Training and Effectiveness

Pittsburgh this weekend offered a look into the future of cybersecurity, with students from each of the nation’s Service academies scrambling to protect their computer systems, find adversaries’ vulnerabilities and exploit them in the second annual CyberStakes Live competition, sponsored by DARPA. More than 40 students participated in this year’s event, which tested teams’ and individuals’ abilities in numerous core cybersecurity skills and culminated in two exciting Capture the Flag (CTF) contests modeled after the global tournaments that attract many of the world’s top cybersecurity experts.

DARPA and the Navy recently agreed to locate a fabrication laboratory, or Fab Lab, at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC, pronounced “mar-mack”) in Norfolk, Virginia, under DARPA’s Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach Two (MENTOR2) program.

The body’s branching network of peripheral nerves connects neurons in the brain and spinal cord to organs, skin, and muscles, regulating a host of biological functions from digestion to sensation to locomotion.

Training, which is conducted in classroom, field, and virtual settings, is a critical element of military readiness. Large-scale social networks, interactive content, and ubiquitous mobile access are emerging as driving technologies in education and training. At the same time, education analytics presents new opportunities for assessing the effectiveness of training strategies, understanding trends and effects in large volumes of education data, and relating these back to alternative modes of instruction.

A substantial portion of the Department of Defense (DoD) budget is spent on training personnel to maintain highly complex electromechanical systems, often in austere environments where long logistical supply chains challenge the ability to obtain spare parts in a timely manner. Today’s DoD deploys some machine shops and other fabrication capabilities in-theater, but these facilities provide only a small fraction of needed components. This is largely due to limited access to the adaptive manufacturing technology and comprehensive design expertise necessary for in-theater manufacturing.