The Soldier Enhancement Program (SEP) is the Army’s initiative for evaluating and procuring equipment that enhances dismounted Soldier performance. The SEP evaluates more than 100 proposals every 6 months to acquire items that enhance small unit mobility and/or Soldier health, safety, and performance.You can check other related topics on our website, AKO Offline.
The US military has long been interested in enhancing its soldiers’ fighting abilities in dangerous environments. Projects such as Idiophylaxis and Inner Armor illustrate how biomedical enhancements can be embedded into soldiers’ bodies to improve their ability to resist environmental threats and disease.
As a result, the ethical questions raised by these technologies raise significant concerns. We need to identify the appropriate norms for addressing these issues so that soldiers can be enhanced safely and without causing harm to them or society.
Enhancements in the US military have a history that dates back to the early years of biomedical research and research into human adaptation to environmental and battlefield conditions and stressors. The US military’s early conceptions of “Idiophylaxis” and later plans for the supersoldier and biological armor were part of a wider historical evolution of biological research, imagination, planning, and funding to anticipate counter, imagine, and respond to battlefield environment and disease threats to soldiers’ health and performance at a level of the soldier’s own biology.
These internal protections and quotidian responses to environmental and battlefield threats at the level of the soldier’s own biology are often considered more important than the external enhancements and augmentations that may increase the soldier’s lethality or survivability. However, it is critical to remember that despite the military’s desire to gain a tactical advantage or win a war, it still exists as a profession whose interests and societal obligations are inextricably linked to its members’ moral integrity.
Developing policy for the acquisition of enhancement technologies and their ethical boundaries is a constantly evolving process. Using the lessons of World War I and other military experiences, it is possible to develop norms that avoid harmful and unnecessary side effects of enhanced technologies that harm the soldier and society.
What does SEP stand for in Army?
The Soldier Enhancement Program (SEP) is an Army acquisition program that relies on commercially available technologies adapted to meet specific Soldier requirements. Items are chosen based on feedback from Soldiers, commanders, and industry leaders worldwide.
SEP-approved candidates must provide a starting point that will lend itself to being adapted and fielded in no more than 3 years. This allows for a flexible acquisition process that is responsive to changing needs.
Resilience training is an important component of SEP because combat stress can negatively affect a Soldier’s mental and physical health. It can also lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that is prevalent in Soldiers who have experienced significant trauma.
The SEP offers a variety of resilience-training programs. One is Master Resilience Training, or MRT, which uses videos, Power Point presentations, and role-playing to teach Soldiers how to better manage their emotions and stress levels to build stronger relationships with friends and family.
Another program is a self-care course that helps Soldiers develop healthy habits to avoid illness and injury. This includes a series of mindfulness, sleep, exercise, and nutrition classes.
In addition, the SEP offers training in emotional fitness and spiritual fitness. This helps Soldiers develop tools for identifying and accessing resources in times of struggle, such as through chaplains, ritual, meaning-making, or meditation, says Bowling Green University psychology professor Kenneth Pargament, Ph.D.
How long is the Army CSP program?
The Army Career Skills Program, or CSP, offers Soldiers the opportunity to participate in “first-class” career job training. That includes pre-apprenticeships, on-the-job training, employment skills training, and internships. This civilian work experience improves the likelihood of Soldiers finding jobs in their desired fields.
The program is a Department of Defense skill bridge initiative that partners with corporate hiring initiatives and helps transitioning service members get the civilian work experience they need to enter the workforce. It also enables businesses to gain early access to highly skilled Soldiers as potential employees.
Since its establishment in 2013, the CSP has trained over 21,000 Soldiers and placed them into high-demand jobs with a 93% success rate. Some CSP programs focus on a specific military occupational specialty (MOS), but others are available in more than 210 in-demand career fields.
For example, SSG Zachary Burns of Fort Wainwright in Alaska got his dream Village Public Safety Officer job through a CSP internship with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association. His CSP helped him develop a number of vital skills, including crime-fighting tactics, community-building, and firefighting.
In December 2016, the Army made permissive temporary duty authority (PTDY) available, allowing more Soldiers to take advantage of CSPs outside their 50-mile radius of their permanent duty stations. To find a CSP program near your permanent station, visit the IMCOM Career Skills Program website.
What does Army ACS offer?
Army ACS offers a variety of programs to help military families meet the challenges they face. ACS has something for everyone, whether it’s an interest-free loan or grant from Army Emergency Relief, relocation services, lending closets, and more.
ACS Director Monica Ulibarri says the Army community is constantly changing. That’s why she and her staff work to find real-life solutions for their clients.
The most recognized ACS program is AER, which provides financial assistance on a case-by-case basis to Soldiers and their family members who may be experiencing an emergency due to no fault of their own. Other ACS programs include the Exceptional Family Member and Relocation Readiness programs.
Many military families find these programs very helpful, especially when moving frequently. Getting the right information at the beginning of a move can help with obtaining housing, finding schools for children, and learning about all of the benefits available to them.
ACS also offers classes and support groups for families that deal with stress, anger, deployments, and more. The training helps people better manage these issues and build resilience. ACS also helps people with money management and budgeting, as well as parenting and relationship skills.
What is SCE in Army?
The Soldier Enhancement Program (SEP) is the Army’s program that encourages commercial product development and testing for combat use. It also provides an avenue for Soldiers to recommend commercial products that can improve their missions.
The US military has long focused on developing technologies that protect soldiers from the environment, disease, and other external threats they face in combat. However, this focus has been less on protecting soldiers’ internal health and well-being.
This is because the United States military sees its mission as enabling the individual soldier to perform their task, whatever that might be, at any given moment and place. That means anticipating and manipulating the body to enable a soldier to meet any threat they might encounter in their mission.
One of the most prominent examples of this type of research is prophylaxis, or “internally armoring” the soldier. This is accomplished by manipulating the body’s biology through military medicine to make it more resilient to stressors that can cause the soldier to break down and die.
Another example is the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit or TALOS. This liquid-metal suit protects the soldier from bullets, shrapnel, and explosions.
The US Army is also attempting to internally armor its Soldiers through biomedical performance-enhancement programs. These programs aim to create a more robust and capable soldier with bodies that are better equipped to fight in the future.