Problems

These problems have come from a wide variety of branches of the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Remotely Piloted Aircraft Communications in Denied Environments

Problems for 2019:
Updated January 17, 2019.

#1 Recruiting and Retaining from the same Pool of Candidates as Amazon

BACKGROUND
The 341st Military Intelligence Linguist Battalion (341st MI BN (L)) within the Washington State National Guard is currently not meeting its recruiting and retention goals. The recruiting force not only has limited military intelligence experience, but also because of the classified nature of military intelligence, recruiters are unable to discuss the full scope of the job and responsibility. Recruits must meet basic military entrance criteria such as physical and mental health readiness, baseline entrance test scores, and criminal background and drug screenings. Additionally, they must meet criteria for language aptitude, increased educational scores, the ability to pass a polygraph, and the ability to hold a Top Secret security clearance. This highly talented and limited applicant pool is also heavily recruited by several local prestigious employers such as Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, which offer greater pay and benefits. The National Guard competes with active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard units within the state for accessions and has the same enlistment criteria as the other branches, but does not offer full time employment. Thus, the 341st MI BN (L) needs an effective and efficient strategy to recruit and retain young professionals. This would allow the battalion to enhance mission readiness, thus, ensuring the hiring and retaining of a qualified workforce with pride in their service and loyalty to the organization. Moreover, National Guard Bureau and the Washington National Guard require the 341st MI BN (L) to maintain strength at 100% otherwise the unit is in jeopardy of losing force structure.

CHALLENGE
The 341st MI BN needs an effective and efficient strategy to recruit and retain young professionals.

LIMITATIONS

Unit does not receive additional time, resources, or personnel to recruit
Unit personnel are not qualified as recruiters and therefore must work with recruiters to access applicants
The Recruiting unit is authorized recruiters based on location rather than military specialty
Washington schools lack a standardized approach to allowing military recruiters in their schools
There are no quotas or measurable metrics associated with MI/Linguist accession

PROBLEM SPONSOR: 341st Military Intelligence Linguist Battalion

#2 Maintaining Vessel Coverage

BACKGROUND
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) along with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partners such as the California Air National Guard (CANG), are tasked with maintaining coverage of West Coast Maritime Vessels. For this reason, it is important that they are able to continuously track vessels along the California coast from San Luis Obispo County to the Mexican Border. DHS currently employs a system of ground based radars and cameras along the coastline, however, these ground based radar systems can survey only 10 – 15 miles in ideal weather conditions and have substantial gaps in coverage. There is a lack of Maritime Enforcement Aircraft operated by the Border Patrol Office of Air and Marine Operations (OAM) to provide sustained coverage of the maritime domain. Furthermore, OAM aircraft cannot always maintain covert surveillance due to fuel limitations when an illicit vessel is observed. The USCG in cooperation with CANG has successfully employed MQ-9 reaper remotely piloted aircraft in a proof of concept, however final approval for operational use has not been secured. In addition, the CANG lacks the aircraft and crews to consistently man the remotely piloted aircraft. The California Coast Surveillance Project, an endeavor of the US Border Patrol (USBP), is a series of mobile ground based radar systems using Artificial Intelligence aimed at interdicting illicit maritime vessels and filling the current radar coverage gaps. Current strategies lack sufficient air, radar, and surface coverage, allowing maritime traffickers to exploit such coverage by approaching US waters in close proximity to the shoreline or 50-250 nautical miles offshore. For this reason, the USCG seeks a low-cost way to track vessels and determine their intent in order to lead to more successful interdictions of drug cartels.

CHALLENGE
Coast Guard Operations Specialists need a way to track vessels in order to achieve more successful interdictions of drug cartels.

LIMITATIONS

Must not complicate job of the Operations Specialist
Must be low-cost

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Coast Guard

#3 Harnessing Netflix-level Disruption

BACKGROUND
Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is tasked with accelerating commercial innovation to the warfighter. However, only recently did DIU receive internal authority to actually exercise their mandate and execute contracts with companies that have military application. Historically, when it comes to acquisition and contracting, the Department of Defense (DoD) has been resistant to change due to seemingly insurmountable rules and regulations. If DIU is going to maximize its authorities, it wants to do it in a manner that adheres to necessary policy, regulation, and law, while also allowing for enough freedom to engage with the commercial industry in a manner that is more streamlined and effective.

For this reason, the Pathways team, which is charged with improving all facets of DIU’s business processes in order to do business with commercial innovators, seeks knowledge of innovation across the government space for organizations as well as an understanding of successful models in the commercial space from non-traditional organizations, such as start-ups.

CHALLENGE
The Pathways Team needs to understand best practices for innovation across industry and government in order to most effectively develop their contracting processes.

LIMITATIONS

Must conform to legal constraints

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Defense Innovation Unit

#4 Resource Optimization For Mine Countermeasures

BACKGROUND
Underwater mines are self-contained explosive devices placed in the ocean with the intention to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Intelligence about the general area of a mine’s location is collected in a variety of ways, including through ship sonar detection during open-water missions and inter-agency communication. Subsequent intelligence reports about the mine are compiled of critical information such as bathymetric data, necessary investigation equipment, an estimation of the necessary time for extraction, and most importantly, precise geographic data. The Mine Countermeasures Division 31 (MCMDIV 31) within the Department of the Navy (DoN) conducts thorough analysis to evaluate mission risk and pinpoint the exact mine coordinates, as well as estimate the amount of time it will take to disarm and extract the mine. However, the ability to quickly allocate personnel, equipment and time for the disarmament and extraction of an underwater mine is of critical importance. The resource allocation element is an inconsistent and time-intensive process due to several unpredictable variables, such as environmental factors and personnel scheduling, that must be accounted for.

CHALLENGE
Mine Countermeasures Division 31 needs an automated process to quickly allocate resources in order to address changes in unpredictable variables during underwater mine disarmament missions.

LIMITATIONS

Must be integrated into a rigid hierarchical system
Classification constraints may result in a lack of a use case

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Department of the Navy (DoN)

#5 Enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolutions on North Korea

BACKGROUND
Since the inception of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea’s nuclear weapons program in the 1990s, the United Nations Security Council has repeatedly resolved to sanction the North Korean regime – including prohibitions on trade in goods and services. Despite global outcry, North Korea continues to flout these resolutions by taking advantage of loopholes in global shipping practices, confused jurisdiction, and limited enforcement capabilities in international waters. In many cases, North Korea is leveraging ships flagged from nations that are unable to even identify that their ships are being used for this purpose. Where nations lack the capability to enforce sanctions, private companies are being contracted to pursue this enforcement. These approaches raise serious questions about sovereignty, disposition of ships and personnel, and what responsibility is borne by the U.S. and other members of the Security Council.

As a result, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) needs to understand what authority and tools they can leverage in order to enforce resolutions from the United Nations Security Council.

If the Department of Defense was better enabled to enforce UN resolutions, the entire international community would have better leverage to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

CHALLENGE
Develop an approach for the Office of the Secretary of Defense to enforce United Nations Security Council international maritime resolutions in order to better compel an end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

LIMITATIONS

Proposed approaches should consider international law, law of the sea, and existing industry practices, while also keeping in mind sovereignty concerns.
Should consider that not all countries have the same capacity or capability to pursue enforcement, even beyond their political will or sovereignty concerns.
OSD must also coordinate with international and domestic partners such as the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, and Department of State.

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)

#6 How does the Department of Defense weaken Taliban finances in Afghanistan?

BACKGROUND
Opium production has long been a feature of the Afghan economy. After the Taliban were driven from power in 2001, they turned to opium farming in the lawless countryside to fuel their insurgency and terrorism. The Government of Afghanistan is committed to eradicating opium profits as a source of funding for the Taliban, but is limited in its enforcement ability to curtail growth of the crop or monitoring of export of the crop along porous borders. Beyond enforcement, eradication will not be sustainable until the Government of Afghanistan can transition the rural economy to other industries. International efforts to counter the trade through education and jobs programs have had varying, temporary success. In November 2017, the United States (U.S.) began a new approach to eradication - bombing opium production plants.

The U.S. believes that as opium production remains a source of economic and political power for the Taliban, transitioning the Afghan economy to other industries is the long-term key to peace and national reconciliation. To get there, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) needs to understand what law enforcement tools and mechanisms are available to the Department of Defense (DoD) when assisting Afghanistan in eradicating opium production and trade. Because DoD is not a law enforcement organization, OSD is limited in what they can do. If OSD better understood what tools and mechanisms are available to DoD, the United States would know what tools are best to leverage when enforcing U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

CHALLENGE
The Office of the Secretary of Defense needs to understand what law enforcement tools and mechanisms are available to the Department of Defense when implementing U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

LIMITATIONS

Proposed approaches should consider international law, domestic law, and existing practices, while also keeping in mind sovereignty concerns.
Regional dynamics, including roles and responsibilities for the U.S.-led coalition, neighboring states, and international bodies

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)

#7 Not where is the circuit broken, but why is the circuit broken

BACKGROUND
Upon circuit failure, utility technicians are dispatched to determine the site of outage and work to restore power. Most effort, energy, and resources are poured into responding and restoring power; however, little effort is being invested into investigating the root cause of the failure.

This is due to the multistep process utility managers and engineers undergo to understand why the circuit failed. Some steps include time consuming travel to energy data collection sites and crafting presentations to pass up the chain of command. However, the largest difficulty is in integrating all the different types of data. These datasets are generated both internally on the military side, as well as externally on the public utility side. Furthermore, with different types of collection sources, like SCADA, Advanced Metering, relays, and manual input databases, different file outputs such as Excel, .txt, .xml are generated. Translating just one of these outputs into Excel, the Microsoft spreadsheet software, is already taxing. With multiple different sources feeding into one master spreadsheet, it becomes a significant project that answers long term needs, but not short-term demand. Setting aside time and resources into simplifying data integration will yield insights to minimize circuit failure.

CHALLENGE
Utility engineers need a way to quickly aggregate utility data in order to make decisions for energy resiliency and affordability.

LIMITATIONS

Databases include SCADA, AMI, Maximo (asset inventory database and also stores outage information), PM databases (Access databases) and are not connected nor have a key to link them all
Must be able to operate within the Navy network or adhere to Department of Defense Cybersecurity policy

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command

#8 How did you do that?

BACKGROUND
With 170 medical centers spread across the country and the complexities of distributing healthcare, it is difficult for each Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) to adhere to set standards of care. There are two approaches to meet standards of care: 1. Continuity of Care: The processes that generate outcomes are the same universally 2. Continuity of Results: There are variations in care process but the results are the same With such a large healthcare system, it is logical to use resources following the second approach of Continuity of Results. This means that VAMCs that successfully meet positive outcome standards continue practicing their methods, even if it is not the established protocol.

To assist struggling VAMCs, Veteran’s Affairs (VA) leadership works to implement best practices that have been mandated by VA senior leadership or proven to work at a similar site. In a large complicated system like the VA, implementing best practices is far from simple. This challenge is multi-tiered: identifying a problem exists, recognizing and quantifying a best practice, implementing it at a local level, and evaluating if this new best practice is appropriately rigorous to be pushed forward for national implementation. However, before best practices can be scaled nationally, the ability and criteria to identify what methods qualify as “best” is critical.

CHALLENGE
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Diffusion of Excellence Team needs to establish criteria to deem an existing or developed practice “best” in order to make data-driven decisions around implementation strategies for VAMCs.

LIMITATIONS

Some data exists that tracks successes and failures on specific practices

PROBLEM SPONSOR: Veteran's Health Administration

#9 MQ-9 Ground Control Stations

BACKGROUND
The MQ-9 aircraft is a remote controlled plane that is controlled by a pilot in a Ground Control Station. When the initial aircrafts were purchased in the late 1990s by the Air Force, they were purchased as off-the-shelf-technology from General Atomics. The Ground Control Station, functions as a cockpit for the remote controlled planes and was intended for a technology demonstration. However, the display is difficult to use for pilots as they need to focus primarily on the heads up display (HUD) and at navigation. The more time they spend looking away from the primary display, the less effective they are as aviators.

The current design necessitates the pilot to look at six different screens for information on the weather, weapons systems, intelligence, as well as ground force locations and aircraft locations.

As a result, pilots’ ability to quickly gather information from different sources is greatly diminished. In addition to the plethora of screens, data sources have been added gradually, resulting in the use of multiple siloed software programs within the cockpit. For this reason, aircrew need access to integrated data in order to allow for better communication between pilots and increased situational awareness.

Long-term Goal: Aircrew need to be able to efficiently interact with the data (share, modify, filter).

CHALLENGE
MQ-9 Pilots and Sensor Operators need integrated data sources in order to increase their situational awareness when flying remote aircraft.

LIMITATIONS

This design must integrate with existing software • The solution must be capable of operating on Department of Defense Top Secret/ Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) Networks

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Air Force

#10 Reduce & Reuse: Water Decontamination

BACKGROUND
Decontamination of individuals and machines is a critical function of the National Guard’s specialty units, including the CBRNE (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and High-yield Explosive) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) and Homeland Response Force (HRF). For machines, less water and more acidic tools are used for decontamination. For human usage, the opposite is true.

Initially, clean water is acquired for usage, but in the process of decontamination, this clean water becomes hazardous waste and is collected in large blivits - storage containers for various liquids. This has led to an accumulation of these blivits, which are difficult to transport and an inefficient system of water source utilization. Aiding the Mass Casualty Decontamination Element, who spearhead this work done by the CERFP and HRF, would ultimately reduce the amount of backlogged waste that accumulates as a result of the current process.

CHALLENGE
The Mass Casualty Decontamination Element needs a process to sanitize and release water back into native sources in order to reduce storage requirements due to the accumulation of wastewater.

LIMITATIONS

Process must meet EPA pollutant requirements

PROBLEM SPONSOR: National Guard

#11 Remotely Piloted Aircraft Communications in Denied Environments

BACKGROUND
For remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, maintaining strategic communication and line-of-sight links (SATCOM/LOS), is a critical piece of daily operations. Line-of-sight is a type of data link used for communication in RPAs. It uses different frequency bands and needs two units (the drone and the ground station) with directional antennas. It additionally enables point to point high speed communication. However, potential conflict with near-peer competitors will significantly increase the threat of disruption to SATCOM/LOS in RPAs like the MQ-9. In such a conflict, RPAs would be operating in contested and extremely hostile environments with potential disruption including electromagnetic interference. While MQ-9 pilots take off and land the aircraft, remote crews pilot the aircraft during its flight and rely on satellite communication to communicate with the aircraft. For this reason, securing the communications of RPAs in communication-denied environments will strengthen United States combat air forces invaluably. In order to sustain aircraft control, RPA link architecture cannot rely on satellite communication.

CHALLENGE
MQ-9 Weapons aircrew need a way to fly MQ-9 aircraft without reliance on satellite communication in order to ensure continued operations in satellite-denied environments.

LIMITATIONS

Must use either current hardware or hardware in development.
Ability to work amidst expected electromagnetic interference and other forms of disruption.

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Air Force

#12 Keep 'em Flying: Better Decisions to Maximize Readiness

BACKGROUND
Aircraft Maintenance Schedulers track regular scheduled maintenance, maintenance due to flights, and component failures that require unscheduled maintenance. They aggregate this data into the Integrated Maintenance Data System (IMDS), a web-based system that tracks when maintenance occurs and the duration of maintenance. IMDS data is then compiled and used to determine aircraft maintenance priority. An Excel Spreadsheet is presented in a Shared Resources Meeting where all four aircraft maintenance units and coordinating agencies determine scheduled maintenance priorities. Lead Production Superintendents craft a master schedule during the meeting, as well as leverage the data from the meeting to prioritize scheduled maintenance requests.

The constituent parts that make a functioning aircraft each have an individual schedule for routine check-ups and maintenance. With these prescriptive checks, an aircraft maintenance unit has a set schedule of work to make sure that each part of an aircraft is maintained properly for safety and performance. Depending on the component, routine maintenance can take anywhere from hours to weeks.

As with any machine, usage may fray, break, or strain certain parts, demanding unscheduled maintenance, complicating the existing maintenance schedule. In a single aircraft, there are a number of components and equipment that can undergo complications resulting in unscheduled maintenance. Multiply this by the 24 aircraft in a single aircraft maintenance unit, and it becomes very difficult to prioritize the order in which each aircraft is maintained. To further complicate the decision-making process, deployment orders usually come several months before departure.

During a deployment, all aircraft will not have access to maintenance facilities, and thus all scheduled maintenance that will occur during the deployment must be completed in advance.

CHALLENGE
Lead Production Superintendents need better methods to prioritize scheduled and unscheduled maintenance requests in order to maximize the number of ready and effective aircraft.

LIMITATIONS

Research should be done across Air Force Bases to see how different Aircraft Maintenance Units schedule efficiently.

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Air Force

#13 Ensuring Material Visibility

BACKGROUND
Within the Marine Corp, there is a constant need to know the status of equipment in order to assess the level of combat readiness. If the equipment is broken or inoperable, Material Readiness Staff, who are tasked with compiling reports on the status of materials and other resources (manpower, funding, training, and equipment), must be able to quickly and accurately provide this information to their commanders as well as draw valuable insights from the information gathered.

Currently, compiling this raw data is a long and arduous task. There are at least seven different platforms that the officers use, including various excel spreadsheets. Information must be collected from across the Major Subordinate Commands, and the current process is largely over email, which results in large lag times between requesting and receiving the necessary information. As a result, the process takes over forty hours to complete. Once the information is collected, the Staff must quickly do the analysis, however, there is increasing concern that they are not collecting or prioritizing the right data, therefore decreasing the utility of their analysis. For these reasons, Material Readiness Staff need to be aware of best practices related to material readiness, as well as a way to quickly integrate the minimum amount of data required to pull insights.

CHALLENGE
Material Readiness Staff need a way to quickly integrate material readiness information in order to effectively allocate resources.

LIMITATIONS

Must be compatible with current operating systems

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Marine Corps

#14 Detecting Cyber Anomalies

BACKGROUND
Within the Marine Corps, the Cyber Operations Group is responsible for detecting cyber anomalies within their networks. Anomalies are often discovered based on time and the quantity of data transferred. The largest issue is knowing what is “normal” so that anomalies can be differentiated from the baseline. For example, if a user sends out data during non-duty business hours, such as 2 a.m., or if large amounts of data are sent out by a user doing limited or basic administration work, the Cyber Operations Group knows to investigate.

The Group frequently updates and installs new network analysis tools, as new tools are developed every six to eight months. However, they have begun to use external cyber anomaly detection tools in addition to their internal tools as the complexity of intrusion attempts warrants additional tools. Stereotypical software signature detection of threat packages are no longer sufficient and multiple network analysis tools are increasingly necessary. For this reason, the Cyber Operations Group seeks the ability to improve their anomaly detection capabilities.

CHALLENGE
The Cyber Operations Group needs the ability to detect cyber anomalies at a higher rate than the current systems.

LIMITATIONS

Must not complicate job of operator
New internal analysis tools are required to pass an authority to operate (ATO) process, which can be time intensive and anti-malware tools quickly are outdated and need to be re-updated. External cyber anomaly detection tools do not need an ATO to operate since they are outside the network.

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Marine Corps

#15 So Many Data Sources, So Little Time

BACKGROUND
Marine Corps Maintenance Control Chiefs (MCCs) have the challenge of ensuring aircraft are at maximum readiness. There is a slew of maintenance that has to be regularly performed on state of- the-art jets, helicopters, and planes in order to ensure they are both safe and combat effective. On top of planned maintenance, aircraft have unscheduled maintenance in response to issues that arise from use.

As MCCs prioritize and schedule aircraft maintenance, they aggregate multiple disparate sources of data that were designed in an “as needed” manner. Thus, none of these data sources are easily integrated, and it is the duty of the MCC to combine these data sources to create a common schedule. A significant amount of time is required to aggregate these data systems, and there are frequent changes as new data comes in from unscheduled maintenance. Furthermore, with manpower fluctuations, MCCs must determine the capacity of a maintenance department. By aggregating data sources to show overall demand for maintenance and real time manpower availability, MCCs would significantly increase readiness levels.

CHALLENGE
Maintenance control chiefs need tools to aggregate disparate data sources and manpower capacity in order to maximize readiness levels.

LIMITATIONS

Any tools of interfaces developed must not add to the workload of maintenance control chiefs
Tools leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning could be useful solutions in tying together these disparate data sources

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Marine Corps

#16 Less Talk, More Firing

BACKGROUND
When a Marine platoon requests fire support in combat, the Fire Support Control Center (FSCC) tasks the appropriate fires resources by targeting and engaging the enemy units. A team of 10-12 tactical planners aggregate information on the location of the enemy, friendlies, and availability of resources (mortar teams, artillery teams, close air support). Only the artillery unit has the ability to digitally share information on their location and readiness. Air support and mortar teams communicate through radio, meaning one of the twelve staff members must be in constant communication to determine their availability and ability to support.

When information is collected, it is displayed on a large paper map that details friendly and enemy positions. While there are some Common Operating Picture (COP) tools that allow for this information to be shown on a digital picture, paper maps with hand drawn overlays capture the most information. Thus, the FSCC team pushes paper with information to the team leader who makes the final decision on what resources to task. While this process is effective, it leads to a busy, hectic environment that could further optimize manpower and efficiency.

CHALLENGE
Fire Control Center planners need reliable and adaptable data aggregation tools in order to create better defined courses of action in time-sensitive, high information-density environments.

Long term goal: Develop a digital common operating picture that aggregates and displays data in real time

LIMITATIONS

Any tools or simplification must not hinder the effectiveness of the FSCC team and should not incur an additional tax to personnel or additional personnel.
An FSCC serves a battalion, in which there are three rifle companies. If there are multiple enemy contacts, the high volume of communication increases risk of error and inefficiency in response.

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Marine Corps

#17 Deployed In-place Operations

BACKGROUND
Particular intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) groups within the U.S. Air Force have unique missions that require Airmen to “deploy” in support of real-world operations on a daily basis. These Airmen are intelligence analysts assigned to the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), which supports the intelligence needs of the warfighter and executes worldwide ISR operations. “Deployed-in-place” intelligence analysts are required to work rotating schedules that change every two months and span all hours of the day. At all hours of the day, these intelligence analysts execute ISR operations in a virtual combat environment. When their sift is complete, they go home to their families and friends.”

Limited research on this type of work has identified that deployed-in-place operations can cause adverse effects on Airmen’s behavior, sleep, and physical fitness. Additionally, there is evidence that the stress caused by these operations can lead to suicide. In order to create a healthy environment, Commanders need a way to track and monitor the behavior of Airmen deployed in place. With the ability to track the biological metrics of Airmen, Squadron-level leaders could predict the physical and mental effects of the job and provide proactive preventative care if needed.

CHALLENGE
Squadron level leadership need to track and monitor the biological metrics of intelligence analysts in order to predict the mental and physical effects of deployed-in-place operations and provide preventative care.

LIMITATIONS

Potentially necessary to consolidate all related data

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Air Force

#18 Formal Training Unit (FTU) - Next: Changing the Future of Air Combat Command Training

BACKGROUND
The Air Force has trained its operators, from pilots to technician students, in the same manner for the last 40 years. Training is conducted in three stages: Phase I - Academics, Phase II - Simulation, and Phase III - Live Flight. Through the progression of these phases, students often lose a certain amount of their academic learnings and practical skills due to the length of time of, and between, each stage.

Though some attempts have been made to integrate new technologies into fighter education, there has not been broad or measurable impact on Combat Air Force (CAF) training. The Air Combat Command Training Support Squadron supports approximately 34 different weapon systems and 6000 students, offering over 50 different qualifications. In the short term, the Command hopes to reduce fighter student training time, while increasing proficiency and overall retention of material, with the ultimate goal of changing training techniques more broadly.

CHALLENGE
Combat Air Force (CAF) instructors need improved and expedited training procedures in order to reduce phase duration and information loss of trained student personnel.

LIMITATIONS

Some instruction material is classified
Cost consideration in funding higher-tech solutions
Initial focus will be mostly on U-2, E-3 LONG TERM GOAL Changing training techniques for all students

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Air Force

#19 Influence Through the Levels of War

BACKGROUND
United Nations Command Security Battalion–Joint Security Area (UNCSB-JSA) was established during the Korean War to provide security and logistical support to United Nations Command (UNC) elements involved in the ongoing armistice negotiations. The combined battalion (BN) crosses a language barrier and consists of approximately 80 US and 600 Republic of Korea (ROK) personnel. It serves as a key strategic messaging platform for the UNC Commander, secures and facilitates diplomatic engagement, and fosters communication with the Korean People’s Army (KPA), as the BN is the most forwarddeployed unit on the peninsula. As a result, the actions of Lieutenant Colonel Morrow and his staff at the JSA have a direct and immediate impact on the negotiations and agreements that occur on a daily basis between the UN/ROK Ministry of Unification (MOU)/ROK Ministry of National Defense (MND).

As such, it is important that all involved parties maintain the same level of awareness of the actions, conversations, movements and events surrounding the JSA. The most commonly used form of communication in the peninsula is KAKAO (a cell phone messaging system similar to WhatsApp), which is used for relaying timeline changes and communicating with US, ROK, and New Zealand Soldiers to coordinate weekly operations.

However, KAKAO has a few drawbacks. Firstly, KAKAO functions off of text messages and unlimited texting is not a common luxury in Korea. Secondly, KAKAO’s servers are based in China and its messages are not sufficiently encrypted to secure key information. Thirdly, KAKAO does not integrate with the US army or ROK systems. For example, if a ROK solder creates a document they want to send to the US army, the document must be saved to a disc, uploaded, and then reformatted. As a result, Lieutenant Colonel Morrow and his staff need a better system to maintain awareness of the actions, conversations, movements, and events between all of those involved with the JSA.

CHALLENGE
US soldiers based at the UNCSB-JSA need a secure, convenient and integrated way to communicate with all involved forces at the JSA in order to maintain awareness of the actions, conversations, movements, and events between all involved forces at the JSA.

LIMITATIONS

This channel of communication must account for various levels of classification
This channel of communication must be easily understandable by all of the forces located at the North and South Korean border (US forces, RoK, MOU, MND, KPA)

PROBLEM SPONSOR: United Nations Command Security Battalion

#20 Supporting U.S. Citizens in the Pacific Rim during a CBRN Incident

BACKGROUND
The program within the National Guard that is responsible for responding to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents is the National Guard CBRN Response Enterprise (NG CRE). The NG CRE is well-equipped to respond to CBRN hazards within the lower 48 states. However, as potential threats increase from the west, the National Guard needs to determine how to best provide adequate support to civilians in Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska within 96 hours. There are 22-person National Guard Weapons Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams (WMD-CSTs) in Hawaii, Guam and Alaska, and a CBRN Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) in Hawaii. These units, however, are not large enough to support hundreds of thousands of civilians given the potential catastrophic nature of a CBRN incident combined with the tyranny of distance from supporting units in the lower 48 states. A CBRN incident would likely require medical and decontamination elements, as well as further resources for coordination.

The National Guard has conducted several feasibility studies of how best to get forces and resources from the lower 48 to Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska. Metrics from these studies include possible courses of action such as increasing resources, rearranging current force structure, developing alternate air load plans, and pre-positioning equipment. The National Guard J39 staff seeks alternative courses of action for supporting American citizens in the Pacific Rim during a CBRN incident.

CHALLENGE
The National Guard J39 Staff seeks possible courses of action to address chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents in the Pacific Rim.

LIMITATIONS

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are not located outside the lower 48, and as such, any solution must take into account the need to coordinate with other agencies for limited air capabilities.
Assume no additional funds for the creation of a new unit
Military air-craft availability will be limited
NG CRE units must be able to arrive and begin operations as soon as possible and before 96 hours
The sponsor would prefer to focus first on the digital side instead of augmenting human resources with drones (by air or by sea). The challenge may be coordinating logistics and getting information about the situation on the ground. Technical expertise should include operations research, convex optimization, machine learning (for satellite or drone imagery), or networking (to establish communications).

PROBLEM SPONSOR: National Guard

#21 More Landmines, More Problems

BACKGROUND
Over the past 40 years, encounters with landmines have been limited, reducing the need to prepare soldiers for such scenarios. However, conflict is pivoting from terrorist organizations and nonstate actors to near peer adversaries such as China and Russia. As such, it becomes increasingly likely that US forces will encounter conventional manufactured ordinance, specifically landmines. Although the military has many simulation tools to prepare soldiers for combat situations, such as blanks, paintball pellets, and mock improvised explosive devices (IEDs), landmines lack effective models. While much of the current training focuses on preparing soldiers to detect and avoid landmines, these trainings lack a disciplined response to defusing triggered landmines. Furthermore, with the variety of landmines in use by near peer adversaries, thought will have to be put into selecting a representative model to practice upon. As the US military has and continues to disavow landmine usage, private companies build inert replicas and models that can be explored in the development of a solution.

CHALLENGE
Marine Corps Combat Engineers need tools to effectively simulate neutralizing land mines to prepare them for combat situations.

Long term goal: Integrate a landmine training module that is as realistic as possible across the First and Second Combat Engineer Battalions in the United States Marine Corps.

LIMITATIONS

Cannot use live landmines for safety reasons
Legal boundaries with nonproliferation treaties on landmine use

PROBLEM SPONSOR: U.S. Marine Corps

#22 Media forensics, detecting fake videos and images

BACKGROUND
Advances in artificial intelligence technology make it easy to create synthetic images and video that pass as real. Because of the preponderance of openly available video and image data, it is possible to create person specific 3D reconstruction of one’s face, for example a celebrity or a politician, and map it to another. Having access to this sort of model enables nefarious actors to generate synthetic videos using their face to say the words of another.
Example here: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/01/business/pentagons-race-against-deepfakes/. Or use motion transfer in full body movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCBTZh41Ris
Historically we have relied on media (images and video) as records of truth and evidence in legal, political, and societal settings. With these advancements in synthetic methods, how can we continue to trust and accept all media as truth?

CHALLENGE
We are looking for a framework to detect fake media. Can we detect if an image or video has been tampered with, is it fake? Or can we provide guarantees, via embedded information or other techniques, to mark the authenticity of media. As these technologies get better, we need to more clearly demark a divide between synthetic and real media.

LIMITATIONS

Must be able to detect fake media above chance using current technology considerations
Detection of an image or frame should be in the order of seconds.
Relevant techniques: machine learning

PROBLEM SPONSOR: CIA and In-Q-Tel

#23 Protect your voice from being spoofed

BACKGROUND
The ability to manipulate video, sound, and images to create wholly realistic fake files, or “deep fakes,” is of significant concern to the Intelligence Community. At the same time, human voice is starting to be widely used as a biometric authentication method. For example, banks and healthcare providers use a customer’s voice as a biometric authentication factor.

Advances in artificial intelligence technology make it easy to create synthetic audio that can pass as real and specifically, synthesized human voice. As a result, speaker verification models used to authenticate human voices can now be fooled using synthetic data. This enables nefarious actors to overcome voice-based biometric security.

The Intelligence Community and In-Q-Tel, a not-for-profit strategic investor, are interested in exploring how emerging technology can be leveraged to detect a synthetic voice. Ultimately, this would inform countermeasures and recommendations to enhance voice verification systems.

CHALLENGE
Analysts need a way to detect whether a voice is generated from a real human being or if it is synthetic in order to determine its authenticity and credibility.

LIMITATIONS

Must be within existing legal and policy parameters
Necessary to consider repeatability and within certain confidence levels

PROBLEM SPONSOR: CIA and In-Q-Tel