Scientists Search for Soldiers' Sixth Sense

Researchers from military laboratories are studying the human element in detecting explosive devices, trying to determine if certain people have an instinct for locating the weapons and, if so, what characteristics they share. The results add another piece to the puzzle in the U.S. Defense Department’s efforts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The work already has uncovered certain facets of information that military commanders can use to identify troops with innate abilities or to train warfighters in specific skills.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) initiated and funded the exploratory science and technology project after the Defense Department began to suspect that some troops had a knack for finding IEDs. To explore that idea and find out if experts could identify the characteristics of those individuals and then train troops, JIEDDO began the IED-2 program. The name evolved from the title: identifying experts in detection—or IED—of IEDs.

The effort is led by Program Manager Dr. Jennifer Murphy, a research psychologist with the Army Research Institute. The team includes more than 20 government and contractor personnel, most of whom have or are working toward their doctorate in various human performance fields. The institute collaborated with partners such as the Army and Air Force research laboratories, which became involved after JIEDDO senior leadership addressed the issue in an open forum.

Dr. Steve Burnett, research psychologist and IED-2 program integrator at JIEDDO, says the laboratories were the organizations most interested in assisting with the work. After taking on the project, they found other help they needed. “It’s one of those rare collaborative efforts where a lot of different labs and a lot of different scientists are tackling a tough problem,” Burnett explains.

Burnett states that researchers worked to determine if there were some identifiable characteristics that the military could learn about and then impart to troops. Positive findings would allow the military to equip soldiers with cognitive information and awareness to improve survivability, in addition to the gear and technology they already employ. The big win for the project would be finding abilities to detect IEDs, then being able to train troops in those skills, and the real applicability of study findings would be in a training capacity that offers warfighters another advantage on the battlefield. 

Unlike other efforts to safeguard against IEDs, this one aims to develop natural, innate human processes, not to create technologies to defeat the devices. “All technology has a human in the system somewhere. This is a study that really gets at those human capabilities,” Burnett says. Exploring every possible method to counter IEDs is important to the military because the enemy continues to use them effectively against U.S. forces and others.

Murphy says troop leaders can ask certain questions to help determine who might be a good fit for positions that involve locating explosive devices. She advises commanders to look at service members’ backgrounds such as if they hunted, one of the experience factors many of those skilled at finding IEDs possessed. Intelligence, memory and good decision-making skills are traits of desired personnel as are the abilities to pay attention and to be conscientious.

The study took place during an 18-month period, involving 700 participants from the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Murphy says that especially for military research, including so many subjects is a big difference from the norm. The participants in the assessments possessed a range of experience so the effort could compare people with deployment experience to those without.

At the beginning of the research, the scientists took approximately 300 of the participating troops and conducted a pilot study with them. In the end, the assessments were reduced to a total of 14, which resulted in about eight hours’ worth of testing for the remaining participants. The testing included general intelligence, cognitive abilities, memory, vigilance and personality assessments, as well as four to five vision tests covering depth assessments, contrast and visual acuity. Participants also were judged on their ability to pull objects out of a background, and they answered questions on their personal history. After this testing was complete, the subjects went through five IED-focused assessments.

The characteristics identified as beneficial to IED detection came as little surprise to JIEDDO’s command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Todd Burnett, USA (no relation to Dr. Burnett). Command Sgt. Maj. Burnett has extensive in-theater experience, including performing route clearance missions, and he says he expected the person who would be best at finding the devices would be a little older and have hunting experience because that involves the ability to remain still and take in a 360-degree view of the surroundings.

The command sergeant major believes the results of the study have several applications to the military today. Many of the assessments, he says, “are tools ready to go to the commanders’ hands” so they can use them to find the right people for the lead vehicle and put the “right person in the right position to detect these things prior to detonating.”

Read the expanded version of this article in the August issue of SIGNAL Magazine, in the mail to AFCEA members and subscribers July 31, 2009. For more information about purchasing this issue, joining AFCEA or subscribing to SIGNAL, contact AFCEA Members Services.