Nett warrior C3Conflict experiment: measuring the effect of battlefield awareness in small units
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Authors
Smith, Christian
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2011
Date
2011
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This report discusses the findings of the Nett Warrior (NW) C3Conflict experiment and its implications for the NW Basis of Issue (BOI). The experiment used the C3Conflict war game to elicit and contrast measures of leader performance across two conditions that simulated alternative BOI for NW. C3Conflict is a distributed, computer-based, multiplayer, small unit war game designed to elicit measures of leader performance focusing on command, control, and communication. In the fully NW-enabled condition, the C3Conflict interface simulated the information and communication enabled by NW and made this package available to three soldiers---one in the role of Squad Leader (SL) and two in the role of Team Leader (TL). In contrast, in the partially NW-enabled condition, C3Conflict made that package available only to SL; the interface for the two TL simulated the limitations of line-of-sight vision. Eighteen hypotheses were tested. All predicted that unit performance would be better in the fully NW-enabled condition. Ten were confirmed. No measures showed superiority for the partially NW-enabled condition. These findings support the argument that the fully NW-enabled BOI improves squad-level communications, coordination, and maneuvers. In the discussion section, these results are interpreted to reveal that the fully-enabled BOI is the preferable option for two reasons. First, if SLs use the full range of capabilities offered by NW, their workload is likely to decrease. Second, the fully-enabled BOI promotes the autonomy and battlefield awareness of TLs. Fully-enabled TLs are likely to be better prepared to assume command, if necessary.
Type
Technical Report
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-OR-11-001
Sponsors
Funder
Format
XII, 75 p.: col. ill.;28 cm.
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.