Developing Best Practices for Validation of Irregular Warfare Models

Abstract

Operational, analytic, training, testing, and experimentation communities require irregular warfare (IW) methods, models, and tools (MMT) with tactical-level representation to address key issues and requirements. DoDI 5000.61 requires all models and simulations developed, used, or managed by the DoD to be verified, validated, and accredited. Critical to the tactical representation of IW are interactions between combatants and the indigenous population. Representation of these interactions between humans (human behavior representation, or HBR) will require expertise from several of the many fields of social science, and the verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) of these representations will require adaptation and, in some cases, enhancement of VV&A techniques that have become common practice when conducting VV&A of DoD physics-based combat models and simulations. Moreover, new techniques may be required. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Analysis Center, Monterey (TRAC-Monterey) and the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) are addressing this need by developing best practices for validation of IW MMT representation and applying those best practices to selected existing IW MMT, namely the Cultural Geography (CG) Model and the Peace Support Operations Model (PSOM). The specific aspect of IW that this effort has focused on is the representation of counterinsurgency environments and operations at the tactical level.