Evaluating Simulated Military Training Exercises
The Joint Kill Chain Event (JKCE), designed by the Air Forces Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC), provides an interesting case study for evaluation of simulated military training. JKCE places Army Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officers (ADAFCOs) into an Air Force Control and Reporting Center (CRC) simulator. From the CRC, the ADAFCO leads an air missile defense scenario, protecting friendly assets (airfields, bases, missile launchers, etc.) and coordinating surface-to-air missile strikes. This scenario serves as the operational capstone event in the Army's ADAFCO certification course, which qualifies officers to perform a vital missile authorization function in major combat operations. The current course configuration consists of two weeks of classroom-based academics followed by one week of simulator practice and testing. The didactic portion of the course is designed to teach the students those skills required of an operational ADAFCO. The simulator-based portion of the course, JKCE, tests those new skills in a simulated operational environment. However, this analysis reveals major testing inconsistencies and statistically significant practice effects during JKCE. Additionally, the didactic portion of the course proved incapable of generating the desired operational result, successful completion of JKCE. Changes to the structure and implementation of JKCE could improve this program, by shifting focus toward desired outcomes. In this thesis, I develop relevant performance metrics for JKCE, capture and analyze those metrics, and finally provide recommendations for course improvement, based on empirical evidence and program evaluation best practices.
DMOC, DMO, Training Exercise, Military Training, JKCE, Distributed Mission Operations, Joint Kill Chain Event, ADAFCO, Air Defense Artillery Fire Control Officer, Training Event, Simulation, Modeling and Simulation
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