Toward Practical Knowledge-Based Tools for Battle Planning and Scheduling
Alexander Kott, Larry Ground, Ray S Budd, Lakshmi Rebbapragada, John Langston · 2002
Use of knowledge-based decision aids can help alleviate the challenges of planning complex military operations. We describe the CADET system, a knowledge-based tool capable of producing automatically (or with human guidance) Army battle plans with realistic degree of detail and complexity. In ongoing experiments, it compared favorably with human planners. Tight interleaving of planning, adversary estimates, scheduling, routing, attrition and consumption processes comprise the computational approach of this tool. Although originally developed for Army large-unit operations, the technology is generic. In this paper, we focus particularly on the engineering tradeoffs in the design of the tool, and on the experimental comparative evaluation of the tool's performance. Figure 1. A COA sketch developed in one of several COA-editing tools that have been used as data-entry interfaces to CADET. The Problem and the Motivation Influential voices in the US Army community argue for significant computerization of the military planning process (Wass de Czege and Biever 2001): "...the Army must create fast new planning processes that establish a new division of labor between man and machine. Decision aids will quickly offer suggestions and test alternative courses of actions." The reasons for exploring potential benefits of such decision aids are multifaceted. The process of planning an Army operation remains relatively cumbersome, inflexible and slow. The planning process frequently involves significant disagreements on estimation of outcomes, attrition, consumption of supplies, and enemy reactions. There is a fundamental complexity of synchronization and effective utilization of multiple heterogeneous assets performing numerous, inter-dependent, heterogeneous task...