An assessment of Submarine Approach Officer decision-making and its implications for command workstation design
By: David S. Soldow
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 123
Description: U.S. Navy Submarine Approach Officers (AO) use tactical skills acquired from years at sea and a seemingly natural panache to accurately determine an enemy submarine's bearing range, course, and speed. This thesis      investigates the effects of AO demographic differences and combat system employment methodologies on the ability to develop a timely and accurate firing solution. Employing a low-resolution submarine combat simulator, approximately 10 percent of the total pool of AO's were taken through two of four pre-scripted initial contact      scenarios. The AO's were instructed to execute each scenario until they perceive that an accurate solution is obtained on the enemy submarine. The  demographic differences of   geographic location, ship type, and duty type are the top three traits that distinguish between success and failure. Further data analysis reveals differences in the information utilization of the simulator between successful and unsuccessful operators. Additionally, utilizing a survey administered to the subjects and basic display design principles, a notional command workstation for the next generation of submarine is developed. The conclusions of  this research provide insight into  the cognitive modeling, training,  and selection of AO's, as well as  adding to the growing body of work  in the design of military decision support systems.
Notes: "December 1998."

Thesis advisor(s): John K. Schmidt, Lyn R. Whitaker.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1998.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-83)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.

US Navy (USN) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 02/12/99.