable amount of funding available for HSI activities.

 

 

Major emphasis areas of the demonstration will be:

·       Advanced training strategies (e.g., training-on-demand) and systems (e.g., virtual reality).

·       Human performance enhancements

·       Advanced system controls

·       Situational awareness assessment (individual and group)

·      System “Fight-ability”

Future Combat Systems. Mr. Michael Dresel with the FCS project at The Boeing Company   (Michael.dresel@boeing.com, (253) 773-4153), discussed some of the HSI issues being faced by the Future Combat Systems team. The Boeing Company is teamed with General Dynamics and United Defense on this program; more subcontractors are expected to join up in August, 2003. Mr. Dresel’s area of activity centers on the design of manned ground combat vehicles, while other IPTs are concentrating on C4ISR and UAVs.  The manned ground vehicles must be transportable via C-130-like aircraft and be able to “roll-off and fight.”  “Pit-stop” engineering is being done to shave system maintenance time. Taking a system-of-systems (SOS) approach is proving to be critical to FCS success. An SOS user interface style guide already has been developed for use by all IPT technical personnel.  Although contracts have just recently been let, Low Rate Initial Production is scheduled to begin in 2006! 

 

FCS will consist of:   

Eight different ground vehicles:

- Infantry Carrier                                 - Reconnaissance Vehicle

- Mounted Combat System                 - Maintenance & Recovery Vehicle

- Medical Vehicle                                - NLOS Mortar Vehicle

- Command & Control Vehicles

Manned and unmanned air vehicles.  

 

FCS also will provide persistent ISR: connectivity to Joint Stars, Global Hawk, U-2, National Systems, UAVs, SUAVs, mast-mounted sensors, etc. There will be lots of embedded training incorporated into every vehicle.  Training/rehearsal will be possible while personnel are being transported. Sign-in will be by smart card. There will be on-board prognostics/diagnostics and a condition-based maintenance will be implemented. Commonality will be maximized between vehicle systems. It is envisioned that a common Driver-Commander station set will be developed for all vehicles.

 

C4ISR Knowledge Base.  Dr. James Geddie, acting Chief Scientist with the Human Systems Information Analysis Center, HSIAC (geddie.hsiac@usa.com, (254) 698-6405), briefly described an investigative effort to develop a “Lincoln-Boff-like” compendium for C4ISR human systems integration issues. Dr. Geddie has developed a bulletin board to facilitate this activity – http://groups.hahoo.com/group/TAG_C4ISR. The next step is to agree on architecture, prototype a small segment of the knowledge base to illustrate the concept, and present it to Dr. Foster at DDR&E in the near future. 

 

Sub-Group Meetings Attended at the DoD HFE TAG:

 

Human Factors in Extreme Environments.  Mr. Brad Collie of the US Navy Coastal Systems Station (colliebe@ncsc.navy.mil, (850) 234-4744) chaired the meeting.  The first speaker was Dr. Mark Bing, with the Naval Medical Submarine Research Laboratory (bing@nsmrl.navy.mil, (860) 694-2460), who spoke on Psychological Screening of Submariners. At least 40% of Navy recruits fail to complete their first enlistment.  Psychological disorders are the leading cause of hospitalization.  In the submariner force, the big problems are: psychological dysfunction, misconduct, substance abuse and “11th hour” attrition (that causes manpower shortages just as the submarine is ready to deploy).  The current screening program (MANMEDARTICLE 1562(i) “SUBSCREEN”) has been used since 1986 as the standardized psychological test (200 items). This test measures five dimensions:

·  Procedural scales (e.g., faking)

·  Submariner scales (‘e.g., problems submerging)

·  Affective scales (e.g., mood anxiety)

·  Socialization scales (e.g., aggressive-destructive social isolation)

·  Additional scales (e.g., suicide, claustrophobia)

 

SUBSCREEN is administered at the Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS).  At BESS alone, there are about 70,000 records available in their database. Following testing, one in 10 sailors is referred to the base psychiatrist where he/she may be administered the Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).  Of those referred to a psychiatrist, 70% are determined to be qualified for submarine duty, 10% are unqualified for submarine duty and are routed to surface fleet positions, and 20% are unqualified and are discharged from the Navy. In all, about 3% of the personnel are removed from the submarine pipeline based on this test. Even with this screening program, COMSUBLANT reported having to MedEvac 13 psychological cases from submarines in 2002 (11 of whom were suicidal and 3 of whom halted operations). To improve screening, an algorithm was developed to predict the percent probable candidates will be successful or unsuccessful. 

·  Successful candidates - defined as length of service of 4.25-22 years, all reenlisted, Rank of E4-E9.

·  Unsuccessful candidates - defined as length of service up to 14 months, none reenlisted, rank of E2.

 

The algorithm does a reasonably good job of predicting attrition in general, or those going to the brig or those going to mast.  Overall goals for this improved screening are:

·  Reduce 11th hour attrition

·  Maintenance of required manpower levels in submarines

·  Improved operational readiness

·  Reduction in operational reduction by preventing psychologically-based MedEvacs

·  Support CNO’s attrition-reduction initiatives

·  Answer GAO recommendation for improved personnel screening.

 

The SUBSCREEN tool is also administered at the Submarine Officers Basic Course (SOBC).

 

The next presentation was by Ms. Regan Campbell with the US Navy Coastal Systems Station (campbellrh@ncsc.navy.mil, (850) 234-4838), who spoke on Human Factors in Underwater Environments. The diving environment is characterized by:

·  Pressure effects (on hearing, strength, decompression)

·  Water effects (resistance, tides and currents)

·  Underwater vision (low light, loss of acuity)

·  Underwater sound and hearing (sound localization difficulties)

 

Occupational safety issues include physical stress and psychological stresses. Design considerations for this environment include: life support systems, protection from the elements, minimizing performance decrements, work environment design and communications.  The HFE approach to underwater assessment follows a normal progression:

·  Task analysis

·  Bench test (check against ISO and other standards)

·  Dry manned test

·  Manned test in controlled, wet environment (e.g., pool)

·  Manned operational test in wet environment.

 

Some of the challenges encountered in designing for diving environments include:

·  Unavailability of task analyses

·  Lack of anthropometric data for the diving community

·  Lack of quantitative methods

·  Changing specifications

·  Resource limitations

·  The Human Factors engineer is not usually representative of the typical end-user

·  Experience and motivation

       

Human Factors Standardization (HFS) Mr. Alan Poston, FAA, chaired the meeting (alan.poston@faa.gov).  The Sub TAG website is: http://dtica.dtic.mil/hftag/hfs.html.  The new DODD 5000.2 was recently released; it incorporates an HSI attachment with specific direction to the Project Manager.

MIL-STD-1472F. Section 5.6 Physical Accommodation has caused some concerns due to a printing error. That has been corrected. Mr. Poston received several other comments regarding MIL-STD-1472 that were discussed during the meeting and voted on. Next year, MIL-STD-1472 is up for its five-year review.

MIL-STD-1787:  No input.

MIL-STD-882D: The human exposure dimension was not added as suggested by human factors professionals.

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)/ISO/TC159: Clair Gordon is working on standardization for the society. A report will be provided at the Fall DOD HFE TAFG meeting.

         Joint Services Specification Guide: No input.

         NASA MSIS:  Data Item Descriptions (DIDs):  No input.

         Data Item Descriptions: The US Navy is attempting to transfer six human factors DIDs to navy cognizance.  If successful, all agencies could cite them in contracts.

·      DI-HFAC-80740, Human Engineering Program Plan

·      DI-HFAC-80742, Human Engineering Simulation Approach

·      DI-HFAC-80745 ,Human Engineering Systems Analysis Report

·      DI-HFAC-80746, HEDAD-Operator

·      DI-HFAC-80747, HEDAD-Maintainer

·      HI-HFAC-81399, Task Analysis/Task Allocation Report

 

         FAA Design Standard:  Mr. Poston reported that the 1,007 page “guide” was being updated and reformatted as a standard.  The point of contact at the FAA is Ms. Vicki Ahlstrom.

 

         Gateway:  Mr. Tom Metzler (HSIAC) indicated that the June, 2003 HSIAC Gateway publication would feature eight articles on human factors standards.

· History of Military Human Factors Standards – Joe McDaniel, Ph.D.

· Human Factors Data Item Descriptions – Jen Narkevicius, Ph.D.

· Human Factors Engineering Requirements of International Space Station – Mihriban Whitmore

· HSI in Systems Engineering Standards – John Winters

· I’ll Take The Screaming Cows – Vicki Ahlstrom

· Joint Services Specification Guide – Joe McDaniel, Ph.D.

· Managing the Human Factors Standardization Plan – Lee Gray

· Current State of Human Factors Standardization – Al Poston

 

Mr. Poston agreed to stay on as chair of the HFS Sub TAG for the time being.  He indicated that Mr. Lou Adams (EIA Rep to the TAG) had mentioned that EIA HEB-1 human engineering bulletin had been cited in the JSF contract.

 

         New Business: 1LT Amy Snapp, Edwards AFB (amy.snapp@edwards.af.mil, (661) 277-0800 x2279) indicated that the lifting data provided in MIL-STD-1472 are not adequate in most design circumstances.  There were suggestions made during the Sub TAG meeting that a strength/lifting data handbook would be extremely useful to designers. It was requested that the TS/I and HFS Sub TAGs identify problems in this area to the DOD HFE TAG via Human Factors submissions to the Hot Issue document.

 

Human Factors Test and Evaluation. (not attended)

 

Human Modeling and Simulation.  LT Jim Patrey, HQ USAFA/DFBL (jim.patrey@usafa.af.mil, (719) 333-9891) chaired the meeting for LT Joseph Cohn who could not attend.   The first presenter was Dr. Kay Stanney (kay@designinteractive.net, (407) 977-5498), who discussed Human Factors Engineering Principles in User-Centered Design.  Her message was that systems engineers and HF engineers often have difficulty cooperating on design teams because they seem to have different priorities, difficulty with communications and rigid behavior that result in antagonism. She believes that the onus is on the human factors engineers to bridge the communications gap by adopting systems engineering language and processes.

 

The next speaker was Mr. David Gross, Boeing-Huntsville (david.c.gross@boeing.com, (256) 461-3294) who spoke on the Development and Testing of New Approaches to HFE Modeling in C4IRS Systems. The C4ISR “problem” is that:

·   Military operations depend heavily upon C4ISR

·   Current C4ISR systems create only data

·   Current C4ISR systems rarely enable understanding

·   C4ISR is a prime driver of system requirements

 

C4ISR systems:

·   Operate in highly uncertain time-varying environments

·   Have no “enemy”

·   Involve a heterogeneous group of  operators

·   Require contextual and specialized knowledge that is frequently unavailable

·   Are often characterized by sever time pressure

 

In view of the above, it is particularly difficult to select meaningful, unambiguous measures of merit for C4ISR systems.  Simulation is the preferred approach for testing C4ISR approaches and concepts because it can be used for experimenting, prediction, communicating amongst team members about the concept, thinking about the concept and training.  Human Behavioral Models (HBR) also may be useful in evaluating HFE portions of C4ISR concepts:

· CAPE (Mitre) C4ISR Analytic Performance Evaluation

· JVB Common Battlespace

· Jack TM and other similar models

· Inductive Process Modeling (e.g., neural networks)

· Visualization

 

The next speaker was Robert Allen, Ph.D. from NAVAIR, Orlando (Robert.allen@navy.mil,

(407) 380-4773), who spoke on Practical Applications of Virtual Reality Technology. He presented overviews of two VIRTE (Virtual Technology Environment) systems:

·  Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV)

·  Combined Arms Command and Control Trainer Upgrade System (CACCTUS)

 

System Safety/Health Hazards/Survivability.  Mr. Ben Gibson, AMEDDC&S (ben.Gibson@amedd.army.mil, (210) 221-1622) and Mr. Stephen Merriman, The Boeing Company, (stephen.c.merriman@boeing.com, (972) 344-7578) co-chaired the meeting.  The first speaker was Mr. Gibson who described the Role of the Directorate of Combat and Doctrine Developments at Ft. Sam Houston. Their role is to identify health hazards with Army materiel, such as chemical/biological, radiation, oxygen deficiency, shock, temperature extremes and trauma. US Army Regulation 40-10 requires the review of all heath hazards prior to milestone “B.” The directorate reviews the ORD, regulations and guidance documents, MANPRINT plans and outlines of test plans.  The Directorate assists other schools, combat developers and functional proponents in the early identification of health hazards. The US Army has exempted medical products from Army HSI requirements. This is because medical products go through a five to seven year Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process that includes HSI requirements.

 

The next speaker was Judy Orasanu, Ph. D., NASA Ames Research Center (Judith.orasanu@nasa.gov, (650) 604-3404) who discussed Human and Organizational Risk Management.  The Challenger, MARS Lander and Columbia mishaps were clearly examples of organizational failure. The problem in each instance involved “normalization of deviance.” In other words, after multiple, minor out-of-tolerance situations had been experienced without adverse effect, no action was taken when a slightly more out of tolerance situation occurred. Schedule pressure also may have contributed to NASA’s failure to recognize problems.  Organizational failures are being examined by NASA as a result of these catastrophes.  Some of the questions being asked are:

·      How do organizations perceive and manage risk? Risk perception involves multiple perspectives and meanings. Risk perception is related to decision making and actions. Risk perception is usually implicit.

·      How do organizations manage knowledge?

·      How do we develop models to better represent and support processed of risk and knowledge management?

·      How do we use these models to design and better deploy better decision support technologies?

 

The focus of this work is on the collaboration process: communications, information sharing and dealing with situations in which the need for “face saving” may occur. Research issues include individual and shared perception of risk, communication of risk attitudes and safety norms in organizations, management of competing goals and shift handover (day shift workers providing handover briefs to night shift workers, etc.).  Risks are perceived in a variety of ways:

·      safety risk

·      economic risk

·      productivity risk (e.g., loss of hours)

·      resource risk (e.g., capability loss)

·      public risk (e.g., public confidence)

·      individual risks (social/psychological and professional). 

 

The risk model being developed by NASA should be validated by June 30, 2003.

 

Technical Society/Industry Sub-Group. The Technical Society/Industry (TS/I) Sub TAG met twice during TAG #49 on Tuesday morning and afternoon.  Twelve participants attended the T/SI meetings, representing a variety of technical societies and industry groups.  Mr. Bill Lytle (William.b.lytle@lmco.com, (303) 971-8972) chaired the meetings. TS/I Attendees introduced themselves and updated the TS/I membership rosters. 

Hot Issues:  No inputs were received.

Web Site:  Mr. Lytle reinforced to the members that they should submit newsworthy items to Ms. Teresa Alley (MATRIS) who will up-load them to the TS/I web site (http://hfetag.dtic.mil/tsi.html). A variety of announcements, events, publications, etc. are available via the TS/I page.

Joint Warfighter Capability Objectives (JWCO) Review:  CDR Sean Biggerstaff, TAG chair, solicited inputs on the JWCO capability objectives.  The TS/I Sub TAG is free to input comments on any of the capability areas.

Student Outreach:  Bill Lytle indicated that he would try to reach out to local colleges and universities to stimulate interest in the TAG.

Human Systems (HS)/Information Systems (IS) Collaboration in User System Interface Development:  Mr. Steve Merriman described an activity that applied recommendations made at a DOD Workshop held at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) Lincoln Laboratories in July, 2001.  Increased collaboration between human factors (Human Systems) and Software Engineering (Information Systems) specialists was implemented by The Boeing Company on an advanced, complex system design. This paper described their enhanced, collaborative approach that emphasized:

The main benefits of employing an HSI collaborative approach to user interface development were improved management of cost, schedule and risk; improved compliance with USI standards; more intuitive USI “look and feel,” better USI consistency across subsystems, minimized number of operator actions for high priority operations, enhanced crew safety and minimized operator workload.  Increased HSI collaboration was recommended for future, large-scale, complex system development efforts.

 

Sustained/Continuous Operations (SUSOPS/CONOPS). (not attended)

 

Tri-Service Workload Coordinating.   CDR Karl Van Orden, the chair of the Sub TAG, provided an introduction to the meeting by describing some applications of physiological modeling.  Eye blink and duration increase with human error rate.  Eye fixation activity decreases with increased error rate. Pupil dilation decreases with increasing error rates. These data were fed into a neural network and it predicted human performance very closely based solely on eye activity. Why investigate workload?  Increasing workload measurements can indicate increased fatigue, loss of situational awareness, or confusion. CDR Van Orden indicated that DARPA is currently comparing different workload measures.

 

The next presenter was Erik S. Viirre, M.D, Ph.D. ((858) 336-0317) who spoke on Eye Activity and Operator State.  Dr. Viirre is with the Naval Health Research Center and U.C.S.D Cognitive Science. Dr. Viirre listed primary uses of eye behavior:

·   Control (needs training to avoid such phenomena and the “Colonel’s Daughter”)

·   Aiming/Targeting (difficult to accomplish-calibration is critical)

·   Neural State Estimation (non-interfering, calibration less critical, may require less resolution to be effective)

 

Dr. Viirre listed various eye behaviors subject to measurement such as saccades, blink, VOR, OKN, pursuit and vergence plus pupil diameter. He concluded his presentation by stating that it may be feasible to measure neural state in real time with eye movements.  He indicated that better measures were being sought.

 

The last speaker was Dr. Glenn Osga, Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (osga@spawar.navy.mil, (619) 553-3644), who spoke on Tactical Team Workload. Dr. Osga and Mr. Joe DeVita are conducting the research.  They are studying team behavior on defensive warfare tasks where they are investigating workflow and team information processing. They are attempting to represent tracks in a manner such that the operators know how much information exists on each track, how well the different types of information on a track are correlated, etc.  The goal is to have teams “look at” each contact/track but spend relatively more of their time on the most ambiguous tracks, thereby making better decisions about the committal of scarce defensive assets.

 

User-Computer Interface. (not attended)

 

Controls and Displays. (not attended)

 

Human Factors in Telemedicine and Biomedical Technologies. (not attended)

 

Human Factors Engineering/Human Systems Integration: Management and Applications.  The first speaker was Ms. Nancy Dolan, CNO-N125 (nancy.dolan@navy.mil, (703) 614-5781), who provided an Update on Navy HSI.  External policy documents covering HSI are CJS13170 and DODD 5000.2.  External guidance is provided by OUSD (P&R) and Title 10 to the US code. Internal Navy policy is provided by manpower Key Performance Parameters (KPP), SEAPRINT, etc.  The Navy Post Graduate School in Monterey, CA is now providing a two-year Masters Degree program in Human Systems Integration, with the first class in the fall of 2003. Dr. Nita Miller is the NPGS point of contact. NPGS also is hosting a seminar series in HSI and they are looking for professionals to come and present lectures.  The Navy Bureau of Personnel is currently investigating whether or not to provide a separate series for HSI professionals. CNO (N-125) is the Navy-wide sponsor for HSI, established in 1997. The systems commands are also taking steps to establish and sustain HSI:

 

The Navy has established the “SEAPRINT” program with a $1 million Congressional “plus-up” to establish a MANPRINT-like approach in Navy acquisition. SEAPRINT will develop HSI concepts, processes and tools.  The philosophy is that:

·      Sailors are key enablers of operational capabilities.

·      HSI requirements must be design drivers, not consequences.

·      Affordability is measured in both dollars and sailors.

·      Strategic manpower management is required for total workforce alignment.

 

The SEAPRINT technical approach integrates HSI domain analyses (M, P, T, and HFE), integrates HSI into acquisition and systems engineering, and integrates new processes (e.g., Sea Warrior, TFXL) with existing processes. There is also an emerging SEAPRINT toolset, consisting of: SkillsNET (a commercial organizational management tool), IMPRINT (task analysis tool developed by the Army), Peoplesoft and SMART.  HSI is really getting the chance to impact on acquisition documents such as the ICD, CDD and CPD. 

 

SEAPRINT FY03 goals are as follows:

 

Enablers of the SEAPRINT thrust are strong USN support, Congressional “seed” money, strong OSD support and an enterprise-wide approach by the Navy. Current stumbling blocks include;

 

The next speaker, Mr. Rick Anders, ARL HRED (anders@gordon.army.mil, (706) 791-8354) spoke on the “User Jury” Concept where in developers visit system users (operators and maintainers) in the field to obtain feedback on usability and related issues.

 

The next speaker was Mr. Adrian Salinas, 311 Human Systems Wing/XPRA (Adrian.salinas@brooks.af.mil, (210) 536-4428), updated attendees on USAF HSI.  A new draft of AFI-63-112, Cockpit Working Group, is in development that incorporates HSI language.

 

The last speaker was Mr. Brad Collie, a human factors engineer with the US Navy Coastal Systems Station (colliebe@ncsc.navy.mil, (850) 234-4744) spoke on Challenges in Implementing HSI at the Coastal Systems Station.  This involves applying HSI principles and criteria to the design and operation of underwater systems for SEALS, fast boats, swimmer delivery vehicles, masks, re-breathers, etc. Mr. Collie has participated in training operations with the SEALS in order to better understand their unique problems, mission environments and issues.

 

Human Factors User Feedback Interest Group. The Human Factors User Feedback Special Interest Group met for the first time on Wednesday, 14 May 2003, during TAG #49.  Nine attendees participated in the meeting, representing several technical societies, the US Navy and US Army.

 

Mr. Fred Oberman (NAVSEA), initiator of the interest group was unable to attend this TAG meeting.  Mr. Kevin Bracken of Chi Systems, Inc. (kbracken@chisystems.com, (215) 542-1680 x127) and Mr. Steve Merriman of The Boeing Company (Stephen.c.merriman@boeing.com, (972) 344-7578) co-chaired the meeting in his absence. An opening chart was presented to the group (nine attendees) that presented the group’s goals, as follows:

 

 

The first speaker was Steve Merriman, who described how the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) acquired end-user input into the F/A-18 aircraft and other system acquisition programs (e.g., A-6F, EC-130Q, F-14D, AV-8B). The presentation was based on NAVAIR Instruction 5420.38 that describes a standardized process for obtain user input into the design of US Navy and Marine Corps aviation systems.  User input is obtained from aircrew using “Aircrew Systems Advisory Panels” or ASAPs.  User input is obtained from maintainers using “Maintainer Advisory Panels,” or MAPs. . This concept was institutionalized by NAVAIR to ensure that the benefits of these groups would be experienced in future programs.

 

Key points made about user inputs were that they should be:

 

Key points made about end-users involved in this process were:

 

The second speaker was Mr. Kevin Bracken who described an example from Naval aviation involving an Instructional Systems Advisory Team (ISAT) that was a group analogous to the ASAP and MAP, but focused on F/A-18 training system design and development. ISAT membership required a 3 year obligation. Members were stationed at the Prime contractor’s facility. The ISAT provides:

 

- Technical publications verification

- Mockup & development fixture reviews

- Integrated Logistic Support & R&M activities

- Liaison with other fleet user groups

 

When establishing user groups, a number of considerations must be dealt with by the acquisition agency.  Some of the issues with involving end-users in the design process are presented in Figure 3. These considerations apply whether the focus is on training system design or user interface design.

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3. Issues with Involving End-Users in the Design Process

 

 

 

Mr. Bracken ended his presentation with the following conclusions:

 

·      There is a long history of user involvement in training system and weapon system design

·      There are the same considerations as with user involvement with weapon system design, but more.

·      It takes special people to fill this role

·      Bringing users into system design is rewarding, but you must be careful to avoid the pitfalls

·      Attention and funding is needed to insure that users get adequate input into design, but caution must be used

 

Following the presentations, it was agreed to work more on bounding the interest group, define its goals more definitively and prepare for the next meeting.  One thought was to do the following and then disband the interest group:

 

1.     Identify all DOD service regulations, instructions, guidelines and standard operating procedures pertaining to user review groups.

2.     Define general guidelines for user review groups, based on review and synthesis of the above materials.

3.     “Publish” the guidelines on the DoD HFE TAG web page and elsewhere as appropriate.

 

 

 

DOD HFE TAG Operating Board Meeting:

 

1.     Up-Coming meetings:

TAG-50 –, November 3-6, 2003, Phoenix, AZ, Tempe Mission Palms, 60 East Fifth Street, Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 894-1400 www.missionpalms.com.  The theme will be “Past, Present and Future,” in recognition of the 100th anniversary of flight.  This meeting will be hosted by the US Air Force. 

TAG-51 – May 2004, Pleasantville/Atlantic City, NJ; The host for this meeting will be the FAA Tech Center.

TAG-52 – November, 2004, Washington, D.C. (no host)

TAG-53 – May, 2005, Panama City, FL.  The US Navy will host this meeting.

2.     HFE TAG Brochure.

The photo will be changed out.  Ideas for the new photo should be sent to Dr. Jay Miller by the end of May ’03.

3.     Deletion of Manpower Estimate Report (MER). 

A TAG position should be sent to Dr. Foster regarding possible deletion of the requirement to submit a MER for each major acquisition program.

4.   TAG Schedule Changes

A discussion was held on whether or not it would be a good idea to vary the number of Sub TAGs that meet in conjunction with each DOD HFE TAG meeting.  Further, it was suggested that “small” and “large” meetings be alternated. An alternative was to hold a regular TAG meeting alternating with a TAG meeting held in conjunction with a professional society (e.g., HFES or AsMA) meeting. No action was taken by the operating board.

5.   Contractor Attendance Policy

It was noted that TAG policies with regard to contractor attendance and leadership are unclear, for credentialed TS/I Sub TAG members, invited Plenary session and Sub TAG speakers, contractors acting for the government, etc.  It was generally agreed that TS/I members do not present much of an issue.  However, it was felt that contractors (non-TS/I members) should not be allowed to attend unless they are sponsored by a government agency.  If there is no government agency sponsor, a request for the contractor to attend must be made to the current TAG Chair.  Ms. Dawn Woods volunteered to author a draft TAG policy and submit it to the TAG chair by the end of May 2003.

6.   DOD HFE TAG Charter

A modification was proposed to the DoD HFE TAG charter to change the term “Incoming Chair” to “Vice Chair.” This would clarify that the Vice Chair has duties associated with the position.  The motion was voted on and passed by voice vote.  As is currently the case, the Vice Chair will succeed to the position of TAG chair the next year.

7.   Newsletter

It was suggested that new items that would be appropriate for “success stories” or “hot issues” be submitted to the TAG Chair for inclusion into a TAG Newsletter that would be available via the TAG web site. It would be the responsibility of each Sub TAG chair to solicit, review and forward articles to the TAG Chair.

8.   Joint Warfighter Capability Objectives (JWCO) Document –Sub TAG chairs were assigned certain topic areas to review in the JWCO document. Comments and suggestions were solicited by the TAG Chair at the Operating Board meeting. Comments are due by the end of May, 2003.

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT (1)

 

DOD HFE TAG Background

 

The DoD HFE TAG was begun via memorandum of agreement signed by the Service Secretaries in November 1976. Goals of the TAG were established as follows:

 

•  Provide a mechanism for exchange of technical information in the development and

   application of human factors engineering.

•  Enhance working level coordination among Government agencies involved in HFE

        technology research, development and application.

•  Identify human factors engineering technical issues and technology gaps.

•  Encourage and sponsor in-depth technical interaction, including subgroups as required in

        selected topical areas.

•  Assist as required in the preparation and coordination of Tri-Service documents such as

        Technology Coordinating Papers and Topical Reviews. 

 

The TAG addresses research and technologies designed to impact man-machine system development and operation throughout the complete system life cycle.  Topics include:

 

•  Procedures for use by HFE specialists, system analysts and design engineers in providing

        HFE support during system development and modification

•  Methodologies to identify and solve operator/maintainer problems related to equipment

        design, operation and cost/effectiveness

•  Mechanisms for applying HFE technologies, including formal and informal approaches to

        validation and implementation, and the determination of time windows for application.

 

The TAG comprises technical representatives from Government agencies with research and development responsibilities in the topical areas mentioned above.  Additional representatives from activities with allied interests affiliate with the TAG as appropriate.  Technical experts in special topic areas may augment attendance at specific meetings.  Also participating in the TAG are official representatives of technical societies (e.g., Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, SAFE Association) and industrial associations (e.g., Electronics Industry Alliance) with a stated interest in HFE.  These representatives may attend subgroup and general plenary sessions and they must be credentialed by the TAG prior to attending any meetings. 

 

To facilitate detailed technical information exchange, the TAG is composed of committees and subgroups, or “SubTAGs.”  Committees are established to address specific issues or problems and are disestablished upon completion of their tasks.  Sub TAGs address problems of a general or continuing nature within a specific field of HFE technology.  Membership in Sub TAGs and committees may include non-government personnel involved in research, development and application.  Attendance by non-government individuals is possible if the person is either sponsored by a government agency or if accepted by the TAG chair prior to the meeting  Chairing of the various subgroups and committees is typically rotated among the Services and in some cases, NASA, as provided in individual charters.

 

The current sub-groups typically meeting at the HFE TAG meeting were as follows. The Design Tools and Techniques Sub TAG did not meet during TAG-49.  A special interest group, “Human Factors in Training,” held a day-long meeting during this TAG on Tuesday. A special interest group on Human Factors User Feedback” met on Wednesday afternoon. Another new special interest group on personnel selection is being considered.

 

•  Controls and Displays (Controls/Displays)

•  Design:  Tools and Techniques (Design)

•  Human Factors Engineering/Human Systems Integration:  Management and  

   Applications (HSI)

•  Human Factors in Extreme Environments (Extreme Environments)

•  Human Factors in Telemedicine and Biomedical Technologies (Biomed)

•  Human Factors Standardization (HFS)

•  Human Factors Test and Evaluation (T&E)

•  Human Systems Modeling and Simulation (Modeling)

•  Sustained/Continuous Operations (SUSOPS/CONOPS)

•  System Safety/Health Hazards/Survivability (SS/HH/SV)

•  Technical Society/Industry (TS/I)   

•  Tri-Service Workload Coordinating (Workload)     

•  User-Computer Interaction (UCI)

ATTACHMENT (2)

 

DOD HFE TAG MEETING 49
12-15 May 2003, AUGUSTA, GA

line break


Monday, 12 May

0800 - 1000 Executive Committee meeting

1000 - 1100 New member orientation

1100 - 1300 Luncheon Break

1300 - 1700 Plenary Session

1700 - 1830 Personnel Selection and Classification Interest Group

Tuesday,13 May

0730 - 0830 Technical Society/Industry

0830 - 1700 Human Factors in Training Interest Group

0830 - 1100 Human Factors Standardization

0830 - 1100 Human Factors in Telemedicine and Biomedical Technologies

0930 - 1000 Networking, coffee

1100 - 1230 Luncheon Break

1230 - 1430 Design: Tools and Techniques

1230 - 1430 Tri-Service Workload Coordinating

1430 - 1500 Networking, coffee

1500 - 1700 Human Modeling and Simulation

1500 - 1700 Human Factors Test and Evaluation

1730 - 1830 Service Caucuses and Technical Society/Industry Meetings

Wednesday, 14 May

0830 - 1100 System Safety/Health Hazards/Survivability

0830 - 1100 Controls and Displays

0930 - 1000 Networking, coffee

1100 - 1230 Luncheon Break

1230 - 1430 Human Factors Engineering/Human Systems Integration:

            Management and Applications

1230 - 1430 User-Computer Interaction

1430 - 1500 Networking, coffee

1500 - 1700 Human Factors in Extreme Environments

1500 - 1700 Sustained/Continuous Operations

1800 - TBD  Social

1700 - 1830 Human Factors in User Feedback Interest Group

Thursday, 15 May

0830 - 1000 Operating Board

1130 - 1300 JWCO Meeting

1130 - 1300 Luncheon Break

1300 - 1700 Additional Sub TAG meetings or Special Interest Group or Tour

 

ATTACHMENT (3)   Current DOD HFE TAG Operating Board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<To be added when available>

                                                                                                              
ATTACHMENT (4)  Registered Attendees – TAG-49

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 <To be added when available>

 

ATTACHMENT (5)  DoD HFE TAG Policies

 

 

1.   Membership  (General membership policies are outlined in the Operating Structure, under "Group Composition.")

 

            1.1 Individuals who are not affiliated with Government agencies (but who are associated with technical societies or industrial associations with a stated interest in human factors engineering) wishing to affiliate with the TAG may contact the current Technical Society/Industry SubTAG Chair to ascertain eligibility under the TAG Operating Structure.  Once eligibility has been ascertained, the individual should submit a letter on the organization's letterhead, confirming his/her status as the organization's representative, to the current Chair of the Technical Society/Industry SubTAG.

 

            1.2 Emeritus Membership may be approved by the Executive Committee on a case-by-case basis for a former TAG member who is retired from government service or defense industry.  Emeritus Membership is automatically deactivated during any period or re-employment with the government or defense industry.

 

2.   Meeting Sites   (Sites are recommended by the service caucus whose turn it is to host the TAG with a view toward a balance in geographic location and meeting facilities.)

 

            2.1 TAG members are encouraged to recommend potential meeting sites.

 

            2.2 Organizations who wish to host the TAG should contact their Service Representative or the current TAG Chair.

 

3.   Agenda  (The agenda is determined approximately three months before the scheduled meeting.  The Chair Select selects the topics from those recommended by the Service Representatives, hosting agency and the TAG Coordinator.)

 

            3.1 TAG members are encouraged to suggest potential agenda topics or topics suitable for tutorial sessions to their Service Representative, the current TAG Chair, or the TAG Coordinator.

 

4.   Registration  (Registration fees and the date of the close of registration are announced in an information letter sent approximately two months before the scheduled meeting.)

 

            4.1 All attendees are expected to pre-register and prepay by the announced close of registration.

 

            4.2 Only individuals receiving late travel approvals may pre-register on-site.  Payments made at the meeting site must be in cash.

 

5.   Minutes    (The Minutes of each meeting serve as the principal mechanism for the reporting of TAG activities.  The Minutes will be published as a draft document on the website.)

 

            5.1 Individuals or agencies desiring to be included on the distribution list for a specific meeting should contact the TAG Coordinator.

     

6.   SubTAGs and Committees (See the Operating Structure, section entitled "TAG SubTAGs," for specific information regarding the purposes and operating procedures of SubTAGs and committees.)

 

            6.1 All SubTAGs and committees are encouraged to meet in conjunction with the TAG at least once each calendar year.

 

            6.2 All SubTAGs and committees meeting in conjunction with the TAG are required to provide a chairperson for the specific meeting.

 

            6.3 All SubTAG and committee chairpersons are to submit a brief report of each meeting to be included in the set of TAG Minutes covering the SubTAG/committee meeting time frame.

 

            6.4 All SubTAGs and committees are required to provide the TAG Coordinator with an up-to-date list of their membership for use in the distribution of TAG announcements.

 

            6.5 All SubTAGs are required to submit to the Executive Committee a Charter including, but not limited to, statements regarding:

 

·    objectives         ·    membership policies          ·    meeting schedule

·    scope                ·    chair selection/tenure

 

     6.6  Committees are required to submit to the Executive Committee a document including, but not limited to, brief statements regarding:

 

·    objectives

            ·    membership policies

            ·    chair selection/tenure

 

      6.7 Rotation of the chair position is determined by SubTAG charter.  If the position cannot be filled by the appropriate service at the election meeting, the SubTAG may progress to the next service willing to chair the SubTAG

 

7.   SubTAG Establishment

 

      7.1 Groups interested in addressing technical areas not covered by existing SubTAGs may request the TAG Chair to provide meeting time.

 

            7.2 Formal SubTAGs and committees may be established by recommendation of the Executive Committee.

 

8.   Chair/Representative Selection   (General selection procedures are outlined in the Operating Structure under "Conduct of Business.")

 

8.1  A Service caucus may be called by the TAG Chair or the current Service Representative.

 

            8.2 Methods of determining the Chair Select and Service Representatives are Service dependent.

 

      8.3 Unexpired terms of office will be filled by appointment by the Executive Committee, until a caucus of the Service can be called at the next regularly scheduled TAG meeting.

 

9.   Funding     The funding required for the organization, conduct, franking, and documentation of all TAG meetings shall be done jointly by the three Services and other selected agencies.  The specific mechanisms to obtain and allocate funding from the Services/agencies shall be arranged by the Current Chair, Chair Select, and Immediate Past Chair.

 

10.  Policy Changes

 

            10.1 Additions to or amendments of the above policies may be recommended by submitting the suggested change(s) in writing to the TAG Chair.

 

      10.2 Policies may be amended by a majority vote of those Operating Board members in attendance at the Operating Board meeting at which amendments have been proposed.

 

Amended 14 November 1989 at TG-23, Killeen, Texas.

 

Amended 3 May 1994 at TAG-32, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

 

Amended 8 May 1996 at TAG-36, Houston, Texas.

 

Amended 7 November 2002 at TAG-48, Alexandria, Virginia.