An assessment of Submarine Approach Officer decision-making and its implications for command workstation design
Authors
Soldow, David S.
Subjects
Human systems interface
Manpower, personnel and training
Surface/under surface vehicles
Ships and watercraft
Manpower, personnel and training
Surface/under surface vehicles
Ships and watercraft
Advisors
Schmidt, John K.
Whitaker, Lyn R.
Date of Issue
1998-12-01
Date
December 1998
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
en_US
Abstract
U.S. Navy Submarine Approach Officers (AO) use tactical skills acquired from years at sea and a seemingly natural panache to accurately determine an enemy submarine's bearing range, course, and speed. This thesis investigates the effects of AO demographic differences and combat system employment methodologies on the ability to develop a timely and accurate firing solution. Employing a low-resolution submarine combat simulator, approximately 10 percent of the total pool of AO's were taken through two of four pre-scripted initial contact scenarios. The AO's were instructed to execute each scenario until they perceive that an accurate solution is obtained on the enemy submarine. The demographic differences of geographic location, ship type, and duty type are the top three traits that distinguish between success and failure. Further data analysis reveals differences in the information utilization of the simulator between successful and unsuccessful operators. Additionally, utilizing a survey administered to the subjects and basic display design principles, a notional command workstation for the next generation of submarine is developed. The conclusions of this research provide insight into the cognitive modeling, training, and selection of AO's, as well as adding to the growing body of work in the design of military decision support systems.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research (OR)
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
xxvi, 123 p.
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.