Vestibulo‐ocular Reflex (VOR) Impact on USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training Proficiency

Abstract

Objectives: The US Air Force (USAF) enrolls 1400 Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Trainees (SUPT) at 3 locations within the United States each year. SUPT training has an estimated accumulated cost of $1M to $1.5M per trainee. Attrition rates from training have ranged from 7.8% to 36.9%. The cost associated with trainee disqualification is estimated at $1M per percentage point of annual attrition. One percent of UPT disqualifications are due to medical factors and another 1.5% are due to failure to adapt to flying. Methods: In 1994 the USAF conducted rotary chair vestibulo-ocular (VOR) test on 150 SUPT candidates at the USAF Research Laboratory, Brooks Air Force Base as part of the second phase of the Enhanced Flight Screening- Medical Study (EFS-M). Retrospective review of SUPT scores was correlated with pre-training VOR test results of the original 150 pilots who participated in the EFS-M VOR data collection. Twenty-year prospective survey data collected from EFS-M study pilots was correlated to initial EFS-M VOR test results to identify trends in their subsequent pilot career progression and incidence of in-flight physiologic events deemed linked to vestibular illusions. Results: VOR performance trends exist between USAF pilot trainee cohorts. VOR performance can predict initial flight training proficiency in SUPT candidates. Long term follow-up survey responses indicate that VOR performance can predict flight career proficiency in SUPT training candidates. Conclusions: A validated correlation between VOR results and flight performance can help establish VOR test parameters associated with successful flight training ability.