A Mathematical Model of Robust Military Village Searches for Decision Making Purposes

摘要

In the modern, fast-paced, high technology military, making decisions on how to best utilize resources to accomplish a mission with a set of specified constraints is difficult. A Cordon and Search of a village (i.e., village search) is an example of such a mission. Leaders must plan the mission, assigning assets (e.g., soldiers, robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, military working dogs) to accomplish the given task in accordance with orders from higher headquarters. Computer tools can assist these leaders in making decisions, and do so in a manner that will ensure the chosen solution is within mission constraints and is robust against uncertainty in environmental parameters. Currently, no such tools exist at the tactical or operational level to assist decision makers in their planning process and, as a result, individual experience is the only tool available. This paper proposes a methodology and a mathematical model for village searches that applies robustness concepts resulting in a decision-making tool for military leaders to use in mission planning.