As the Air Force postures aircraft maintenance manning requirements in a time of low maintainer retention and in an ever growing contested environment, it is vital to find ways to yield a greater return from the human capital investments the Air Force has made. One such effort highlighted in Air Force Doctrine Note 1-21, Agile Combat Employment (ACE), is the employment of Multi-Capable Airmen (MCA) with a diverse foundational set of skills capable of performing tasks outside their core Air Force Specialty (AFS). The ability to field and sustain these diversely capable Airmen are the key to the success of the operational concept of ACE to support Joint All-Domain Operations. When applied to aircraft maintenance there is no doubt that the MCA is vital to the success of ACE, but it is clear that the value of an MCA maintainer exists operationally in both peacetime and wartime environments with the sole question residing in how to properly grow and sustain an MCA maintainer in order to overcome the inherent risks of trying to do more with less. The purpose of this paper is to detail the application and value of Mixed Reality (MR) immersive technology as applied to aircraft maintenance MCA in peace and wartime operations. Through cost analysis and research, this project evaluated the potential to use MR technology to supplement on-site engineering and 7-level technical proficiency worldwide through the force projection of out-of-theater human resources, as well as its use in a contested environment through force projection and protection. Results lead to potential risk avoidance in MCA proficiency gaps through projecting expertise in existing human capital, the reduction in MCA training requirements and costs, as well as the suitability and scalability of MR technology in peace and wartime environments to other Air Force and Department of Defense specialties.
Keywords
HUMAN PERFORMANCE,MIXED REALITY,OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT,PROFICIENCY
Additional Keywords
Multi-Capable Airmen