Abstract
This paper describes the background, research strategy, and empirical results related to a research program which was aimed at developing operational training performance criteria.
Measures of operational performance are desired by military training personnel to objectively evaluate the progress of training, aircrew proficiency, and combat readiness. The research community also has an interest in obtaining objective aircrew performance measures to validate ongoing laboratory research related to aviator selection, training methods, and environmental physiology.
Performance measures, collected on the Navy's Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System (TACTS), were initially selected on the basis of aircrew task analysis data. These candidate measures were subsequently validated against statistical criteria. An air-to-air combat engagement outcome scoring metric was derived and used as a dependent variable measure in multiple correlation analysis. The scoring metric, Air Combat Engagement (ACE) score, is described in a companion paper presentation (see Breidenbach and Ciavarelli). Multiple regression methods were useful in selecting and weighting task-based measures of air combat success.
The stability of performance measures selected was assessed through use of a double, cross-validation procedure. Results of this study, with some qualification, show that the measures selected can be used as viable air-to-air combat performance criteria for both operational training and research applications.
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