Agent based modeling in tactical wargaming

Army staffs at division, brigade, and battalion levels often plan for contingency operations. As such, analysts consider the impact and potential consequences of actions taken. The Army Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) dictates identification and evaluation of possible enemy courses of action; however, non-state actors often do not exhibit the same level and consistency of planned actions that the MDMP was originally designed to anticipate. The fourth MDMP step is a particular challenge, wargaming courses of action within the context of complex social-cultural behaviors. Agent-based Modeling (ABM) and its resulting emergent behavior is a potential solution to model terrain in terms of the human domain and improve the results and rigor of the traditional wargaming process.