he capacity for commanders and soldiers to function at high levels of situation awareness (Johnson 1). Command and control doctrines must evolve to facilitate improvements in the capacity for high levels of situational awareness.
Command and control doctrines have experienced an inflation in acronyms from C2 (command and control) to C3 (command, control, and communication) to C3I (command, control, communication, and intelligence) to C4I (command, control, communication, computers, and intelligence). To this list of acronyms, Dr. Newton Howard (iii) would like to add one more acronym ยท IA (Intention Awareness). Dr. Howard (iii) contends that a vital element that is missing from initiatives to improve situation awareness in zones of conflict involves the intentions of higher level military commanders. "IA is capable of informing a SA of the actors' various intentions and motives, which drive both present and future actions a", according to Howard iii). A better understanding by lower level commanders of the intentions high level commanders may lead to reductions in the levels of uncertainty that surround decision-making in dynamic battlefield environments. The levels of uncertainty are lowered because a higher level of intention awareness may lead to improvements in the projection phase (Level 3) of situation awareness. In turn, improvements in the projection phase of situation awareness may lead to better informed decisions that will enhance the probability of the attainment of the organizational mission (Howard Chapter 3, p. 1).
The development of intention awareness involves the application of adaptive learning techniques to information that includes the data elements necessary to identify intention. In turn, the application of adaptive learning techniques depends on the functioning neural networks (Parekh, Yang, and Honavar 436-437).
Neural network computing is an important addition to computer programming. A neura...