Battle Command Metric Exploration in a Simulated Combat Environment

Battle Command, or Command and Control, is a commander's guidance of his/her forces (command) to accomplish a goal or mission while monitoring the directed movements (control). The U.S. Army Research Laboratory's (ARL) Battlespace Decision Support Team (BDST) is exploring methods of evaluating the effectiveness of a commander's course of action (COA) and resulting battle plan. Part of our research has involved the task of identifying metrics to rate a COA. Our experiment used the One Semi-Automated Forces Testbed Baseline to iterate an ARL-develop scenario more than 200 times. We captured battlefield data supportive of COA analysis. BDST personnel used data mining techniques to extract critical elements germane to our goal of identifying variables that correctly classify battle outcome. Future applications of tools and techniques developed through this and other experiments will assist commanders as they plan asymmetric campaigns on complex terrain. The original document contains color images.