Concept-Level Anticipatory Planning

The U.S. Military is investigating ways to take advantage of modern information systems, simulation techniques, and artificial intelligence methodologies to gain information dominance over potential adversaries. One of the research areas being explored is the implementation of a new approach to planning called “anticipatory planning and adaptive execution” that merges planning, execution, and monitoring into one continuous process. The first research prototype in this area, called OpSim, verified the utility of operationally focused simulations in detecting and reporting deviations from the plan. A follow on system, called APSS, proved the concept of combining execution monitoring, dynamic replanning, and adaptive execution to focus planning effort ahead of likely outcomes. The APSS system also demonstrated the requirement for two improved capabilities. The first is the ability to represent the plan at the conceptual level. The second is the necessity of maintaining the plan representation in a distributed environment.