A Da ta Management and Visualization Tool That Benefits Mission Readiness

A significant amount of resources and effort go toward ensuring that all unit personnel maintain a mission ready status, specifically in US Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). Personnel folders used to track and document readiness activities (called Individual Qualification Folders [IQFs]) are paper-based, and this presents additional difficulties on top of basic workload demands. Limitations associated with using paper-based IQFs have the potential to impact the mission readiness of an individual or entire unit. In this paper, we describe the cognitive engineering approach, design process, and concept of operations for an electronic IQF and mission-readiness support system called Records Evaluation, Analysis, and Data Interpretation (READI). READI is a server-based, PC-compatible system designed for use by AFSPC unit operations support staffs (e.g., training, evaluation, and crew force management staffs). It is intended to support basic IQF maintenance and operations support staff work associated with ensuring the mission readiness of unit personnel. The supported work areas encompass 1) recurring personnel training and evaluation; 2) tracking, managing, and scheduling mission-ready requirements and activities to ensure mission-ready requirements are met; and 3) ensuring the quality of IQFs, IQF content, and mission-ready activities and materials. In addition to supporting operations support staffs in AFSPC, READI is relevant to operations support staffs throughout the DoD and potentially to training management outside of the DoD.