<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> To preemptively respond to the ever changing battlefield and in light of growing threats to national security, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and by extension the U.S. military, have developed human performance optimization (HPO) initiatives to improve warfighter performance for increasing mission readiness. African American officers, by way of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), have long been and continue to be an important constituency for this strategy.</p><p>Using the results of an online search via the Internet of HPO-like academic offerings at HBCUs, this paper proposes that the U.S. military could enhance its war fighting capability, and specifically that of its African American officers, for increased preparedness, increased performance and sustained and increased readiness by modeling HPO like programs at HBCUs. The authors examine similar efforts around the world, offer the potential benefits to be derived from expanded collaborations between the U.S. military and HBCUs and discuss the implications for the U.S. military and militaries within international communities, HBCUs and future research. </p></abstract>

To preemptively respond to the ever changing battlefield and in light of growing threats to national security, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and by extension the U.S. military, have developed human performance optimization (HPO) initiatives to improve warfighter performance for increasing mission readiness. African American officers, by way of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), have long been and continue to be an important constituency for this strategy.Using the results of an online search via the Internet of HPO-like academic offerings at HBCUs, this paper proposes that the U.S. military could enhance its war fighting capability, and specifically that of its African American officers, for increased preparedness, increased performance and sustained and increased readiness by modeling HPO like programs at HBCUs. The authors examine similar efforts around the world, offer the potential benefits to be derived from expanded collaborations between the U.S. military and HBCUs and discuss the implications for the U.S. military and militaries within international communities, HBCUs and future research.

Employing Human Performance Optimization Initiatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Case of the U.S. Military

Ph.D., Associate Professor, Mark O. Hatfield School of Government, College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University,

Human Performance Resource Center, Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS),

Ph.D., Director, Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS),

Journal of Military Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

To preemptively respond to the ever changing battlefield and in light of growing threats to national security, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and by...

Employing Human Performance Optimization Initiatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Case of the U.S. Military

Published Online: Nov 23, 2016

Page range: 5 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jms-2016-0175

Keywords
human performance optimization (HPO), warfighter, readiness, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), African Americans, Blacks, U.S. military

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Employing Human Performance Optimization Initiatives from Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The Case of the U.S. Military

Published Online: Nov 23, 2016

Page range: 5 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jms-2016-0175

Keywordshuman performance optimization (HPO), warfighter, readiness, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), African Americans, Blacks, U.S. military

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
human performance optimization (HPO), warfighter, readiness, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), African Americans, Blacks, U.S. military