Human Factors Issues in Combat Identification

This edited book presents an array of approaches on how human factors theory and research addresses the challenges associated with combat identification. Special emphasis is placed on reducing human error that leads to fratricide, which is the unintentional death or injury of friendly personnel by friendly weapons during an enemy engagement. Although fratricide has been a concern since humans first engaged in combat operations, it gained prominence during the Persian Gulf War. To reduce fratricide, advances in technological approaches to enhance combat identification (e.g., Blue Force Tracker) should be coupled with the application of human factors principles to reduce human error. The book brings together a diverse group of authors from academic and military researchers to government contractors and commercial developers to provide a single volume with broad appeal. Human Factors Issues in Combat Identification is intended for the larger human factors community within academia, the military and other organizations that work with the military such as government contractors and commercial developers as well as others interested in combat identification issues including military personnel and policy makers.

Dee H. Andrews is the Directorate Senior Scientist (ST) for the Human Effectiveness Directorate, 711th Human Performance Wing of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). AFRL is an organization within the United States Air Force that is dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for the United States’ air, space and cyberspace forces. As a Senior Scientist (ST), Dr. Andrews is the AFRL’s principal scientific authority for training research. Dr. Andrews’ responsibilities include sustaining technological superiority for training by planning and conducting theoretical and experimental studies. He is also responsible for mentoring and developing dedicated technical staff to assure quality in training research, and represents AFRL in training research matters to the external scientific and technical community. Lt Col Robert P. Herz is a research scientist with the Mesa Research Site, Air Force Research Laboratory. He has considerable human factors experience with operational test and evaluation of space systems, modeling, simulation, distributed mission operations, C4ISR, training, and has integrated numerous tools into the AOC baseline. He is currently the Director of Operations of the Warfighter Readiness Research Division and has both military and civilian flight experience. He earned a B.S. from Wright State University specializing in Human Factors, an M.S. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Aerospace Operations and a Ph.D. through Northcentral University specializing in Aerospace Operations Management. Mark B. Wolf is a Research Fellow with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), and works at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Mesa, AZ. He earned a PH.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the Georgia Institute of Technology.