Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / S) technologies to demonstrate a prototypical planning tool that can be used by today's deployed warfighter. All research and work is conducted in a web-based, 'user-centric' fashion utilizing a combination of user-driven and agentbased control of entities for simulation iterations, along with various open source technologies which include Extensible 3D Graphics (X3D), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). Conventions are demonstrated for the integration of the many academic disciplines utilized during this research to achieve automatic generation of tactically significant scenarios. In order to give the end-user the greatest insight towards potential drawbacks in the tactical planning against surface-borne terrorist threats, various 2D and 3D media provide both real-time and non-real time scenario playback. The result of this work is a fully integrated, prototypical, Java-based application that demonstrates how various Open-Source, web-based technologies can be applied in order to provide the tactical operator with tools to aid in Force Protection planning. Scenarios can be auto generated, viewed, analyzed, and manipulated by end users with little to no computer experience necessary beyond requirements for operation of a desktop personal computer (PC) in the Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT-21) environment at sea. This approach has broad applicability to improve the tactical awareness and defensive posture of ships defending against terrorist attacks in port. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Thesis (M.S. in Computer Science)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Donald P. Brutzman, Curtis L. Blais, Gordon Schacher, John Hiles. Includes bibliographical references (p. 216-224). Also available online.