Wearable tech and data analytics pair with human coaches and athletes for the 2024 DOD Warrior Games

Every year the Department of Defense and the Army Training and Doctrine Command host the Warrior Games, a large Olympics-like event that showcases hundreds of wounded, ill and injured active duty and veteran military members competing in various games and adaptive sports. The event allows athletes to show off their impressive skills, and it also becomes part of their recovery.

And this year, several athletes were outfitted with wearable technology that recorded things like their heart rate variability, climate acclimation, stress and workout recovery times. When combined with deep data analytics and an expert human coach, it helped the athletes train safely and more effectively reach their performance goals. In our previous column in this series, Nextgov/FCW talked with Ashley Christman, an active-duty Major with the U.S. Marine Corps and a multi-sport athlete at the Warrior Games who used the technology for the first time to assist with her training, and also to help with her battle against cancer. She was highly impressed with the role that technology could play in improving athlete performance and safety.

“The more I use smart technology in my training and cancer fight, the more I have been able to improve my understanding of the right balance and type of training and rest to optimize my performance, fitness, health and my ability to prevent additional injuries.” Christman said. “Smart tech has helped me train more efficiently and brought me new insights and connectivity to my body’s feedback.”

As impressive as the technology is, it works best when paired with knowledgeable human coaches who can read and interpret the results and data to implement efficient and safe training plans for athletes. We talked with Irik Johnson, a human performance coach from Booz Allen who worked at the Warrior Games this year helping athletes perform at their very best.

Nextgov/FCW: Thank you for joining us today. Can you first tell us a little bit about your partnership with the DOD Warrior Game and your duties as a human performance coach?

Irik Johnson: This is the second year we’ve sponsored the Warrior Games, and this year we were honored to be the provider and integrator of human performance technology. For us, the Warrior Games is more than a game. It’s an opportunity for us to continue to understand the unique requirements and needs of individual warfighters, veterans and adaptive athletes to build and train while ensuring safety, health, wellbeing and recovery. The resiliency and perseverance of these athletes is awe-inspiring, and we’re proud to be able to provide them with holistic human performance expertise that can help even beyond the Games. 

The data-driven insight collected at the Games supports the athletes’ physical and mental health year-round, helping them recover and remain active, perform and achieve mission success and maintain resiliency.

In addition, this year we hosted onsite Mastery Workshops focused on priming the Warrior Games athletes for competition, including sessions focused on mental and physical health practices and resources.

Nextgov/FCW: Let’s talk about the technology. How many athletes used it this year, and what was used to collect the data?

Johnson: This year, 35 athletes opted into the human performance program, where wearables like the Oura Ring are used to collect an athlete’s biometric data. That data is then evaluated with the help of advanced analytics, data science and digital engineering to assist coaches and scientists in building the ideal training program calibrated to the unique physiological needs of an athlete. This technology training revolutionizes how we prepare, train, recover and optimize performance, focusing on nutrition, emotional health, physical health, sleep and more. 

Nextgov/FCW: On the back end, what was used to analyze the data being collected in the field?

Johnson: The performance data combined both the quantitative and qualitative. From a quantitative perspective, the data was focused on recovery metrics, specifically resting heart rate, heart rate variability and sleep. Combining this with the qualitative survey that was distributed to the athletes, they were able to gain insight into a holistic picture of their performance. Combining wearable technology, performance data, data science and human performance expertise empowers athletes to adjust their training programs and optimize their routines to their individual needs.

Nextgov/FCW: And how was that data used to help improve athlete’s performance and safety?

Johnson: The training programs developed for athletes, based on their data, were specifically designed to meet the needs of the individual. For example, if their data shows they have a strong response to stressful stimuli, the training can be built with particular focus on improving their coping mechanisms and mental preparedness for such situations.

I can’t get into specific athlete data because of privacy concerns, but I can tell you that from a high-level perspective and trend analysis, we noticed that pain and energy improved over the course of the games. And by the end of the games, the athletes were much more informed about their recovery and were able to adjust their routines.

Nextgov/FCW: You bring up an interesting consideration about privacy concerns. While Major Christman said that she really enjoyed using the technology, I assume that some athletes were hesitant. How do you overcome those reservations?

Johnson: First, is the culture aspect. For the athletes to really adopt this technology and the associated performance data, there needs to be an educational component that arms them with the why. Why use this technology and data? And then it comes down to enabling them from a behavior change perspective that utilizes a feedback loop. This will then empower them to make the necessary changes in their routines and training cycles to optimize their readiness and resilience.

Nextgov/FCW: How rewarding was it for you and the other human performance coaches to assist at the Warrior Games this year?

Johnson: At Booz Allen, about a third of our employees are military-affiliated, meaning they are on active duty, veterans, in the reserves or spouses. They bring that mission understanding and first-hand experience to the athletes supported at Warrior Games, recognizing the positive impact is has on recovery for service members and veterans – both by providing a sense of community and also helping them improve their physical wellness.

Nextgov/FCW: Looking beyond the Warrior Games, could this wearable technology combined with data analytics also assist with training throughout the military?

Johnson: Human performance offers an immense opportunity for military training, bolstering warfighter performance and helping trainees develop the physical, mental and social skills that will shape them as agile, adaptive leaders during active duty and throughout their lives.

There are a range of benefits to the trainee, including understanding personal limits and prioritizing recovery with minimized injury, increased self-awareness and communications skills for better control over reactions to stressful situations, and accelerated readiness with improved decision making and effectiveness.

Nextgov/FCW: What are some of the key elements needed for a program like this to be deployed throughout the military?

Johnson: A few elements of a human performance program for military readiness include tactical training, immersion, biometric data capture and artificial intelligence.

For tactical training, we need immersive tools [to] provide feedback and metrics to evaluate a trainee’s past versus current performance. And in terms of immersion, we should have virtual reality and augmented reality scenarios to allow trainees to safely practice navigating stressful situations.

The wearable technology will capture data to quantify and evaluate tactical athlete performance through eye tracking, heat maps, heart rate variability, ECG-based stress and mental fatigue measurements, plus oxygen absorption and inertial measurement units that track attributes such as posture and body stance.

AI systems will then be able to analyze collected data to identify the root causes of physical and cognitive challenges, allowing instructors and trainees to target areas for the next training cycle to create a continuous loop of improvement.

Nextgov/FCW: So, do you envision what was demonstrated at the Warrior Games being used for military training in the future?

Johnson: The Warrior Games is a perfect example of an element of this technology, specifically wearables, being deployed in real-time, providing a use case to help inform the understanding and further development of human performance solutions. Meanwhile, as mentioned, human performance will be used in military situations to train warfighters with the goal of improving physical fitness and mental fortitude to support them before, during and after they serve.

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys