Technology-Enabled Capability Demonstration 4A Sustainability and Logistics-Basing: Initial Quality of Life and Soldier Readiness User Assessment
Abstract
This report documents an initial user assessment on Soldier quality of life (QoL) performed for the Technology-Enabled Capability Demonstration (TECD) 4A Sustainability and Logistics-Basing by the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) on 15 May 2013 at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence (MSCOE) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The purpose was to collect data on what is critical to Soldier QoL in order to baseline, measure, and model QoL at contingency base camps. The assessment consisted of three portions: a computerized (i.e., tablet-based) survey followed by an after action review (AAR) and a focus group. Twelve male U.S. Army Soldiers with experience living in and operating base camps ranging from 50 to 1000 PAX participated in the survey, and 11 data sets were included in the final analysis. Due to the relatively small number of data sets, statistical significance could not be tested, but the data from the assessment provides insight on what attributes Soldiers believe are most important to contributing to their QoL when living in a base camp. Attributes concerning security were rated as contributing the most to a camp's QoL score. Other important attributes identified were the quality of the latrines and having HVAC in Soldier billeting. It was also found that improving QoL services may lengthen the time Soldiers can perform at their full potential (i.e., days of readiness) and that leadership can both add to and detract from a Soldier's QoL when deployed. Some of the next steps for the TECD 4A QoL effort will be to incorporate the Soldiers' suggestions for improving the tablet-based survey. In addition, the TECD will collect data from a larger and more representative sample size.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 30, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA614637
Entities
People
- Jason Augustyn
- Jessical Howe
- Justine Federici
- Larry L. Lesher
Organizations
- United States Army Soldier Systems Center