The First Report is Always Wrong, and Other Ill-Defined Aspects of the Army Battle Captain Domain

The position of battle captain in United States Army battalions involves responsibility for tracking a large quantity of information, communicating important information to the right people, and making decisions quickly when events deviate from plans. Soldiers assigned as battle captain in maneuver battalions have a wide variation in background and experience, yet rarely receive specific training for the role. A scenario-based intelligent tutoring system (ITS), which adapts to the incoming experience and knowledge of the student, could help fill this training gap; but the domain poses a number of challenges for defining the scope, goals and functionality of the ITS. For example, a skilled battle captain will understand that information may be untrustworthy, as well as clues to that effect. A good battle captain will also be able to adapt to the responsibilities and procedures of the particular tactical operations center (TOC), which may vary depending on the commander, the other personnel in the TOC, the location, and the mission. Defining the best course of action may not be possible (there may be multiple solutions, none of which is objectively the best). The battle captain must balance the demands of higher units for information and lower units for time to act. We discuss these issues in relation to the development of the BC-ITS training system for battle captains and its spoken language interface.