Improving Soldier Performance With the AN / PSS - 12

Formal tests over the last decade indicate that American soldiers using the AN/PSS-12 handheld mine detector and Army-approved techniques consistently find less than 20 percent of low-metal mines. 1,2,3,4 Too often this poor performance is rationalized by assuming that the detector itself is just not capable of detecting low-metal mines. Yet, at the same time, professional, commercial, civilian deminers throughout the world are using the same detector and have safely lifted thousands of mines. Because of this great difference in performance between soldiers and professional deminers, we set out to learn what different techniques the experts were using. We wanted to learn if these techniques could be taught in a practical amount of time to improve the detection capabilities of our soldiers so they could apply them to countermine missions. Most importantly, we wanted to know if our soldiers could approach the performance levels of professionals if taught their techniques.