Thesis (M.S. in Security Studies (Stabilization and Reconstruction)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2007. / AD-A474 466. "September 2007." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Nov 25, 2008). Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, 2008. / "June 2008." Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-96). Also available via the Internet.

This thesis uses a capabilities-based methodology to determine what gaps exist in the military[alpha]s current ability to perform maritime homeland defense against unconventional and asymmetric opponents. This approach reveals that including joint air assets as part of the maritime defense force can significantly enhance protection of the homeland. In the short term, the military can use air power from each of the services for long-range maritime surveillance and interdiction. Additionally, using aircraft for maritime defense combat air patrol provides an effective and efficient last line of defense. Over the longer term, an investment in new technologies including non-lethal weapons and persistent surveillance platforms can make the joint force an even more effective guarantor of U.S. maritime security.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Jeff Crowson. Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38). Also available online.

The attack on the USS Cole within a civilian port, and the increased threat of pirating and terrorism on the high seas, underscore the immediate need for a maritime non-lethal capability. This research uses modeling and simulation to explore the requirements and tactical use of non-lethal capabilities in a maritime force protection mission. Specifically, a multi-agent simulation emulates a tactical-level mission in which a U.S. Navy vessel returning to Naval Station, Norfolk, VA, encounters a variety of maritime surface threats. Data farming is the method used to address the research questions by applying high performance computing to the simulation model, with the intent of examining a wide range of possibilities and outcomes. The non-lethal capabilities are analyzed in their effectiveness to 1) determine intent, 2) deter inbound surface vessels, and 3) engage targets identified as hostile through the continuum of force.

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.A.)--Marshall University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 61 p. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-40).

Modeling and representing combat and individual soldiers is a complex task. Several factors influence combatant behavior. Using non-lethal methods has become one way for combatant commanders to accomplish their wartime mission. Current the Army and Marine Corps models are not capable of non-lethal weapon replication. The Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center (TRAC) Monterey California has funded a program of research related to individual combatant representation in modeling and simulation. Modeling non-lethal weapons was identified by TRAC-Monterey as important to better represent actual combat. This thesis used COMBATXXI , a high-resolution, closed-form, stochastic, analytical combat simulation, to replicate non-lethals and study the effects on individual combatants. Existing source code was modified to model the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), the non-lethal platform chosen for this research. LRAD is an acoustic device designed to modify the behavior of personnel with a high intensity warning tone. Once the LRAD capability was developed, a scenario was developed to test the simulated effects of the device. A model was developed to accurately determine behaviors of individual combatants. It was concluded that the implementation of this new non-lethal capability in COMBATXXI improved the model and created a more realistic representation of actual combat conditions.

Livestock guardian dogs – or “LGDs” – are commonly used by domestic sheep ranchers and reduce the need for killing wild carnivores to protect livestock. LGDs are mostly used in the United States to reduce the number of livestock killed by coyotes, but whether they can prevent killing by larger carnivores like wolves and grizzly bears is unclear. It is important to identify which behavioral traits and LGD breeds work best for guarding livestock so that ranchers can protect their stock and environmentalists can enjoy a greater number of wild animals on the landscape. This study investigated the effectiveness of different LGD breeds in the Western U.S. to help determine how best to use LGDs. I investigated (1) which LGD breed works best for each predator, (2) if LGD breeds behave differently, (3) how carnivores respond when LGDs and sheep move through their home ranges, and (4) whether having good LGDs makes ranchers more accepting of predators. I compared common U.S. breeds of LGD with three exotic breeds used primarily in other countries with wolves and grizzly bears. From 2013 – 2016 data was collected on sheep that were killed and what killed them, how different LGD breeds behaved, what carnivore species were present near sheep grazing with LGDs, and ranchers’ attitudes towards LGDs and large carnivores throughout Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Results of the study show that all three of the exotic breeds of LGD are better at protecting sheep from certain predators than LGD breeds commonly used in the U.S. There are also some breed differences in LGD behavior that may help ranchers make better decisions about which LGD breed is best for them. Sheep grazing with LGDs seemed to drive-off wolves, but they also attracted smaller carnivores. Also, ranchers’ attitudes about LGDs are generally very positive, but they don’t affect attitudes about wolves and grizzly bears. Below, I discuss these and other findings in terms of both ecology and wildlife management.

Predators can have large effects on prey populations and on the structure and function of communities. In addition to direct consumption of prey, predators often cause prey to alter their foraging behavior, habitat selection, and morphology. These non-lethal effects of predators can propagate to multiple trophic levels and often exert equal or larger effects upon communities than those of direct consumption. For non-lethal predatory effects to occur, prey must detect and respond to predation risk. While the importance of information transfer in this process has been realized, few studies explore how prey responses are influenced by predator characteristics and environmental conditions that influence the transmission of cues indicative of predation risk. In this dissertation I investigate factors that influence how a single prey species evaluates and responds to predation risk. Here, I examined: 1) the type and nature of cues prey use to evaluate predator risk; 2) how predator identity, predator diet, and the relative risk of predators influence prey response to predation risk; 3) how hydrodynamic conditions influence the delivery of predator cues; 4) how biogeographic trends in predator distribution influence prey response to predation risk; and 5) how genetic structure might vary according to prey geographic location and habitat. To address these questions, I used a common intertidal model system consisting of the rocky intertidal whelk Nucella lapillus (Linnaeus, 1758) and a suite of its predators, the native rock crab Cancer irroratus (Say, 1817), Jonah crab Cancer borealis (Stimpson, 1859), and the invasive green crab Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758). Nucella use chemical cues emanating from their most common predator (Carcinus maenas) and crushed conspecifics to evaluate predation risk. Nucella from different habitats experience different levels of predation risk, and Nucella from habitats with high levels of predation had larger antipredatory responses to predator risk cues than Nucella that experienced less predation. These chemical cues indicative of predation risk are influenced by hydrodynamic conditions, and Nucella have the strongest anti-predatory response in flow velocities of u= ~4- 8 cm s^-1. Furthermore, Nucella from geographic regions where green crabs are historically absent did not elicit anti-predatory responses, while Nucella from regions where green crabs are common frequently responded. Findings from my dissertation research demonstrate that prey detection and response to predation risk is highly dependent upon predator identity, predator diet, environmental forces, and biogeographic patterns in predator and prey distributions.