This thesis discusses two emerging technologies and how their integration with UAVs can improve the situational awareness capability of the Expeditionary Strike Group. Shotspotter is an acoustic gunshot detection system and Cursor on Target is an XML based schema to enhance information exchanges. When integrated with UAVs, these two technologies will drastically improve an ESG's efficiency and lethality in combat.

The U.S. military has an increasing requirement to prepare for and conduct urban operations (UO). This UO requirement spreads across the spectrum of conflict, from high intensity combat to peacekeeping and humanitarian missions (Stability and Support Operations--SASO), often simultaneously. Regardless of which portion(s) of the warfare spectrum U.S. forces are involved in, urban engagements are inevitable and present major challenges. Superior standoff weapons ranges and combined arms tactics are quickly negated in the confined terrain of a complex and usually unfamiliar urban environment. Often considerably more challenging is the ability to differentiate the enemy from noncombatants--endangering our Soldiers and their mission. Conventional forces, armed only with traditional weapons, normally have two options: the threat of a violent response (passive) or the use of deadly force (active). These two extremes have virtually no middle ground. The reluctance of military and/or peacekeeping forces to employ deadly force on unconfirmed enemy targets creates a vulnerability. This vulnerability may be mitigated by equipping a small combat unit (SCU) with a viable alternative to deadly force-- non-lethal weapons (NLWs). Using an imperfect friend or foe identification modeling framework within an agent-based simulation (ABS), an NLW is essentially used to interrogate (determine the intent of the person in order to identify friend or foe) rather than attempt to incapacitate a target. To determine the impacts of employing NLWs in an urban combat environment (with civilians on the battlefield), three factors were varied across 15 design points: the ability of U.S. military forces to positively identify a target, the range of the selected NLW, and the distribution/number of NLWs in an SCU. By replicating each design point and analyzing the resulting output data, the following insights were determined: the use of NLWs does not degrade U.S. survivability; NLWs are essential to neutralizing suicide attacks; and NLWs decrease civilian casualties.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas Lucas. Includes bibliographical references (p. 82). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, 2008. / "June 2008." Vita. Includes bibliographical references (l. 86-94). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Technology)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Shelly Gallup. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-95). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--RAND Graduate School, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Following the cold war a new kind of threat emerged; terrorism became the most important threat used by individuals, organizations and countries to reach their goals. Turkey has suffered from terrorism for years. In Turkey, the main logistic resource for the terrorist is the villages located in remote areas. A search operation is one of the techniques used to capture the terrorists. Five village search operations scenarios are developed based on a previous study done for the New Zealand Army and the author's personal experiences. For this study, the agent-based model MANA (Map Aware Non-uniform Automata) is used. To investigate the effects of 16 variables state-of-the-art Near Orthogonal Latin Hypercube Designs are used. With a personal computer and the computational capabilities of supercomputers run by Mitre for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) approximately 15000 runs are completed. In comparing the five scenarios, the significant effects on the outcome of a possible skirmish in search operations are the proficiency level of the soldiers, the employment of village guards and the support of the local people to the terrorists. The results of the analysis suggest that the most important factor affecting the Blue casualties is the initial speed and synchronization of the Blue search unit entering the village and the most important factor affecting the Red casualties is the Red Stealth. / First Lieutenant, Turkish Army

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / The insurgency in Iraq has continued despite the determination of U.S. and Iraqi forces. U.S. counter-insurgent strategy has operated from the premise that the main thrust behind anti-U.S. activities is a combination of Sunnis desiring a return to their former privileged position and tribal collective actors with long-standing grievances fuelled by radical Islam. Yet an analysis incorporating insights from gang theory illuminates the diverse, practical, and local motivations of those involved in insurgent networks. Gang theory is uniquely suited to illuminate the street-level dynamics that drive insurgent violence. Through this, a more precise picture of the relevant networks and their operative motivations can be drawn, allowing finer tuned policies targeted to the differentiated factors behind non-state violence. I first consider the origins of and interactions between the armed groups operating in Iraq for discernable trends in development, paying particular attention to factors consistent with gang models. I then alter the gang model for the context of Iraq, and present an integrated model that articulates the likely effects of state-insurgent interaction on stability and security there. I conclude with recommendations demonstrating the model's relevance for strategic use in other regions.

In this thesis, we examine the current levels of cultural understanding and irregular warfare being taught in U.S. Army conventional military schools. Given engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is our view that the military needs a deeper understanding of the indigenous people due to the extremely close and on-going interaction between American Soldiers and the local populations. Current analysis of the difficulties being reported suggests U.S. Army Soldiers are having trouble combating irregular warfare due to cultural misunderstandings and a lack of counterinsurgency training, thereby reflecting a likely educational gap in the U.S. Army's formal military educational training system. This thesis analyzes the current problems and difficulties Soldiers are reported to be having while attempting to combat irregular forces in non-western environments. We analyze the amount of training U.S. Army Soldiers receive in cultural understanding and irregular warfare in the military schools pipeline and conclude that there is a connection between problems Soldiers currently face and a lack of training for the conduct of operations in foreign countries. We propose a number of solutions to overcome these suspected gaps in education and suggested changes to the Army's professional education curriculum.

The nature of warfare has changed dramatically during the last decade. Western armies are increasingly required to conduct complex operations in urban terrain against asymmetric threats. These opponents use cities and their inhabitants for cover and concealment. In such situations, modern equipped armies often cannot fully utilize many of their most powerful weapons. To overcome this situation, modern communication systems are being acquired and deployed to provide real-time reconnaissance; thereby, attempting to neutralize the threat through enhanced situational awareness. This research addresses the potential impacts of communication from airborne sensors on assisting a convoy in finding its way through a hostile city quarter (based on Mazar-E-Sharif, Afghanistan) in which militia forces try to interdict them via street blockades and ambushes. The implementation is done in the agent-based simulation Map Aware Non-Uniform Automata (MANA). The results show that the current MANA version is not sufficiently capable to handle routing problems in urban terrain. Specifically, the movement algorithm is â locally greedyâ and not flexible enough to project into the futureâ as real human decision makers do. Many workarounds were developed to mitigate this limitation. The analysis shows that the number of blockades is the single most important factor in determining the convoyâ s success. Of the communication factors, network latency has the most impact. For the convoy to effectively use the information, it needs to get from the sensor to the convoy in 11 seconds.