Course of Action Ontology for Counterinsurgency Operations

This paper presents the design and implementation of a course of action (COA) ontology for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. This ontology supports the commander’s C2 decision making processes for COA design, analysis and selection and represents the key elements of the COA planning process; specifically measures-of-performance (MOP) and measures-of-effectiveness (MOE) for describing COA plan states and objectives. These metrics are used in the generation of the plan as well as for assessment of the plan as it unfolds, which provides the decision maker with the ability to change course, if needed, during the execution of the plan. Using these metrics, it is possible to normalize the effects of a COA activity or task, allowing disparate activities and plans to be rationally compared. A utility-theoretic preference model represents the decision making trade-offs that a specific socio-cultural group makes over conflicting plan objectives. This preference model enables the twofold assessment of the plan: from the perspective of the blue force plan creator, and from the perspective of interested specific socio-cultural group, such as an Afghanistan tribal group.