Title: Unifying Strategic Military Force Design and Operational Warfighting: A Stochastic Game Approach

Date: 19 April

Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Groseclose 403

or 

Microsoft Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NTlmOTAzODktNWY3MS00MmVkLWFlMmItMDUwY2FjNzEzM2Y1%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22482198bb-ae7b-4b25-8b7a-6d7f32faa083%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22f318f03a-7172-4e98-8700-4452904f1d67%22%7d

Committee

1. Dr. Mathieu Dahan (Advisor), Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

2. Dr. Chelsea White III (Advisor), Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

3. Dr. David Goldsman, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

4. Dr. Vidya Muthukumar,  Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

5. Dr. Lauren Steimle, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

6. Dr. Brian Wade, The Research and Analysis Center, U.S. Army Futures Command

Abstract

Military strategic investment and operational warfighting are necessarily intertwined, yet it is quite challenging to integrate these two levels analytically. In this thesis, we provide a framework to unify these levels through stochastic games and a force design model. We start with the operational level, where we exploit the structure of military games to construct a tractable representation of the large-scale problem. We develop the campaign stochastic game (CSG), a two-player, discounted, zero-sum stochastic game model for dynamic operational planning in military campaigns. Then, at the strategic level, we use this representation to evaluate force designs directly in the operational contexts where they may be employed in a future global landscape. Together, the thesis represents an original methodology to integrate military strategic and operational decision making.