Rachel A. McCaffrey.

Rachel A. McCaffrey is executive director of NDIA affiliate, Women In Defense. She is a retired Air Force colonel, who served 28 years, most recently as the leader of an air staff division responsible for planning and programming command and control and global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs. She addresses the future of human capital in the defense community.

Human capital is a nation's most valuable natural resource. Talk to anyone in the national security enterprise about their thorniest challenges, and it won't be long until the discussion turns to workforce. Continuing to develop human capital into the world's most productive and innovative workforce is vital to U.S. global leadership. Over the next 100 years, the nation must invest in "hardware" and "software" to ensure a workforce ready and able to secure America and its global interests.

Workforce hardware includes technological tools and human-machine interfaces to augment human capabilities. Software includes the education, training and recruitment policies to enable Americans to maximize their talents and capabilities, creating the intellectual and skilled power for America's national security enterprise.

Over the next 20 years, America's warfighters will benefit from a revolution in wearable technology. Warriors' uniforms will incorporate embedded communications equipment, including antennas and radios, as well as function as batteries using the sun or wind, allowing warfighters to move and communicate quickly and easily in any battlespace. These smart uniforms will also monitor bodily functions and respond, to include heating and cooling, to help warfighters attain and maintain peak performance.

Twenty years from now, America will have implemented a revolutionary software mindset for education. The human brain is the most sophisticated computer in the universe, but its performance rises to the quality of its "software" and "apps." Transformation of the nation's "software" delivery methods will drive much more optimized educational outcomes.

Technical schools and universities will invest heavily to accommodate lifelong learning because older workers, enjoying greater longevity with better physical and cognitive health, will make increasingly larger contributions to national security.

Fifty years from now, hardware will transform human performance during combat. Tailored "Iron Man" suits will augment human capabilities, eliminating physical barriers to...

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