AFRL Takes Up the SWORD to Assist Warfighters and Pararescuers Published June 20, 2012 By Ms. Cynthia Cartee 711th Human Performance Wing WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory are transitioning to a new program to assist joint terminal air controllers (JTACs) and pararescue jumpers (PJs). For several years, AFRL's 711 HPW's Human Effectiveness Directorate enhanced technology for the Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge (BATMAN) project. The BATMAN project is designed to reduce weight, integrate components, enhance ergonomics and improve operator interfaces - thus increasing warfighters' efficiency in the field. The BATMAN concluded at the end of Fiscal Year 2011 and is being replaced with the Specialized Warfighter Operations Research and Development (SWORD) program. Under SWORD, the program will expand research to include the PJs, who perform rescue and recovery missions involving people and equipment behind enemy lines. They are part of the Guardian Angel Weapon System, which also includes combat rescue officers, and survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists. So that AFRL's scientists and engineers could better understand the work of the Guardian Angel Weapon System, PJs from the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron Air National Guard Unit, Louisville, Kentucky, staged a rescue demonstration in the parking lot of the Tec^Edge Innovation and Collaboration Center in Dayton, Ohio. Using a junk car to represent a Humvee, four military personnel from the 711 HPW/RHC acted as "victims" who were trapped in the vehicle following an explosion. By viewing the exercise from a Lab perspective, researchers will be able to determine if there is a better way to perform the mission, or adapt a technology to aid their efforts.