Issues and Solutions for Command Post Simulations
Abstract
Highly efficient command post teams are essential to efficient execution of network centric warfare operations. Unfortunately, the modeling of joint command post teams is still very much in its infancy and this lack of foundational research hinders our ability to assess the performance of command post teams and to assess the ability of a new technology or procedures to improve command post operations. Therefore, determining how to model command posts is an important need. While the challenges to efficient network centric warfare command post operations can be addressed by experimentation and exploration, command post simulation in turn poses its own set of challenges. In the main, these challenges arise from the differences between real-world command post settings and the environments that are available within even the best simulation environments and from the differences between modeling team performance and modeling individual performance. These challenges have not been addressed in sufficient detail to date. In our experience, if a command post simulation is to be useful, a critical characteristic that must to be preserved is the ability to translate experimental results into real-world actions, which requires proper experimental design. Specifically, the lessons learned and insights gained in the simulation environment must be able to be exploited and implemented in the real-world in order to improve the capability of the teams modeled in the command post simulation. The challenges faced in accomplishing this translation are developing a simulation environment that has sufficient fidelity in the proper components so that useful real-world conclusions can be drawn and in identifying the scale at which conclusions should be made so that they can translate into real-world actionable recommendations. In this paper, we discuss our experience in command post team simulation and the insights we have gained into command post team simulation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA463180
Entities
People
- Martin R. Stytz
- Sheila B. Banks
Organizations
- Institute for Defense Analyses