1. 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. 2
At the outset, we imagined this was about emergency exfil, running onto the helicopters under fire
Given Problem
âBuild 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.â
4. - 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. 5
âWeâve never
left a man
behindâ
- SOCOM Troop Sergeant Major
âAccountability
is never really
a problemâ
- SOCOM Team Leader
H4D:
âHow would you
rate the pain of this
problem on a scale
of 1-10?â
Navy SEAL:
âZero.â
12. 12
We quickly realized that tech alone wouldnât solve the problem...
âA pencil mark cross hair on
my windshield never runs
out of batteryâ
- Special Ops Aviator
13. 13
We quickly realized that tech alone wouldnât solve the problem...
âEven if this works,
paper isnât going
awayâ
- Army SF Officer
âA pencil mark cross hair on
my windshield never runs
out of batteryâ
- Special Ops Aviator
14. 14
We quickly realized that tech alone wouldnât solve the problem...
âEven if this works,
paper isnât going
awayâ
- Army SF Officer
âA pencil mark cross hair on
my windshield never runs
out of batteryâ
- Special Ops Aviator
âI would still do all the
checks manually in
the same wayâ
- Navy SEAL
15. 15
âIf things go haywire, the
last thing anyone should
be doing is looking at a
screen.â
- Navy SEAL
We quickly realized that tech alone wouldnât solve the problem...
âEven if this works,
paper isnât going
awayâ
- Army SF Officer
âA pencil mark cross hair on
my windshield never runs
out of batteryâ
- Special Ops Aviator
âI would still do all the
checks manually in
the same wayâ
- Navy SEAL
16. 16
âIf things go haywire, the
last thing anyone should
be doing is looking at a
screen.â
- Navy SEAL
We quickly realized that tech alone wouldnât solve the problem...
âEven if this works,
paper isnât going
awayâ
- Army SF Officer
âA pencil mark cross hair on
my windshield never runs
out of batteryâ
- Special Ops Aviator
âI would still do all the
checks manually in
the same wayâ
- Navy SEAL
âTechnology
makes you lazyâ
- SOCOM Team Leader
24. 24
âMore than half of a [TSMâs] time is
spent on accountabilityâ
- Army NCO
The Troop Sergeant Major is the key beneficiary
25. 25
Cognitive load is high
â Significant time costs
â Hundreds of other things
going on...
26. 26
âI remember carrying up to 18
physical bump plans beforeâ
-SOCOM Team Leader
âExecuting bump plans is not
uncommonâ
- Navy SEAL
Cognitive load is high
â Significant time costs
â Hundreds of other things
going on...
27. 27
Current tool is a piece
of paper
â Physically printed out
â Used at night
â Changes
communicated over
radio
28. 28
So letâs look at the workflow...
Infiltration ExecutionPlanning Exfil
29. 29
âWe donât call the helos
until everyone is accounted
forâ
- TSM
Exfiltration
His workflow: Exfil is his call
âWhen I am dealing with an
accountability issue, I am not
thinking about anything else.â
-TSM
30. 30
Exfil
Execution
âHis job is to monitor the
radios and communicate
up / downâ
- SOCOM Officer
âIf anything goes wrong
inside, itâs on me to fix
itâ
- TSM
In execution, he is tracking everyone
32. 32
âȘ Chalks
âȘ Weights
Infiltration Execution Exfiltration
Planning
âVersion control is a problem. We
constantly have to update
personnel moving out and there a lot of iterative
changesâ
- Operator
âThe majority of my time in planning is spent thinking
through accountability and
contingenciesâ
- TSM
34. 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
âȘ Male, 35-40 yr
old
âȘ 15-18 years
experience
âȘ Endured
grueling
selection
process
âȘ Conducted
thousands of
missions in
both training
and combat
âȘ Develop
manifest and
bump plans
for mission
âȘ Consolidate
accountability
reports from
subordinate
leaders during
execution
âȘ Reallocate
seats during
contingencies
âȘ Determines
final
accountability
before exfil
âȘ Simplicity: everyone carries
a physical copy
âȘ Reliability: pen/paper are
100% reliable
âȘ Adoption: Everyone uses
this technique
âȘ Unable to make digital
changes after manifest
âȘ Wasted time recounting
âȘ Changes are made over FM
and pen/paper
âȘ Requires 100% focus
during contingencies
âȘ Layer of manifest
redundancy for
version control
âȘ Manifest
verification during
infil
âȘ Zero-Comms
reporting during
exfil
âȘ Reduce manual
tasks during
compressed
planning timelines
âȘ Decentralize
accountability and
increase
awareness
âȘ Text
Solution
âȘ Digital Planning
tool - primary and
bump manifests
consolidated and
disseminated
immediately
âȘ Exportability -
print manifests
directly from app
âȘ During Execution:
sensors confirm
the actual
personnel on
aircraft
âȘ Flexibility:
sensors account
for operators
leaving the
battlefield or
changing chalks in
emergencies
43. 43
So whatâs next?
SOCOM
Whole Army
Airborne divisions
Rangers, Green
Berets, SEALs
TOMORROWTODAY
In-house development team
Unit funds
TSM Sponsorship
DEPLOYMENT
+
+
=
44. 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