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58-635: The NBCRV provides situational awareness to increase the combat power of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT). The core of the NBCRV is its on-board integrated NBC sensor suite and integrated meteorological system. An NBC positive overpressure system (where interior air pressure is higher than ambient air pressure outside, rather than vice versa) minimizes cross-contamination of samples and detection instruments, provides crew protection, and allows extended operations at MOPP 0 . It replaces

116-421: A broad range of situations, many of which involve the protection of human life and property, including law enforcement , aviation , air traffic control , ship navigation, health care, emergency response, military command and control operations, transmission system operators , self defense , and offshore oil and nuclear power plant management. Inadequate situation awareness has been identified as one of

174-820: A combination of expertise, preparedness, effective communication, and a willingness to adapt, ensuring that the chosen course of action aligns with the urgency of the situation while minimizing the risk of errors. While the SA construct has been widely researched, the multivariate nature of SA poses a considerable challenge to its quantification and measurement. In general, techniques vary in terms of direct measurement of SA (e.g., objective real-time probes or subjective questionnaires assessing perceived SA) or methods that infer SA based on operator behavior or performance. Direct measures are typically considered to be "product-oriented" in that these techniques assess an SA outcome; inferred measures are considered to be "process-oriented," focusing on

232-450: A high level of SA on those factors that are relevant for his or her job. It is not sufficient for one member of the team to be aware of critical information if the team member who needs that information is not aware. Therefore, team members need to be successful in communicating information between them (including how they are interpreting or projecting changes in the situation to form level 2 and 3 SA) or in each independently being able to get

290-446: A limited life span of membership. Team SA is defined as "the degree to which every team member possesses the SA required for his or her responsibilities". The success or failure of a team depends on the success or failure of each of its team members. If any one of the team members has poor SA, it can lead to a critical error in performance that can undermine the success of the entire team. By this definition, each team member needs to have

348-438: A number of factors that make some people better at SA than others including differences in spatial abilities and multi-tasking skills. Criticisms of the SA construct and the model are generally viewed as unfounded and addressed. The Endsley model is very detailed in describing the exact cognitive processes involved in SA. A narrative literature review of SA, performance, and other human factors constructs states that SA “...

406-515: A number of features of the task and environment that affect SA: Experience and training have a significant impact on people's ability to develop SA, due to its impact on the development of mental models that reduce processing demands and help people to better prioritize their goals. In addition, it has been found that individuals vary in their ability to acquire SA; thus, simply providing the same system and training will not ensure similar SA across different individuals. Research has shown that there are

464-446: A synthesis of disjointed Level 1 SA elements through the processes of pattern recognition, interpretation, and evaluation. Level 2 SA requires integrating this information to understand how it will impact upon the individual's goals and objectives. This includes developing a comprehensive picture of the world, or of that portion of the world of concern to the individual. Projection (Level 3 SA) : The third and highest level of SA involves

522-713: A theory may be developed for a particular form of warfare, such as: Theories and conceptions of warfare have varied throughout human history. There have been many military theorists throughout history, such as Sun Tzu , Thucydides , Onasander , Frontinus , Aelian , Vegetius , Maurice , Leo VI , Machiavelli , Lloyd , Suvorov , Berenhorst , Bülow , de Saxe , Clausewitz , Jomini , Calwell , Mahan , Corbett , Douhet , Fuller , Liddell-Hart , Wylie , Brodie , Luttwak , Schelling , Howard , Freedman , Boyd , Lind , Creveld , Gat , Hammes , Hoffman, Kilcullen and Gray in Western military circles; each have helped lay

580-445: A volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future”. An alternative definition is that situation awareness is adaptive, externally-directed consciousness that has as its products knowledge about a dynamic task environment and directed action within that environment. Situation awareness has been recognized as a critical foundation for successful decision-making across

638-447: Is about the process of achieving these kinds of outcomes, the strategies, and the barriers encountered. In brief, sensemaking is viewed more as "a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively", rather than the state of knowledge underlying situation awareness. Endsley points out that as an effortful process, sensemaking

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696-430: Is actually considering a subset of the processes used to maintain situation awareness. In the vast majority of the cases, SA is instantaneous and effortless, proceeding from pattern recognition of key factors in the environment—"The speed of operations in activities such as sports, driving, flying and air traffic control practically prohibits such conscious deliberation in the majority of cases, but rather reserves it for

754-479: Is happening on those SA elements that are common— shared SA . Thus, shared SA refers to degree to which people have a common understanding on information that is in the overlap of the SA requirements of the team members. Not all information needs to be shared. Clearly, each team member is aware of much that is not pertinent to the others on the team. Sharing every detail of each person's job would creates information overload to sort through to get needed information. It

812-413: Is multi-disciplinary drawing on social science and humanities academic fields through the disciplines of political science , strategic studies , military studies and history . It examines three key areas: It is distinct from, and subordinate to, Military Philosophy , which studies questions such as the reasons to go to war, jus ad bellum , and just ways to fight wars, jus in bello . Two of

870-443: Is often described as three ascending levels: People with the highest levels of SA have not only perceived the relevant information for their goals and decisions, but are also able to integrate that information to understand its meaning or significance, and are able to project likely or possible future scenarios. These higher levels of SA are critical for proactive decision making in demanding environments. Three facets of SA have been

928-420: Is only that information which is relevant to the SA requirements of each team member that needs to be shared. The situation awareness of the team as a whole, therefore, is dependent upon both a high level of SA among individual team members for the aspects of the situation necessary for their job; and a high level of shared SA between team members, providing an accurate common operating picture of those aspects of

986-463: Is this subset of information that constitutes much of team coordination. That coordination may occur as a verbal exchange, a duplication of displayed information, or by some other means. Shared situation awareness can be defined as "the degree to which team members possess the same SA on shared SA requirements". As implied by this definition, there are information requirements that are relevant to multiple team members. A major part of teamwork involves

1044-477: Is to clarify concepts and ideas that have become, as it were, confused and entangled. Not until terms and concepts have been defined can one hope to make any progress in examining the questions clearly and simply and expect the reader to share one's views.' Military Theory informs the political, strategic, operational and tactical levels of war. It does so by contributing to knowledge on the subjects of war and warfare. This aids in understanding why and when force

1102-581: Is used and what forms the use of force may take. It also aids in identifying and explaining practical outcomes to help determine how force may be applied. Military theories, especially since the 19th Century AD, attempt to encapsulate the complex cultural, political and economic relationships between societies and the conflicts they create. Categories of Military Theory Military Theories can be divided into several categories. First, theories may be codified by their relevant level of War: Second, they may be categorised by environment or domain, such as: Third,

1160-413: Is valuable in understanding and predicting human-system performance in complex systems.” Nevertheless, there are several criticisms of SA. One criticism is the danger of circularity with SA: “How does one know that SA was lost? Because the human responded inappropriately. Why did the human respond inappropriately? Because SA was lost.” Building on the circularity concern, others deemed SA a folk model on

1218-574: The M93 Fox vehicle. The NBCRV detects and collects chemical and biological contamination in its local environment on the move through point detection (Chemical Biological Mass Spectrometer (CBMS) and Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS)), and at a distance through the use of a standoff detector (JSLSCAD) . It automatically integrates contamination information from detectors with input from on-board navigation and meteorological systems and automatically transmits digital NBC warning messages through

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1276-628: The Mission Command System . As of 2010, the U.S. Army does not plan to field Stryker double V-hull (DVH) versions of the NBCRV in Afghanistan. Chemical biological mass spectrometer (CBMS) , built by Hamilton Sundstrand , is a detection system for chemical warfare agents and biological warfare agents. CBMS was originally developed by a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

1334-469: The United States Army . Situation awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness ( SA ) is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. Situational awareness is important for effective decision making in many environments. It is formally defined as: “the perception of the elements in the environment within

1392-436: The scientific method , theory differs from Military Science . Theory aims to explain the causes for military victory and produce guidance on how war should be waged and won, rather than developing universal, immutable laws which can bound the physical act of warfare or codifying empirical data, such as weapon effects, platform operating ranges, consumption rates and target information, to aid military planning. Military Theory

1450-455: The "product of applying analysis and judgment to the unit's situation awareness to determine the relationships of the factors present and form logical conclusions concerning threats to the force or mission accomplishment, opportunities for mission accomplishment, and gaps in information". Situational understanding is the same as Level 2 SA in the Endsley model—the comprehension of the meaning of

1508-496: The SA of the team as a whole. To begin to understand what is needed for SA within teams, it is first necessary to clearly define what constitutes a team. A team is not just any group of individuals; rather teams have a few defining characteristics. A team is: a distinguishable set of two or more people who interact dynamically, interdependently and adaptively toward a common and valued goal/objective/mission, who have each been assigned specific roles or functions to perform, and who have

1566-443: The ability to analyze information rapidly, prioritize key factors, and execute decisions promptly becomes paramount. Time constraints often necessitate a balance between thorough deliberation and the need for quick action. The decision-maker must rely on a combination of experience , intuition , and available data to make informed choices under pressure. Prioritizing critical elements , assessing potential outcomes, and considering

1624-460: The ability to project the future actions of the elements in the environment. Level 3 SA is achieved through knowledge of the status and dynamics of the elements and comprehension of the situation (Levels 1 and 2 SA), and then extrapolating this information forward in time to determine how it will affect future states of the operational environment. Endsley's model shows how SA "provides the primary basis for subsequent decision making and performance in

1682-434: The ability to recalibrate strategies in real-time are vital attributes in time-critical scenarios, as unforeseen developments may require rapid adjustments to the initial decision. Embracing technological advancements and data-driven insights, and incorporating simulation exercises, can also contribute to better decision-making outcomes in high-pressure situations. Ultimately, successful time-critical decision-making involves

1740-407: The actions of individuals, task characteristics, and the surrounding environment. As new inputs enter the system, the individual incorporates them into this mental representation, making changes as necessary in plans and actions in order to achieve the desired goals. SA also involves spatial knowledge about the activities and events occurring in a specific location of interest to the individual. Thus,

1798-426: The area where these SA requirements overlap—the shared SA requirements that exist as a function of the essential interdependency of the team members. In a poorly functioning team, two or more members may have different assessments on these shared SA requirements and thus behave in an uncoordinated or even counter-productive fashion. Yet in a smoothly functioning team, each team member shares a common understanding of what

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1856-419: The basis it is frequently overgeneralized and immune to falsification. A response to these criticisms it arguing that measures of SA are “... falsifiable in terms of their usefulness in prediction.” A recent review and meta-analysis of SA measures showed they were highly correlated or predictive of performance, which initially appears to provide strong quantitative evidence refuting criticisms of SA. However,

1914-472: The benefits of a prototype touch-screen navigation display. During the early 1980s, integrated “vertical-situation” and “horizontal-situation” displays were being developed for commercial aircraft to replace multiple electro-mechanical instruments. Integrated situation displays combined the information from several instruments enabling more efficient access to critical flight parameters, thereby improving situational awareness and reducing pilot workload. The term

1972-500: The concept of SA includes perception, comprehension, and projection of situational information, as well as temporal and spatial components. Endsley's model of SA illustrates several variables that can influence the development and maintenance of SA, including individual, task, and environmental factors. In summary, the model consists of several key factors that describe the cognitive processes involved in SA: The model also points to

2030-592: The current situation (Level 1 and 2 SA) and select an appropriate action based on conceptual patterns stored in their long-term memory as "mental models". Cues in the environment activate these mental models, which in turn guide their decision making process. Klein, Moon, and Hoffman distinguish between situation awareness and sensemaking as follows: ...situation awareness is about the knowledge state that's achieved—either knowledge of current data elements, or inferences drawn from these data, or predictions that can be made using these inferences. In contrast, sensemaking

2088-405: The dataset being analyzed are selected based on the outcome from analyzing the same dataset. Because only more desirable effects were included, the results of this meta-analysis were predetermined – predictive measures of SA were predictive. Further, there were inflated estimates of mean effect sizes compared to an analysis that did not select results using statistical significance. Determining

2146-753: The earliest military philosophers date from the 5th Century BC; Thucydides and Sun Tzu . Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War and Sun Tzu's Art of War offer enduring thoughts on the causes of war and how warfare may be conducted. Likewise, while military theory can inform Military Doctrine or help explain Military History , it differs from them as it contemplates abstract concepts, themes, principles and ideas to formulate solutions to actual and potential problems concerning war and warfare. Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote, 'The primary purpose of any theory

2204-441: The exceptions." Endsley also points out that sensemaking is backward focused, forming reasons for past events, while situation awareness is typically forward looking, projecting what is likely to happen in order to inform effective decision processes. In many systems and organizations, people work not just as individuals, but as members of a team. Thus, it is necessary to consider the SA of not just individual team members, but also

2262-404: The focus in research: SA states, SA systems, and SA processes. SA states refers to the actual level of awareness people have of the situation. SA systems refers to technologies that are developed to support SA in many environments. SA processes refers to the updating of SA states, and what guides the moment-to-moment change of SA. Although the term itself is fairly recent, the concept has roots in

2320-603: The history of military theory —it is recognizable in Sun Tzu 's The Art of War , for example. The term can be traced to World War I, where it was recognized as a crucial skill for crews in military aircraft. There is evidence that the term situational awareness was first employed at the Douglas Aircraft Company during human factors engineering research while developing vertical and horizontal situation displays and evaluating digital-control placement for

2378-422: The immediate and long-term consequences are crucial aspects of effective time-critical decision-making. Furthermore, clear communication is essential to ensure that decisions are swiftly conveyed to relevant stakeholders and executed seamlessly. Collaborative efforts, streamlined processes, and well-defined protocols can enhance the efficiency of decision-making in time-sensitive situations. Adaptability and

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2436-436: The inclusion criteria in this meta-analysis was limited to positive correlations reaching desirable levels of statistical significance. That is, more desirable results hypothesis supporting results were included while the less desirable results, contradicting the hypothesis, were excluded. The justification was "Not all measures of SA are relevant to performance." This an example of a circular analysis or double-dipping, where

2494-400: The information as integrated with each other and in terms of the individual's goals. It is the "so what" of the data that is perceived. In brief, situation awareness is viewed as "a state of knowledge," and situational assessment as "the processes" used to achieve that knowledge. Endsley argues that "it is important to distinguish the term situation awareness, as a state of knowledge, from

2552-578: The information perceived. Accurate mental models are one of the prerequisites for achieving SA. A mental model can be described as a set of well-defined, highly organized yet dynamic knowledge structures developed over time from experience. The volume of available data inherent in complex operational environments can overwhelm the capability of novice decision makers to attend, process, and integrate this information efficiently, resulting in information overload and negatively impacting their SA. In contrast, experienced decision makers assess and interpret

2610-414: The information they need. In a team, each member has a subgoal pertinent to his/her specific role that feeds into the overall team goal. Associated with each member's subgoal are a set of SA elements about which he/she is concerned. As the members of a team are essentially interdependent in meeting the overall team goal, some overlap between each member's subgoal and their SA requirements will be present. It

2668-405: The next generation of commercial aircraft. Research programs in flight-crew computer interaction and mental workload measurement built on the concept of awareness measurement from a series of experiments that measured contingency awareness during learning, and later extended to mental workload and fatigue. Situation awareness appears in the technical literature as early as 1983, when describing

2726-407: The operation of complex, dynamic systems". Although alone it cannot guarantee successful decision making, SA does support the necessary input processes (e.g., cue recognition, situation assessment, prediction) upon which good decisions are based. SA also involves both a temporal and a spatial component. Time is an important concept in SA, as SA is a dynamic construct, changing at a tempo dictated by

2784-584: The opponent's current move and anticipating his next move a fraction of a second before he could observe and anticipate it himself. USAF pilots also came to equate SA with the "observe" and "orient" phases of the famous observe-orient-decide-act loop ( OODA loop ), or Boyd cycle, as described by the USAF war theorist Col. John Boyd . In combat, the winning strategy is to "get inside" your opponent's OODA loop, not just by making one's own decisions quicker, but also by having better SA than one's opponent, and even changing

2842-462: The organizational psychology literature and often relate to achieving long-term strategic objectives. There are also biological mediators of situational awareness, most notably hormones such as testosterone , and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine . Situation awareness is sometimes confused with the term "situational understanding." In the context of military command and control applications, situational understanding refers to

2900-402: The primary causal factors in accidents attributed to human error . According to Endsley’s situation awareness theory, when someone meets a dangerous situation, he needs an appropriate and a precise decision-making process which include pattern recognition and matching, formation of sophisticated schemata and archetypal knowledge that aids correct decision making. The formal definition of SA

2958-463: The processes used to achieve that state. These processes, which may vary widely among individuals and contexts, will be referred to as situational assessment or the process of achieving, acquiring, or maintaining SA." Note that SA is not only produced by the processes of situational assessment, it also drives those same processes in a recurrent fashion. For example, one's current awareness can determine what one pays attention to next and how one interprets

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3016-696: The relevance of SA based on the desirability of outcomes and analyzing only supporting results is a circular conceptualization of SA and revives concerns about the falsifiability of SA. Several cognitive processes related to situation awareness are briefly described in this section. The matrix shown below attempts to illustrate the relationship among some of these concepts. Note that situation awareness and situational assessment are more commonly discussed in information fusion complex domains such as aviation and military operations and relate more to achieving immediate tactical objectives. Sensemaking and achieving understanding are more commonly found in industry and

3074-472: The situation common to the needs of each member. Endsley and Jones describe a model of team situation awareness as a means of conceptualizing how teams develop high levels of shared SA across members. Each of these four factors—requirements, devices, mechanisms and processes—act to help build team and shared SA. In time-critical decision-making processes, swift and effective choices are imperative to address and navigate urgent situations. In such scenarios,

3132-695: The situation in ways that the opponent cannot monitor or even comprehend. Losing one's own SA, in contrast, equates to being "out of the loop". Clearly, SA has far reaching applications, as it is necessary for individuals and teams to function effectively in their environment. Thus, SA has gone far beyond the field of aviation to work being conducted in a wide variety of environments. SA is being studied in such diverse areas as air traffic control , nuclear power plant operation, emergency response , maritime operations, space, oil and gas drilling, vehicle operation, and health care (e.g. anesthesiology and nursing ). The most widely cited and accepted model of SA

3190-708: The task and environmental factors that also affect their ability to get SA. It describes in detail the three levels of SA formation: perception, comprehension, and projection. Perception (Level 1 SA) : The first step in achieving SA is to perceive the status, attributes, and dynamics of relevant elements in the environment. Thus, Level 1 SA, the most basic level of SA, involves the processes of monitoring, cue detection, and simple recognition, which lead to an awareness of multiple situational elements (objects, events, people, systems, environmental factors) and their current states (locations, conditions, modes, actions). Comprehension (Level 2 SA) : The next step in SA formation involves

3248-531: The underlying processes or mechanisms required to achieve SA. These SA measurement approaches are further described next. Military theory Military theory is the study of the theories which define, inform, guide and explain war and warfare . Military Theory analyses both normative behavioral phenomena and explanatory causal aspects to better understand war and how it is fought. It examines war and trends in warfare beyond simply describing events in military history. While military theories may employ

3306-522: Was developed by Dr. Mica Endsley , which has been shown to be largely supported by research findings. Lee, Cassano-Pinche, and Vicente found that Endsley's Model of SA received 50% more citations following its publication than any other paper in Human Factors compared to other papers in the 30 year period of their review. Endsley's model describes the cognitive processes and mechanisms that are used by people to assess situations to develop SA, and

3364-463: Was first defined formally by Endsley in 1988. Before being widely adopted by human factors scientists in the 1990s, the term is said to have been used by United States Air Force (USAF) fighter aircrew returning from war in Korea and Vietnam . They identified having good SA as the decisive factor in air combat engagements—the "ace factor". Survival in a dogfight was typically a matter of observing

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