Defense Infantry Research Team
The Defense Infantry Research Team is a team consisting of four James Madison University undergraduate students tasked with aiding the Close Combat Lethality Task Force in innovating the recruitment and accessions for the US Army and Marine Corps infantry branches. Through expert interviews, faculty advice and talking to soldiers and marines at different stages of the recruitment and enlistment process, the team looks to find where the inefficiencies lie and propose solutions using their outside perspectives and various academic backgrounds.
Meet the Team
Caleb Hoehner
Engineering , Class of 2019
Caleb Hoehner is a Senior engineering major at JMU, with a minor in math and military leadership. He has had project experience through capstone projects as well as government contractor internship experience. He is commissioning into the Army Reserves upon graduation and is pursuing a career as a mechanical engineer. He took the Hacking for Defense class to get more exposure on the civilian side of working for the DoD and to learn more about the upper-level organization of the US military.
Heidi Colwell
International Affairs, Class of 2020
Heidi is currently a junior International Affairs major with minors in Criminal Justice and Spanish-English Translation. She joined Hacking for Defense in order to gain experience working with an interdisciplinary team in a professional setting and will be graduating in 2020.
Luke Borman
International Affairs, Class of 2019
Luke joined Hacking 4 Defense through JMU X-Labs as a way of practicing his problem-solving skills and challenging himself to tackle problems that have no clear solutions. He will be graduating in May and returning to his home of Northern Virginia to work.
Blake Smith
Statistics, Class of 2019
Blake Smith is a Senior Statistics major. He works in the James Madison University Intramural department with officiating. He also works with the James Madison University Baseball team in analytics. He took Hacking for Defense for the advancement of the US Department of Defense and is trying to find the best solutions for creative problems.
Learn More About The Project
Our Solution
We developed a recruitment system called MUD, or Matching Undervalued Desires. MUD balances a recruit’s desire and skill along with the military’s current needs and offers the recruit a package of incentives in order to persuade them to choose the occupational specialty that would be best for them and the military.
The Impact
The impact of restructuring the way recruiters treat the infantry branch accessions in the Army and Marne Corps will boost the efficiency of the human resources in the force and more precisely place soldiers into the right units using their profile and results on performance predictors before initial-entry training.
Tests that currently exist such as TAPAS looks at personality and consistency in answers to predict performance and role in the military that is best suited for the recruit. The team’s advice to incentivize a top-three branch suggestion through the testing by granting immediate branch selection and sooner training date will make sure soldiers are content in their role and also perform at the best of their potential.
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US Casualties in the Infantry
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Infantry Personnel Makeup
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Funding Towards the Infantry
Team Blog Posts
CCLTF Blogpost 1
First Team Meeting Luke Borman (International Affairs), Blake Smith (Statistics), Heidi Colwell (International Affairs) and Caleb Hoehner (Engineering) are officially members of the team looking into the needs of the Army and Marines, specifically at the Close...
