USAF 24th Special Operations Wing Looks to Sparta Science Technology to Address Injuries and Improve Fitness

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. – The U.S. Air Force 24th Special Operations Wing (24th SOW) Human Performance team has partnered with Sparta Science, the industry leader in force plate machine learning technology that reduces injury risk and increases readiness for warfighters. Leveraging a database of over two million scans, Sparta Science’s Force Plate Machine Learning™ can analyze the movement imbalances of a warfighter in a matter of seconds to identify areas with an increased risk of musculoskeletal (MSK) injury. 

Operating in such a high tempo environment, the 24th SOW Human Performance team needed real-time readiness insights about their Airmen — at home and abroad. The objective data Sparta provides about each Airman can readily be aggregated and interpreted, enabling an at-a-glance view into the Wing’s overall condition. 

“The 24th SOW Human Performance team is consistently looking for innovative ways to assess, maintain and enhance the health and performance of our most valued asset, our Special Tactics Airmen,” said Hunter Treuchet, the Human Performance program director with the 24th SOW. “Acquiring force plates and machine learning technology allows for an objective assessment and identification of potential musculoskeletal issues, which could impact operator readiness.”

The Sparta Science solution can be easily integrated across multiple squadrons, domestically and globally, at the necessary speed and scale to report the readiness of their warfighters. The Sparta Science software securely centralizes objective data in real time, allowing the database to be instantly available to squadrons around the world. Sparta Science’s MSK injury diagnostic system is capable of providing machine learning variables that inform decision-making about service member readiness.

Sparta Science currently partners with several commands across the U.S. Armed Forces to help increase readiness, as well as achieve and maintain the needed fitness levels for warfighters in a way that is both tailored to the individual and can be deployed at scale. The report accompanying the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Department of Defense to study and report to Congress on the effectiveness of force plate machine learning and how it can increase the health and readiness of America’s military. This comes at a time when the military is increasingly looking to technology to help it modernize and win future battles.