Experiment improves AF cops' battlevision

  • Published
  • By Samuel King Jr.
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A battle-ready Airman moves down a dirt road alone. His shoulders and neck ache under the weight of the flack vest, pack and helmet, but his eyes remain focused and alert scanning for movement. After six weeks of intense vision training, the Airman's eyes pick up the slightest movement from the periphery. There's a flash to the right; the Airman reacts instantly, firing his weapon on target with speed and accuracy thanks to his new battle vision.

The 'Battlevision' experiment tested approximately 33 security forces Airmen from here and Lackland AFB, Texas, to determine if vision training techniques could enhance target acquisition abilities and detection of improvised explosive devices.

The 96th Medical Group conducted the study funded by the Air Force Security Forces Center. The results of this first-ever Air Force test showed positive improvements in both the targeting and IED areas after the training. Maj. Janelle Robertson, a 96th MDG doctor and statistician compiled and analyzed the research data.

"The Airmen who were trained on Battlevision improved their scores by 65 percent, while their non-trained counterparts scores dropped by 69 percent," said Robertson. "There is such a large difference in the performance of these groups that they could not have arisen statistically by chance."

The IED trial outcomes were less obvious. The difference in the groups' performances was not enough to say for certain that it wasn't a chance finding, according to Robertson.

Typically in these instances, we can see a difference in the groups if one exists if we have larger test groups."

That increase in performance was a result of Airmen exercising their eyes with several vision training instruments for a half hour, three times a week. During the training, Airmen would read letters from a spinning disc, focus on distance markers on a string held close to their eye, recognize numbers flashed on a screen for two-tenths of a second and see and touch flashing lights on a board among several other tests.

According to the principal investigator, William Barnes, of the 96th MDG, the training was anticipated to improve visual performance associated with rapid eye movements, eye-hand/foot speed coordination, depth perception, peripheral awareness and eye-fatigue to name a few. The Airmen who underwent the training began with a pretest among more than 40 others from security forces in the control group Oct.9, 2012.

Each Airman had to spot and report pre-arranged IED indicators from the turret seat of a Humvee while being driven through a wooded area. Then, the Airmen walked down a road lined with concealed pop-up targets. They had to rapidly engage each target firing two shots before it disappeared. At the end of the six-week experiment, the Airmen and the control group repeated both scenarios with slight variations.

Barnes, who followed each Airman through the targeting scenario, saw a significant difference in the experimental group during the post test.

"The post test controls behaved the same way, but the experimenters took advantage of the vision training by using more of their peripheral vision," he said.

When the experimenters walked through the target lane, they faced forward letting their eyes scan the field in front of them instead of turning their head and body back and forth.

"When a target would rise on the left followed immediately by a target on the right, they were in a position to engage both targets. Many in the control group never saw the target on the right," said Barnes.

The most significant improvement in scores occurred on the targeting scenario. The experimental group collectively scored seven points higher in the post test, while the control group scored seven points lower showing an overall 14 point difference. The results for the IED portion showed a three-point rise in scores by the experimental group.

Senior Airman Nichole Schroth, of the 96th Security Forces Squadron, said she missed every IED on the pretest, but on the post test, reported six devices and numerous indicators after the training.

"(The training) made my peripherals a lot sharper," said Schroth, who volunteered immediately for Battlevision, upon hearing about the opportunity. "I feel I can see a lot farther and to the side now that I've gone through the training."

Barnes said the willingness and enthusiasm of the Airmen being tested here also played a part in producing such positive results.

"Many defenders came in on their own time to perform these exercises," said Barnes. "These men and women believed they could make a difference in their career field and their Air Force."

Master Sgt. Benjamin Dees, of the 96th SFS, volunteered for training because he believed it would help with future deployments.

"The ability to increase my IED threat detection and target acquisition was something I did not want to pass up," said Dees, who improved in every single exercise category by as little as 42 percent to as much as 100 percent. This capability will strengthen my capacity to lead Airmen in austere environments and bring them home safely."

Barnes said he noticed the experimenters improving quickly during the training sessions. By the end, many of the Airmen were tripling their initial scores on peripheral vision and reaction tests.

Barnes and Robertson agreed that based on the results, no one part of the training contributed to higher scores during the tests. The results showed that the overall training of various exercises had more effect on the positive results.

"Each part of the training was geared toward a specific visual technique; whether it was peripheral, depth perception or just training your eyes to see key characteristics while maintaining the whole picture," said Dees.

The genesis of the study came from training already used by the U.S. Air Force Academy sports program. The Academy's Sports Vision Training Center uses visual instruments to improve the vision of the cadets playing on their athletic teams. Barnes, a retired Air Force clinical scientist, said he was approached by Maj. Kim Nail, the chief of innovations at AFSFC, because of his extensive research background. Nail asked if he would lead the effort in measuring the application of these training techniques to security forces mission tasks.

Barnes believes this training can also help personnel from multiple career fields and is not limited to the workplace environment.

"Pilots, civil engineers or any outside-the-wire mission set regardless of job code could benefit from these exercises," said Barnes. "It has the potential to increase visual performance in any task as long as the individual periodically maintains the exercises."

The Airmen who underwent the testing have already noticed improvements on the job. They've reported higher shooting accuracy and increased ability to recall license plates with ease on cars travelling in the opposite direction.

"While on patrol, I notice much more than before I went through training," Schroth said. "I see more infractions, like seatbelts or people using their phones. It's made it possible for me to do my job better, which is to make Eglin and its workers as safe as possible."

Since this is only the first study of Battlevision, there will be further, more scientific, studies to come. The AFSFC will report the findings to the Air Force and other services later this year.

Schroth said she was glad to be a part of what could become a common DoD training practice in the future.

"I hope I can look back and say that I had a positive impact on the training used throughout security forces and the armed forces," she said.