While it is easy to think of weapons when you think of military systems, truly, the heart system of every military is its people. The focus of the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory’s Human Center of Gravity, or H-COG, Symposium, too, was the people.
“We are looking to synchronize researchers and the program’s focus on human factors and human performance,” said Dr. John Crowley, USAARL science program director, as he described the purpose of 2025’s H-COG.
“We are trying to do a better job of connecting our scientists across the DoD with senior leadership’s vision,” said Dr. Heath Jones, a USAARL research neuroscientist, who led the H-COG effort this year. “It has become clear that the science and technology communities all need to come together now as a unified front,” Jones remarked as he opened the symposium, “and force multiply the human-focused research community by strengthening our connections.”
Scientists who conduct human interface and integration research participated from 12 different DoD agencies, including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Combat Command, the Naval Air Warfare Center, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, and the Army Research Institute, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration. Nearly 100 participants joined online to share human-focused knowledge and discuss their research over the three-day event.
Col. Matthew Hoefer, USAARL’s commander, welcomed participants to H-COG, sharing, “as we move into the automated space and Army aviation takes steps toward increased artificial intelligence and automation, we still need to protect humans.”
Hoefer continued describing H-COG’s value in shaping USAARL’s research program, considering operational issues and combat capability gaps.
Col. Jonathan Taylor, the U.S. Army Medical Command deputy commander for support, previously commanded USAARL and was credited by Crowley as “the father of H-COG.” “We do hardly anything in isolation,” Taylor noted during his keynote address, “…especially in research, we do almost everything as a joint force.”
Taylor discussed the complexities of large-scale combat operations and how near-peer combat is different from the counterinsurgency fighting that the U.S. military has engaged in over the past two decades. He shared with the participants lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, and stated, “AMEDD is keeping pace with the continuous change of the rest of the Army.”
To do this, Taylor showed how Army medical experts identified existing mass casualty and casualty evacuation gaps, and the impacts of decision making during combat casualty triage on how, when and where to treat patients from the point of injury to the end of the line medical treatment facilities.
Taylor briefly discussed how artificial intelligence is growing exponentially, summing up medical treatment as data-driven, emphasizing the need to take advantage of that data to optimize medical treatment decision making.
Presentations were largely focused on research related to operator state monitoring (OSM), cognitive performance and enhancement, simulation research, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Attendees also had the opportunity to break out into smaller groups to further discuss these topics in more focused conversations.
Andrew Atchley, a USAARL research psychologist, presented one of the OSM briefings. He shared that the breakout sessions were beneficial and allowed him to engage and discuss with the other researchers doing similar work, and identify potential collaborations. “The presentations are where we learn what other researchers are doing,” said Atchley, “but the breakout sessions facilitated synthesis and deeper discussions on existing research gaps.”
Each presentation delivered a unique look into research being conducted, keeping the focus on the pursuit of human performance and protection, interaction and integration of the Warfighter.
“We need to push the boundaries of the human machine interface,” discussed Dr. Carrie Quinn, deputy to the commanding general for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command during her presentation. “We need to look at the limits of cognition, thinking about the human on the other side of autonomous capabilities, and who is running the show.”
She emphasized the impact of the human system on combat superiority. “You are on the right track with the role of research in preparing for large scale conflict,” said Quinn, “because you are putting together all of the systems rather than holding the human separate.”
During the “Future of UAS” presentation, Col. Nicholas Ryan, director of Army Capability Manager - UAS, Aviation Capability Development and Integration Directorate, stated, “there's always a thing that humans can do that a robot will never, ever be able to do, at least not in our day and age.”
Continuing with the human focus of H-COG, Dr. Bethany Ranes, USAARL sensory scientist, spoke of “keeping the ‘human’ in human-machine teaming,” which highlighted important considerations for UAS operators.
“This year’s H-COG was exceedingly successful, and the mood was one of excitement and engagement throughout its entirety,” summarized Jones. “Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive and the presentations made clear the need for DoD research concerning the human component of military operations.” He continued, noting that the symposium fostered collaboration and knowledge exchange, inspiring attendees to make the ‘human’ the source of power and strength for the Army, and to continue to think about what researchers must do, that no one else can, to help our Warfighters win.
About USAARL
USAARL is a world-class organization of subject matter experts in the fields of operator health and performance in complex systems; the en route care environment; blunt, blast, and accelerative injury and protection; crew survival in rotary-wing aircraft and combat vehicles; and sensory performance, injury, and protection. USAARL engages in innovative research, development, test and evaluation activities to identify research gaps and inform requirements documents that contribute to future vertical lift, medical, aviation, and defense health capabilities. USAARL is a trusted agent for stakeholders, providing evidence-based solutions and operational practices that protect joint force warriors and enhance warfighter performance. USAARL invests in the next generation of scientists and engineers, research technicians, program managers, and administrative professionals by valuing and developing its people, implementing talent management principles, and engaging in educational outreach opportunities.
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2025 12:53 |
| Story ID: | 495430 |
| Location: | FORT NOVOSEL, ALABAMA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT NOVOSEL, ALABAMA, US |
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This work, H-COG Focused on the Human System; Researchers share knowledge and collaborate, by Laren Vance Fleming, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
