Efficient Implementation of Simulation Support for Tactical-Level Military Training

Computer-based games and simulations provide the means for practicing essential elements of combat which in a realistic exercise setting would require substantial resources in terms of personnel, time, and investments. Another important aspect of such games and simulations is the possibility to make use of gameplay log data for conducting debriefings, etc. This paper presents a study where relatively simple computer simulations were developed to improve poorly supported training aspects, and support debriefing and measuring of training outcome. A previous feasibility study showed a lack of systematical implementation of tactical-level military training simulation support. In the feasibility study, three Swedish military units were chosen to illuminate a number of varying and currently undeveloped tactical-level training domains where games and simulations can make a difference, to evaluate the potential training benefits in terms of learning and organizational practices. The feasibility study showed and exemplified that there exist many tactical-level military training domains that are likely to benefit from using relatively simple computer simulations, and also that the same system can be a support for both the training audience and the exercise management. Based on the feasibility study, this paper presents a proof of concept agent based simulation system that has been implemented and validated within the scope of a military command post exercise. Through using a generic agent based simulation engine along with commonly accepted communication protocols, the potential to complement and provide an additional edge to today’s procedures can be achieved using comparatively small efforts. The paper is concluded by presenting a generic approach to easily implement agent based simulation support at undeveloped tactical domains, and best practices for doing so. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Joel Brynielsson is a deputy research director at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) and an associate professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Joel is Docent (Habilitation) in Computer Science (2015), and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (2006) and an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering (2000) from KTH. His research interests include uncertainty management, information fusion, probabilistic expert systems, the theory and practice of decision-making, game theory, web mining, privacy-preserving data mining, cyber security, and computer security education. Sinna Lindquist is a senior scientist at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), and holds a Ph.D. in HumanComputer Interaction from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. Her research interests include pedagogical issues regarding decision training, decision support systems, crisis management, usability, as well as methodological issues regarding field studies and user-centered design activities. Linus Luotsinen is a scientist at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). He received a Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2007. His research interests include modeling and simulation, behavior modeling, intelligent agents, computer generated forces, multi-agent systems, and machine learning. Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2016 2016 Paper No. 16292 Page 2 of 12 Efficient Implementation of Simulation Support for Tactical-Level Military Training Joel Brynielsson, Sinna Lindquist, Linus Luotsinen FOI Swedish Defence Research Agency SE-164 90 Stockholm, Sweden [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]