Decision Support Tool to Aid Campaign Planners in Selecting Combat Aircraft for Theater Crisis

One way of comparing alternative deployment plans is to examine how combat aircraft tasked within a deployment plan meet the combat commander's requirements. Both the absolute capabilities and the campaign-specific issues affecting the operational capabilities of those aircraft could assess a set of combat aircraft, unique to a deployment plan. This research develops a non-absolute, campaign-specific decision support tool to assess the effect of campaign-specific issues on a set of deployable Air Force combat aircraft. This research is conducted in three phases. Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) and Multi-Attribute Preference Theory (MAPT) methodologies are applied to in-person and telephone interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) on USAF wartime planning. The information is then consolidated to develop a Value Focused Thinking decision support tool. This tool is developed with contingency planners at the United States Air Force's Central Command Headquarters. The decision support tool is verified through a Delphi study with the previously identified SMEs. The results of this research provide campaign planners with a decision support tool to assist in selecting a set of USAF combat aircraft best suited to deploy in response to a SWA Theater crisis, based upon the current environment within the SWA Theater.