Ensuring Accountability in SOCOM Operations
Final presentation | 05 June 2018 | Hacking for Defense | Stanford University Team Sponsors Project: Angel Zajkowski | SOCOM Advisors: Kevin Sladek, USMC | Mentors: Dave Gabler & Lisa Wallace, Team TrackID Dana Gingrich | Joshua Bosworth | Sherman Lee | Noah Sheinbaum | Jonty Olliff-Cooper 96 Given Problem: Build a way for the senior enlisted soldier or commissioned officer to keep account of which specific individuals have entered a vehicle or helicopter in order to decrease evacuation time and leave no one behind. Our Problem: Create a system for special operations to efficiently account for personnel through the whole mission lifecycle - from planning to exfiltration interviews

2 At the outset, we
imagined this was about emergency exfil, running onto the helicopters under fire Given Problem “Build a way for the senior enlisted soldier or commissioned officer to keep account of which specific individuals have entered a vehicle or helicopter in order to decrease evacuation time and leave no one behind.”

3 We conducted 96 interviews
with a range of stakeholders

- Systems Engineering - Design
accountability information flow - Product Design - Solving bulk processing of inputs - Product integration with existing equipment loads - Scale beyond SOCOM use-case - Continued sponsorship by military beneficiary (feasibility and user experience) - Vehicle / Aircraft maintainers (integration and scalability) - Small sensor / receiver manufacturer (RFID capability) - Department of Defense radio spectrum control - Primary: SOCOM teams conducting complex, high- risk missions. - Secondary: Similar teams and missions, including the expanded Department of Defense, allied nations, and civilian emergency services. - Tertiary: Non-mission oriented tasks requiring timely accountability information. - Improved Implicit Communication: decrease expected time to conduct routine tasks, and reduce frequency of severe error. - Modular/Adaptable Framework: shift to accommodate mission- specific information requirements. - Multi-Level Information Flow: providing low-latency, actionable information appropriate to multiple echelons. - Low-latency, automated accountability system improving passive situational awareness, providing notifications at the lowest level and improving overall mission success. - Integrated into current (and adaptable to future) SOCOM TTPs, and broader DoD systems. - Integrate legacy equipment with minimal additions. - Focus on immediate solutions to immediate and pervasive dilemmas. Fixed: - Exploration of communication and awareness enhancing options. - Design & Engineering of chosen solution. Variable: - Product Production & Support - Connections with a broad user base. - Existing RFID technology with multiple use cases - SOCOM Team Leaders & Operators - Supporting Units: achievable aircraft & vehicle integration -NSA: in accordance with secure/active communication standards Beneficiaries Mission AchievementMission Budget/Costs Buy-In/Support Deployment Value Proposition Key Activities Key Resources Key Partners ...blended with tools from the Lean Startup methodology

5 “We’ve never left a
man behind” - SOCOM Troop Sergeant Major “Accountability is never really a problem” - SOCOM Team Leader H4D: “How would you rate the pain of this problem on a scale of 1-10?” Navy SEAL: “Zero.”

6 The real pain is
in time and mental bandwidth

7 The pain is in
time and mental bandwidth At night

8 The pain is in
time and mental bandwidth Noise & dust

9 The pain is in
time and mental bandwidth Radios chatter

10 The pain is in
time and mental bandwidth CasualtiesLocal forces Detainees

11 We tested our first
Minimal Viable Product with commanders

12 We quickly realized that
tech alone wouldn’t solve the problem... “A pencil mark cross hair on my windshield never runs out of battery” - Special Ops Aviator

13 We quickly realized that
tech alone wouldn’t solve the problem... “Even if this works, paper isn’t going away” - Army SF Officer “A pencil mark cross hair on my windshield never runs out of battery” - Special Ops Aviator

14 We quickly realized that
tech alone wouldn’t solve the problem... “Even if this works, paper isn’t going away” - Army SF Officer “A pencil mark cross hair on my windshield never runs out of battery” - Special Ops Aviator “I would still do all the checks manually in the same way” - Navy SEAL

15 “If things go haywire,
the last thing anyone should be doing is looking at a screen.” - Navy SEAL We quickly realized that tech alone wouldn’t solve the problem... “Even if this works, paper isn’t going away” - Army SF Officer “A pencil mark cross hair on my windshield never runs out of battery” - Special Ops Aviator “I would still do all the checks manually in the same way” - Navy SEAL

16 “If things go haywire,
the last thing anyone should be doing is looking at a screen.” - Navy SEAL We quickly realized that tech alone wouldn’t solve the problem... “Even if this works, paper isn’t going away” - Army SF Officer “A pencil mark cross hair on my windshield never runs out of battery” - Special Ops Aviator “I would still do all the checks manually in the same way” - Navy SEAL “Technology makes you lazy” - SOCOM Team Leader

17 They want a tech
solution

18 They want a tech
solution

19 Big lesson They want
a tech solution They want to do their current process more easily

20 So, who is doing
what?

21
Enter the beneficiaries
Operators

22
Troop Sgt Major

23
Officers

24 “More than half of
a [TSM’s] time is spent on accountability” - Army NCO The Troop Sergeant Major is the key beneficiary

25 Cognitive load is high
● Significant time costs ● Hundreds of other things going on...

26 “I remember carrying up
to 18 physical bump plans before” -SOCOM Team Leader “Executing bump plans is not uncommon” - Navy SEAL Cognitive load is high ● Significant time costs ● Hundreds of other things going on...

27 Current tool is a
piece of paper ● Physically printed out ● Used at night ● Changes communicated over radio

28 So let’s look at
the workflow... Infiltration ExecutionPlanning Exfil

29 “We don’t call the
helos until everyone is accounted for” - TSM Exfiltration His workflow: Exfil is his call “When I am dealing with an accountability issue, I am not thinking about anything else.” -TSM

30 Exfil Execution “His job
is to monitor the radios and communicate up / down” - SOCOM Officer “If anything goes wrong inside, it’s on me to fix it” - TSM In execution, he is tracking everyone

31 ExfilExecution Infiltration “Infil is
complicated -- and we often enter in a different manner than we leave” - TSM “We’ve all got to be accounted for before we move on target” - TSM

32 ▪ Chalks ▪ Weights
Infiltration Execution Exfiltration Planning “Version control is a problem. We constantly have to update personnel moving out and there a lot of iterative changes” - Operator “The majority of my time in planning is spent thinking through accountability and contingencies” - TSM

33 Infiltration ExecutionPlanning Exfil house
Little bird Text ▪ Chalks ▪ Weights So TSM is key at every stage, not just 30 secs of Exfil

34 Value Proposition Canvas for
our Key Beneficiary Typical user The beneficiary Jobs to do At present Benefits of current model Pains of current model In future Benefits added ▪ Male, 35-40 yr old ▪ 15-18 years experience ▪ Endured grueling selection process ▪ Conducted thousands of missions in both training and combat ▪ Develop manifest and bump plans for mission ▪ Consolidate accountability reports from subordinate leaders during execution ▪ Reallocate seats during contingencies ▪ Determines final accountability before exfil ▪ Simplicity: everyone carries a physical copy ▪ Reliability: pen/paper are 100% reliable ▪ Adoption: Everyone uses this technique ▪ Unable to make digital changes after manifest ▪ Wasted time recounting ▪ Changes are made over FM and pen/paper ▪ Requires 100% focus during contingencies ▪ Layer of manifest redundancy for version control ▪ Manifest verification during infil ▪ Zero-Comms reporting during exfil ▪ Reduce manual tasks during compressed planning timelines ▪ Decentralize accountability and increase awareness ▪ Text Solution ▪ Digital Planning tool - primary and bump manifests consolidated and disseminated immediately ▪ Exportability - print manifests directly from app ▪ During Execution: sensors confirm the actual personnel on aircraft ▪ Flexibility: sensors account for operators leaving the battlefield or changing chalks in emergencies

35 So, what have we
come up with?

36
Planning

37
InfiltrationPlanning

38
Infiltration ExecutionPlanning

39
Infiltration ExecutionPlanning Exfiltration

40 So we tested it
down at Fort Bragg

41

42 “Even without the hardware,
I want this for planning” - SOCOM Officer

43 So what’s next? SOCOM
Whole Army Airborne divisions Rangers, Green Berets, SEALs TOMORROWTODAY In-house development team Unit funds TSM Sponsorship DEPLOYMENT + + =

44 Our work would not
have been possible without the incredible support and sponsorship of the SOCOM organization, namely Angel and Matt. They went above and beyond to ensure we had the access and understanding we needed to be successful, and planned an incredible visit to Fort Bragg that helped us get a handle on the problem that would have been otherwise impossible. We would also like to thank Dave Gabler and Lisa Wallace, our mentors at Qadium, and Kevin Sladek, for their tireless guidance and support. Countless individuals supported us in this journey, with their time and advice, willingness to deliver feedback (good and bad), and openness to our various ideas. Though there are too many to list here, we owe a debt of gratitude to all of them. Finally, thank you