The interaction of skill and technology in combat

Is advanced technology so important that we should accept training scale-backs, if necessary, to afford it? Are we better served by older equipment and highly-trained troops or cutting-edge equipment but reduced skills and readiness for at least some parts of the force? These questions become increasingly important as defense budgets fall, concerns regarding readiness grow, and more and more people come to believe we face an era of unusual technological change. Unfortunately, current technology-centric analytical tools for informing decision-makers do not address well these questions. A model is required that represents how skill and technology interact to determine combat outcomes. This paper summarizes our contribution to that model-development process. We propose a functional form that captures the interaction of skill and technology, test its validity using three complementary research methods, and suggest policy and programming implications that follow from our preliminary findings. This paper was awarded the MORS 2000 Rist Prize.