Date of Award

Spring 2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering

Program/Concentration

Modeling and Simulation

Committee Director

Stacie I. Ringleb

Committee Member

Michael Bailey

Committee Member

James Onate

Committee Member

Andreas Tolk

Abstract

Physical fitness is accepted as an influence on the outcome on the battlefield; yet, research indicates that it has not been incorporated into tactical infantry simulations. Including physical capabilities may have a significant impact upon the results of a tactical simulation. Several battlefield tasks were reviewed, and rushing was selected to implement in tactical infantry simulations. A preliminary spreadsheet model was created that indicated rushing velocity would impact a tactical simulation. Two tactical infantry simulations were created: a helicopter extraction scenario where 13 soldiers rushed to extraction site while two enemies were shooting and a rushing scenario that consisted of three consecutive short rushes by two soldiers to throw a grenade while one enemy was shooting. Rushing input data were collected via an ODU IRB approved study, which also collected data for physical fitness components such as strength, aerobic fitness, flexibility, and body composition. Four rush times (3 meter rush kneeling to kneeling, 6 meter rush kneeling to kneeling, and a 15 meter rush standing to standing) were selected from participants who scored high enough to pass the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Tests and Marine Corps Combat Fitness test. The rushing velocities were used as input for a total of over 160,000 simulation runs which varied the enemy shooting accuracy from 10–30% and varied the enemy shooting cadence from .5 to 3.5 shots per second. Logistic regression was used to analyze the output results. Rushing velocity had a significant impact upon the probability of success (casualty limit or accomplish task) of the soldiers proving that including physical capabilities may have a significant impact upon the results of a tactical simulation.

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DOI

10.25777/7509-6344

ISBN

9781124635422

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