VIRTUAL REALITY GROUND FORCE COMMANDER TRAINER

The complexity of battlespace is guaranteed to increase over time. The problem arising is that with today’s innovative battlefield and the ever-connected environment, our junior officers are receiving more information, data, and feedback than ever before. With this increased amount of information at their fingertips, we expect them to process this information and make these real-world decisions faster and more precisely than before. Suppose we do not train our leaders to properly handle this information and prioritize tasks, and help them to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the multiple tasks they address. In that case, we run the risk of them becoming cognitively overloaded and making bad decisions based on poor judgment or emotions. These impulsive decisions highly increase the chance of mission failure. Today, we are expecting more out of our ground force commanders (GFCs) in their doctrinal skill set, decision making abilities under pressure, and cognitive performance; however, we are failing to adapt and advance our training at the same pace and level that we expect them to perform. If we cannot teach it, how can we expect our operators to perform at this new level in a new environment? The question: How can Special Operations Forces improve cognitive decision processing under stress and prepare GFCs for future conflicts? Our conclusion is that the adoption of advanced training and technology will help to keep SOF GFCs at the leading edge of combat proficiency.Lieutenant Junior Grade, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited