COMMAND DECISION TRAINING

BETTER TRAINING FOR DECISION MAKING IS NEEDED, ESPECIALLY AT EXECUTIVE LEVELS, THROUGH TRAINING PROGRAMS BASED ON THEORIES OF PROFICIENT DECISION MAKING. RECENTLY A NATURALISTIC THEORY OF DECISION MAKING HAS EMERGED, THE RECOGNITION-PRIMED DECISION (RPD) MODEL, WHICH DESCRIBES PROFICIENT DECISION MAKERS WORKING UNDER TIME PRESSURE AND UNCERTAINTY. THE RPD MODEL HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO DISTRIBUTED DECISION MAKING (DDM), PRIMARILY THE PERFORMANCE OF COMMANDERS AND OPERATIONS OFFICERS. THE RPD MODEL PROVIDES SPECIFICATIONS FOR AN EXECUTIVE DECISION-MAKING TRAINING PROGRAM THAT EMPHASIZES DEVELOPMENT OF SITUATION ASSESSMENT, USE OF IMAGERY TO EXPAND ON SELECTED OPTIONS, AND MANAGEMENT OF THE DDM PROCESS. TWO RESEARCH APPLICATIONS ARE PROPOSED. ONE APPLIED A RECOGNITIONAL DECISION TRAINING PROGRAM WITHIN A BUSINESS SCHOOL, USING THE ARIBASED EXERCISE VARWARS TO VALIDATE THE QUALITY OF THE TRAINING. THE OTHER APPLIES THE TRAINING PROGRAM TO UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJORS, VALIDATING IN TERMS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROGRAM WRITTEN BY THE TEAM BEING MANAGED. PHASE II WILL GENERATE A THEORETICAL BASIS FOR COMMAND DECISION TRAINING, IDENTIFY A SET OF EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES, AND PRESENT GUIDELINES AND MATERIALS FOR THEIR USE.