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Dynamic intuition in military command and control: why it is important, and how it should be developed

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Abstract

This paper considers combat dynamic intuition (CDI). We define CDI as the cognitive capability possessed by a military commander when conducting operations. The paper serves two purposes: firstly, we briefly review the previous research on decision making and learning in dynamic systems, in order to discuss the role of microworlds as training environments to improve CDI. In particular, we focus on the advantages of applying system dynamics techniques when designing microworlds to represent "real world" operational challenges. Secondly, we draw implications from a microworld-based experiment, where task complexity is the manipulated variable. The results indicate that environment simplification in itself is not enough to enhance learning in a microworld setting—a conscious pedagogical program, aimed at increasing the training intensity, should also be developed in support of such training. The latter suggestion should be considered an opportunity for further research on CDI improvement.Footnote 1

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Notes

  1. A substantial portion of this work was conducted while the first author was employed at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE).

  2. According to Brehmer (2002) expert decision makers are recognised by their capability to adapt their work strategies to control their work load.

  3. Note that an alternate interpretation of the experiment is as an investigation of the extent to which experience with dynamic control tasks involving individual systems would be transferable to tasks requiring coordination of the respective systems. Would coordination performance be enhanced by providing subjects with practice on the separate control tasks, prior to engaging in the coordination task?

  4. The model was implemented in ithink Analyst system dynamics modelling software (version 6.0 for Windows)

  5. Half of the decisions need to be made for each of the sub-models as compared to the full model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Operations Division, Norwegian Defence Leadership Institute (NODLI), NO-0015 Oslo, Norway

    Bjørn Tallak Bakken

  2. Division for Systems Analysis, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE), P. O. Box 25, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway

    Martin Gilljam

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  1. Bjørn Tallak Bakken
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  2. Martin Gilljam
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Correspondence to Bjørn Tallak Bakken.

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Bakken, B.T., Gilljam, M. Dynamic intuition in military command and control: why it is important, and how it should be developed. Cogn Tech Work 5, 197–205 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-003-0123-1

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