Assessing the reliability of skilled performance

In some high-hazard military tasks, precision of motor skills is crucial to avoid a risk-sensitive drop or other mishap. Sparse data supports a basic level of reliability for this activity seemingly much lower than typical, individual action, slip-mode errors would yield. A typical occurrence failure rate seems to be of the order of 1 × 10−5 per opportunity. A speculation is tendered that this represents a difference in kind; that the reliability of skills is a different taxon than previously called out in the typical scheme of human reliability.