Agent-based simulation of military operations other than war small unit combat

Abstract

A significant challenge to the Armed Forces today is the development of tactics, techniques, procedures, and equipment that will enable success in the small-scale combats that characterize Military Operations Other Than War (MOOTW). This thesis develops an agent-based simulation methodology for modeling MOOTW combat scenarios. The methodology combines agent-based modeling with discrete event simulation in a software package called AgentKit. AgentKit is used to model a riot control problem for an experiment that pits two kinds of tactics against two different kinds of crowds. This simulation yields insights into the scenario modeled and demonstrates the usefulness of agent-based simulation for the exploration of tactical concepts in a MOOTW context.