An evaluation of the effectiveness of U.S. Naval Aviation Crew Resource Management training programs a reassessment for the twenty-first century operating environment

Abstract

This thesis describes a multi-faceted evaluation of the U.S. Naval Aviation Crew Resource Management (CRM) program. CRM training is used to instruct naval aviators in safety critical, non-technical behaviors. Reactions were evaluated by using a single item from command safety climate questionnaires (n=51, 570 observations over nine years). Attitudes were assessed using a 37-item survey (364 responses). Knowledge was evaluated using a 10-item multiple-choice test (123 responses). Finally, the causes of naval aviation mishaps from fiscal years 1997-2007 (238 mishaps) were examined to identify how many were attributed to failings related to CRM concepts. It was found that aviators perceived CRM training to be useful, had positive attitudes towards concepts addressed in the training, and the level of knowledge was constant across rank and aircraft type. Nevertheless, human error still accounts for more than 80% of all mishaps in naval aviation, and over 65% of those are attributed to at least one failure in CRM. As human error continues to plague naval aviation, routine evaluations of CRM's effectiveness are critical to ensure it is achieving its goal to "improve mission effectiveness by minimizing crew preventable errors, maximizing crew coordination, and optimizing risk management" (CNO, 2001).