“Figure 5 (above) JWARS Rule Builder User Interface.” This appears to be a simple Boolean logic / conditional statement editor.
“Without the KB, there have been instances at the lower echelons in JWARS when combat units that should have engaged one another have missed that opportunity by simply returning fire and continuing on to their objective. Circumstances have also occurred where units without KBs have inappropriately engaged in combat. For example, in some situations a logistics support unit may inappropriately assess the situation and close with an enemy infantry battalion. The KB supports the desired outcome by improving the ability to assess the situation and subsequently altering individual unit courses of action. As shown in Figure 7 (below), attacking combat units sense enemy fire, close with the enemy units, and, after destroying them or forcing them to withdraw, resume their original mission.”
This diagram labeled Figure 7 (above) was added to the article to illustrate “Altering Course of Action Using KB Rules” however, I am extremely dubious about the appropriateness of a unit making an abrupt right angle turn and exposing its left flank to two hostile units even if it is now attacking a headquarters unit. Indeed this appears to demonstrate a very common and very old problem with commercial wargame AIs: units making individual decisions as opposed to an entire army working as a cohesive whole.
See my revised diagram below:
I have indicated with thick green arrows (above) the revised Course of Action (COA) that certainly follows current doctrine and would probably be the COA that most (if not all) staff officers would recommend.
Conclusion:
JWARS is the most important computer simulation currently used by the Joint Chiefs and strategic planners for wargaming. It does not have any Artificial Intelligence capabilities and the introduction of Agents and Knowledge Bases appears to be the first attempt to do so. In this case the Agents are used to control subordinate units and not to simulate enemy forces and responses.
It appears that the JWARS Program has encountered many of the same problems that commercial computer wargames have dealt with for the last twenty years.
