Increasing numbers of preventable mishaps across all military services led Secretary Rumsfeld and all Service Chiefs to call for a reduction in such events by 75% from 2003 levels. Most were attributed to human error. The highly task-loaded training and combat missions flown by fighter pilots place particularly high demands on effective management of cockpit resources for safe and successful mission accomplishment. While every flight training program already includes some form of resource management training, there is surprisingly little evidence regarding the effectiveness of varying training approaches to reduce flight mishaps.

This paper describes a project to help the Air Force reduce preventable mishaps by determining the specific root causes of fighter and unmanned aerial system mishaps, developing behaviorally-based training objectives, identifying promising training media alternatives, and defining specific measures of effectiveness. Mishap reports revealed several repeating problems in the areas of situation awareness, task management, and decision making in all platforms studied. A Delphi Panel of fighter, attack, and Predator pilots reviewed and in some cases, amplified the specific underlying human factors that are most challenging to pilots in tactical environments. The panel also considered the feasibility and probable value of nine potential training interventions. The Predator community was chosen for implementation and assessment of four interventions --- focused academic training, interactive case histories, game-based multi-task practice, and a laptop-based simulator for team training. A review of historical Predator student records revealed that many trainees have difficulty mastering attention management, task prioritization, selecting a good course of action, and crew coordination.

Spiral implementation will enable the contributions of each intervention to be assessed using a controlled experimental design at an operational training unit. Anticipated benefits include increased student situation awareness, more effective task management, and improved decision making in subsequent flights, all contributing to the ultimate goal, fewer mishaps.