@PopularMechanics _ April 2019 21Left: Recovery is
personalized—a hot
tub, yoga, or sensory-
deprivation chamber.
Right: The Zephyr
puck sensor analyzes
trainees’ biometrics to
determine an optimal
training schedule.as he goes through a set of calisthenics. A
screen mounted on the wall displays his
image with an outline of his joints overlaid in
bright pink. As he hops, twists, and squats, the
overlay moves in real time, highlighting the
biomechanics of every action. If there’s any
flaw or imbalance, the monitor will show it.
Kayden was a college baseball player and
a firefighter, and seems to be in great shape.
But the trainer notices during a lunge that
he turns his left knee inward. It’s hard to
hide muscle imbalances from Dari. It’s a
biomechanical flaw that training can and
must correct.
Kayden says he’s looking forward to this
pursuit of perfection. “They told us this was
going to be sophisticated stuff, but this is
pretty amazing,” Kayden says. Then his lips
press a little tighter and he adds: “I knew my
legs need work.”
A TRAINEE’S DAY begins in one of the
50 identical beds lined up in an always
65-degree room. The first tasks are to input
a seven-question survey on a government-
issued tablet. Questions cover quality of
sleep, overall physical condition, and mental
state. Now is also the opportunity to request
a visit from an instructor, psychologist, or
chaplain. “One thing about this generation:
If you put a device in front of them, they will
tell you how they feel,” Smith says.
Next is the urine test to check hydration.
After that, the trainee lies down and an elec-
trode is attached to his forehead and finger
for an omega brain-wave reading. Heavy
exercise can knock the brain’s voltage down
to levels that cause confusion, lethargy, and
lack of concentration. If that’s the case,
training staff need to account for it.
All this happens before 5 a.m. The
trainees then head to the “blue room,” an
all-purpose exercise area for stretching tired
muscles and loosening tendons. At around
6 a.m., during breakfast, the training staff
meet and go over the morning reports. They
rely on automated programs to spotlight any
red flags within the data.
With six hours of grueling workouts,
runs, and swims five days a week, recovery
is nearly as important as the training. It’s
personalized to every trainee. Some respond
to a cold bath, others a hot tub. Some use
yoga, meditation, or a sensory-deprivation
f loat pod. This is not a personality thing.
The response of a person’s nervous system
dictates how they should recover.
During every run and workout, the
trainees wear a round Zephyr puck sensor,
about the size of a bar of hotel soap, against
their chest. The puck captures 40 differ-
ent streams of data, constantly recording
the stress in a trainee’s body to empirically
show if they are giving full effort. Staff say
they must know where the trainees’ physical
and mental performance limits are so they
can safely push past them.FOR EFFICIENCY’S SAKE, the military would
love empirical tests that can help focus on only
the most promising candidates. Similarly,
if there is a helpful gene that can be identi-
fied through a blood test, the military would
very much like to know about it—and how to
activate it with training. For example, the
squadron at Lackland this year is collectingblood to measure hormone levels during
training and will periodically check changes
in the levels during the airmens’ career.
Still, the human element rises amid the
algorithms, tablets, and sensors. The staff
see patterns that are harder for an algorithm
to quantify, reminders that there is more
than just numbers, physics, and chemistry
at work. For instance, staff find that train-
ees who have faced challenges early in their
personal lives not only do better, they also
tend to assist and elevate teammates who
are struggling.
“Our data show that, beyond a certain
level, increases in physical fitness don’t
necessarily correspond to increased success,”
says Colonel Parks Hughes, commander
of the Special Warfare Training Wing.
“There’s a level of grit, if you will, required
to get through the preparation that we put
individuals through.”
All the brain-wave readings and sensors
can detect a recruit’s level of effort, but there’s
no way to quantify a trainee’s character and
sense of self. These are critical variables,
but they’re not the kind of things that can be
measured with an electrode stuck to some-
one’s forehead.ASK A GENERAL
IS WAR IN SPACE
INEVITABLE?
By Major General
John Shaw, deputy
commander, Air Force
Space Command
There is really no such
thing as a “war in
space,” there’s just
war—and it encom-
passes all domains.
Space is one of these warfighting domains not because we want it to be,
but because strategic competitors are developing capabilities to make it so.
Aconflict that extends to space is in no one’s best interests and could have
drastic, longer-term effects in space that could impact the entire world.
Ultimately, we seek to deter a conflict that extends to space, but we must
also be ready to fight and win if deterrence fails.