Define the term "situational awareness."

Situational awareness is best defined as the perception of environmental elements and events. It involves being aware of your surroundings, understanding what is happening in your environment, and recognizing how those elements and events may impact your current situation or decisions. This heightened awareness allows individuals, especially in military contexts, to make informed decisions and react appropriately to their environment.

Effective situational awareness requires not just the identification of various factors but also an understanding of the relationships between those factors and how they may change over time. This skill is critical in high-stakes scenarios where quick and accurate decision-making can be the difference between success and failure.

While remaining calm in stressful situations, multitasking, or completing tasks without thought may be beneficial skills in certain contexts, they do not accurately encapsulate the broader concept of situational awareness, which is fundamentally about environmental perception and understanding.