USMA Digital Commons (United States Military Academy, West Point)
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Good for the Military - Bad for the Nation?
Get PDFHas an overreliance on the military as a one-size-fits-all solution become so engrained that we no longer consider alternatives? Are domestic politics so intertwined with foreign affairs that the citizenry has no choice but to accept veterans to fill the ranks of the executive branch? Is there hope for the future? Can we rebalance the general orientation of our government? The outcome to all these questions can be arrived at in a favorable way if our military continues to embrace the Huntingtonian notion of objective control. If professionalism continues to guide the actions of our military’s senior leaders and those who serve in decision making bodies such as the National Security Council, there is hope for a reversal in what Lasswell describes as a “picture of the probable.
Association Between Running Shoe Characteristics and Lower Extremity Injuries in United States Military Academy Cadets
No full textPURPOSE: Prospectively investigate the relationship between running shoe characteristics and lower extremity musculoskeletal injury. METHODS: The study included 1025 of 1308 incoming United States Military Academy (USMA) cadets. Shoe length and stiffness were recorded to calculate shoe torsional stiffness while shoe heel height was also recorded. Demographic data and Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) data were also recorded. Lower extremity injuries sustained over nine weeks during cadet basic training were documented using the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and the Cadet Illness and Injury Tracking System (CIITS). Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated with time to incident of lower extremity injury as the primary outcome by level of the independent predictor variables. Risk factors and known or potential covariates were carried forward into multivariable Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Models. RESULTS: Approximately 18.1% of participants incurred a lower extremity injury. Cadets wearing shoes with moderate lateral torsional stiffness were 49% less likely to incur any type of lower extremity injury and 52% less likely to incur a lower extremity injury due to overuse than cadets wearing shoes with minimal lateral torsional stiffness. Risk of injury was similar among cadets wearing shoes with minimal and extreme lateral torsional stiffness. CONCLUSIONS: Shoes with mild to moderate lateral torsional stiffness may be appropriate in reducing risk of lower extremity injury in cadets. Shoes with minimal lateral torsional stiffness should be discouraged in this population
Evolving the Robotic Technology Kernel to Expand Future Force Autonomous Ground Vehicle Capabilities
No full textThis paper presents the conceptual design, development, and implementation of the Robotic Technology Kernel (RTK) in a Polaris GEM e2 by the United States Military Academy\u27s autonomy research team. RTK is the autonomous software suite of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicles Systems Center and to this point has primarily been used within off-road environments. The research team\u27s primary objectives were to verify RTK\u27s platform-agnostic characteristic by implementing the control software on a small, low-speed electric vehicle and augmenting the software to provide the additional capability of operating within an established infrastructure rule set
Implementing a full state feedback laboratory exercise in an introductory undergraduate control systems engineering course
No full textMany mechanical engineering undergraduate students find the study of control systems engineering to be one of the more challenging subjects that they encounter. These challenges include working in the Laplace and frequency domains, learning new analysis techniques, as well as the breadth of topics that are typically covered in an introductory control systems class at the undergraduate level. The challenges faced by instructors consist of deciding which material to include, balancing the depth and breadth of understanding various topics, selecting the best learning activities for each technique, and providing meaningful hands on experimentation in a predominately theoretical course. Fortunately, control systems engineering is amenable to instruction through laboratory exercises, where students can try different control techniques and observe their effectiveness nearly in real-time. Some effort is required to adequately link theory to experimentation in a theoretical introductory course. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a new full-state feedback laboratory exercise which was designed to illustrate the efficacy of full state control of a fourth order system
Exploring RNNs for analyzing Zeek HTTP data
No full textCyber vulnerabilities pose a threat across systems in the Department of Defense. Finding ways to analyze network traffic and detect malicious behavior on a network will help keep these systems safe. This poster looks at the data collection techniques, model creation, and results of building a recurrent neural network to classify incoming traffic as normal or malicious. Additionally, it considers how the information will be best portrayed on a GUI to network administrators. The model\u27s initial accuracy is 83.45% when trained on 500,017 connections. With increased accuracy, this tool may be used by the Department of Defense to help defend its networks
Metabolic cost adaptation during training with a soft exosuit assisting the hip joint
No full textDifferent adaptation rates have been reported in studies involving ankle exoskeletons designed to reduce the metabolic cost of their wearers. The purpose of this study was to characterize energetic adaptations occurring over multiple training sessions in a novel exosuit assisting the hip joint. The percentage change between powered and unpowered conditions was significantly larger at Session 3 (-10.5±4.5%) compared to Session 1 (-6.2±3.9%). However, Session 3 reductions were similar to the percentage change at Session 5 (-10.3±4.7%), indicating that two 20-minute sessions may be sufficient for users to fully maximize the metabolic benefit provided. Metabolic adaptations were also retained 5-months following the final training session
Improving the Efficiency of Military Vehicle Outload and Deployment
No full textThe United States military must maintain the ability to rapidly deploy, world-wide, under severe time constraints. As a result, units and organizations have developed standardized, documented processes and procedures to quickly deploy personnel, equipment, and supplies. This research examines a typical military vehicle outload process, models the process with a discrete-event simulation, and identifies opportunities to increase process efficiency. The recommended improvements are incorporated within the simulation to identify the impacts of the changes. Model analysis reveals that an increase in a critical resource (i.e. vehicle inspection teams) can significantly reduce the time required to process a 350-vehicle fleet. Additionally, automating the hazardous material (HAZMAT) documentation and vehicle weight and center of balance computations resulted in time savings, although less significant. It is possible to implement these two automated activities across all installations, further improving deployment operations. With only minor modifications, the presented model can be adjusted to replicate other installation deployment processes and can have significant impacts on how the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force deploy equipment
Aligning Needs, Technologies, and Resources for Special Operations
No full textUSSOCOM equips its warfighters with cutting-edge technology to ensure they have a tactical edge over their adversaries. Special Forces encompasses a wide array of military operations; as such, they have numerous areas of interest (AoI) for technology investment. Companies submit proposals aligned with these AoIs following a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). Currently, USSOCOM decides which projects get funded based on the perceived military value. However, this process is arbitrary and does not account for the state of technology. This paper analyzes the BAA from 2019 to identify critical technologies (CT) that will solve USSOCOM’s needs. These CTs are analyzed through Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to capture the state of the given technology. A trade space analysis tool plots the TRL against the importance of the technology, which can be leveraged to aid decision making in prioritization. This process provides numerous benefits over traditional approaches; additionally, there is an opportunity to automate this process
A Study of Vertical Writing Surfaces at USMA
No full textThis study was commissioned by the Vice Deans for Academics and Resources at West Point and led by Colonel Raymond Kimball, director of Faculty Learning, Innovation, Collaboration, and Research. The study assessed current Vertical Writing Surface (VWS) use throughout the institution. This study can inform classroom design decisions to facilitate student learning and provide faculty with the best resources to relay ideas to students. The study also compares VWS preference by academic discipline, STEM vs. non-STEM, and faculty vs. student. Finally, the study considers resource constraints with respect to cost, time, and maintenance efforts.
The study was conducted in two parts. First, cadets in the upper two classes and teaching faculty members received an anonymous online survey asking for their VWS preferences. As part of the survey, participants provided their assessment of each VWS they had used or seen used, to include strengths, weaknesses, best practices, and common mistakes. Participants then indicated the VWS that they believed to be most effective for their department and explained why. Participants also had the opportunity to participate in focus groups, where they could experiment with different VWSs in the same classroom space. 401 cadets and 235 faculty responded in some form to the survey, with 216 cadets and 189 faculty completing the entire survey by indicating a specific preference for a VWS. Less than 10 participants participated in the focus groups.
Quantitative results from the survey indicated a strong difference in VWS preference by discipline. Cadets indicated a raw preference for chalkboards and whiteboards in equal number, which makes sense given the widespread use of both surfaces. Cadets with STEM majors expressed a greater numerical preference for chalkboards; cadets with non-STEM majors expressed a greater numerical preference for whiteboards. Among cadets who had used them, glassboards were significantly more popular. Similar preferences for chalkboards and whiteboards emerged from faculty responses, including STEM and non-STEM preferences. Glassboards did not have a significantly higher preference among faculty who had used them.
Qualitative responses for the survey revealed passionate feelings about all four VWSs. Chalkboards were praised by some as simple and effective, but were panned by others as dirty and antiquated. Whiteboards and glassboards were identified as having similar strengths and weaknesses, such as use as projection surfaces and challenges with cleaning and keeping markers on hand. Interactive whiteboards were viewed as having potential, but could be difficult to use due to network issues and lack of technical training.
Finally, the study makes recommendations for planning factors with respect to VWS installation. The study recommends clearly identifying which academic departments are likely to use classrooms when making choices about VWS installation to ensure the highest possible correlation between student preference, faculty preference, and VWS. Next, the study recommends ensuring that total costs of VWS use are identified up front, including the costs of high-quality writing implements and cleaning/maintenance supplies. Finally, the study recommends that academic departments include a plan for maintenance of VWSs and purchase of ancillary supplies in their VWS requests for classrooms
Is 4400 Steps per Day the New 10 000 Steps per Day?
No full textWe read with interest the recently published Original Investigation by Lee and colleagues regarding the association of step volume and intensity with all-cause mortality using data from the Women’s Health Study. We commend the authors on their pursuit of this question, particularly given the recently identifieddearth of longitudinal evidence related to steps per day and risk of mortality. The findings of Lee and colleagues provide further empirical evidence toward the question of how many steps per day are enough to improve health in adults