Force Module Knowledge Structure

A force module (FM) is a collection of ULNs (Unit Line Numbers), which specify the transportation requirements of a force or forces. ULNs specify the force (or portion of a force) to be moved, where it is currently located, where it must be sent, dates that reflect when this transportation will take place, and other transportation-related information such as total weight, number of passengers, etc.

The FMs and ULNs belong to a TPFDD (Time Phased Force Deployment Data), which can be used to identify the transportation requirements of a particular military operation. The TPFDD is part of a larger OPLAN (Operations Plan), which includes additional information such as guidance from the commander.

In ForMAT, each FM contains:

  1. an ID, a 3 letter identifier
  2. an OPLAN (Operations Plan), the plan to which the FM belongs
  3. a title, a short 1-line text description of the FM
  4. a description, a longer text description of the FM
  5. ULNs, the requirements of the FM
  6. parent FMs, the FMs of which this FM is a part
  7. child FMs, the FMs of which this FM is composed
  8. Features, a set of attribute/value pairs which identifies characteristics of the FM, e.g. capability, geographical location, etc.
Each ULN has:
  1. an ID, a 5 to 7 letter identifier
  2. an OPLAN
  3. features, a set of attribute/value pairs which identifies characteristics of the ULN, e.g. capability, geographical location, etc.
  4. a set of TPFDD fields, which together identify the force to be moved, along with transportation information such as weight, number of passengers, legs in the transportation route, and the dates when transportation is scheduled to take place.
ForMAT stores FMs and ULNs in a casebase. The FMs are indexed by their features, and can be retrieved via a query from the user. Some features are automatically calculated by ForMAT rules called FARs (Feature Augmentation Rules). Some features are placed in an abstraction hierarchy, such as DEST-CC (destination) and FUNCTION.

Sample Force Module

Correspondence: mcox+@cs.cmu.edu

Last Edited: July 30, 1996