WBI's Market Landscaping Expertise Guides Global Strike Through Improvements in Pilot, Maintainer Training

25.01.21 07:15 PM By Jennie Hempstead

The U.S. Air Force Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) knew it could do better. Specifically, the training practices in use had not kept up with technology, creating a bottleneck in keeping the bomber force manned and trained. The focus was on the aircraft – the most expensive piece of the equation – and training pilots and maintainers was forced to proceed at the pace of the slowest student. 


AFGSC engaged Wright Brothers Institute, whose experience and expertise in problem deconstruction and its well-known aptitude at “scanning the landscape” for the latest and greatest applicable technologies was what AFGSC needed to address the issues. AFGSC was open to suggestion, with one big caveat: They wanted a training system design requirement available for procurement for both pilots and maintainers in six to nine months. 


WBI went to work and devised a Project “Phase One & Two” Problem Deconstruction effort:  to use learner-centric journey mapping and define impact measures, along with Market Research and Landscaping: to explore best practices and technologies in learner-centric learning.


With this method, the customer (in this case, USGSC) maps out user goals, actions and roles in some kind of timeline. Thoughts and emotions are part of the process – What is frightening about the plan? What feels good about it? – and a story is created that enables visualization of the road to success.


WBI brought in management consultant 10EQS to help create the journey map, which was broken down into three parts:

  • Hypothesis
  • Focus Groups
  • Interviews with training syllabus writers

These three tools along with Market Research and Landscaping insights, were put to work during a workshop, at which information was collected, synthesized and distilled into four very specific areas of opportunity to improve training. They were:

  • Availability (providing access to resources for trainees)
  • Personalization (enabling students to proceed at their own pace)
  • Connected and Secured (simulating the environments in which trainees will work)
  • Measured Metrics (assessing success)
Phase One & Two were completed on time, with follow-on phases planned that include a Vulcan Call soliciting technologies and innovations from private industry, academia, government research and developing (R&D) organizations for inclusion in a prototyping and concept development phase that is focused on how solutions would be incorporated into the B-21 Raider Training Systems program.

Jennie Hempstead