Lifting Off of the Digital Plateau with Military Decision Support Systems
Abstract
Armies have used wargames throughout history to increase their chances of victory by gaining a better understanding of how events might unfold. However, wargaming is not only a military undertaking. In the civilian world, decision support systems are used in various fields, including weather prediction and stock trading. Having observed the success of civilian model-driven decision support systems (DSS) and the advancement of computer-based simulations, military researchers have proposed the idea of introducing wargames during the execution of military operations to aid commanders as part of a model-driven DSS. One experiment, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project called Deep Green, attempted to make this leap. DARPA envisioned Deep Green as a military DSS that compared friendly assumptions and predictions of enemy behavior with actual events as they unfolded. However, Deep Green did not achieve this goal due to the combination of two technical obstacles. The first technical obstacle was the underlying simulation and the predictability of warfare. A simulation that supports a DSS must balance speed and fidelity. To provide a commander a correct analysis too late is of no value, but neither is giving him an inaccurate analysis quickly. The second technical obstacle was the information available to the DSS. In the case of a U.S. Army DSS, the Army Battle Command Systems (ABCS) provide this information. In their current form, the ABCS do not provide the level of fidelity necessary to allow the DSS to "see" reality. Developers must address both of these limitations to rise from the current plateau to a level that would provide useful decision support to a commander.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA583735
Entities
People
- Stephen J. Banks
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College