KNOWLEDGE BASED DECISION ANALYTIC STRUCTURE FOR DECISION AIDING

COMPLEX AIR FORCE COMMAND AND CONTROL PROBLEMS REQUIRE ADVANCED DECISION AIDING TECHNOLOGY TO GUIDE THE USERS THROUGH PROBLEM FORMULATION, SOLUTION, AND EXPLANATION PROCESS. SUCH PROBLEM AREAS AS TARGET PRIORITIZATION, RESOURCE ASSIGNMENT, PATH PLANNING, ETC., DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE NEAT, EASILY DEFINABLE PROBLEM STRUCTURES. IN THE PAST, DECISION ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO VARIOUS PROBLEMS SUCH AS THESE, BUT SUCH TECHNIQUES OFTEN LACK THE FLEXIBILITY AND CAPABILITY NEEDED TO SOLVE SATISFACTORY THE PROBLEM AT HAND. MORE RECENTLY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) RESEARCH HAS BEEN APPLIED TO THE SAME PROBLEM AREAS TO TRY TO FILL THE GAPS DECISION ANALYSIS DID NOT. BUT NEITHER THE APPLICATION OF DECISION ANALYSIS NOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ALONE HAS RESULTED IN A COMPLETE DECISION AIDING ENVIRONMENT THAT ALLOWS THE USER TO OBTAIN BOTH THE SOLUTION OPTIMALITY AND THE FLEXIBILITY HE OR SHE NEEDS. AN INTEGRATION OF THE BEST FEATURES OF BOTH TECHNOLOGIES IS NEEDED. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEFINE A STRUCTURE FOR A DECISION AIDING ENVIRONMENT WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE INTEGRATION OF THESE TWO TECHNOLOGIES.