Artificial Intelligence: Can Expert Systems Technology Enhance Air MobilityCommand (AMC) Deployments

摘要

With the military restructured to react via rapid response from CONUS as opposedto forward presence overseas, Air Mobility Command has been charged to provide the Global Reach needed to project power abroad. The Air Mobility Operations Group (AMOG) structure and the Integral Tanker Unit Deployment (ITUD) concept, used to deploy the initial airlift and air refueling assets forward, were studied to determine the viability of using expert systems technology to aid in matching austere location demands with the proper mix of personnel, equipment and supplies. The paper starts with a thorough background of artificial intelligence and gives two rudimentary examples of working expert systems to show how they differ from conventional software programs. An overview of the AMOG and ITUD then identifies the intended beneficiaries of such a system. Alternative sources for fielding an expert system, ranging from buying off-the-shelf, commercial sofiware to custom designing a system to fit this specific scenario, were then explored. Though this paper does not develop an actual working expert system, it does provide a foundation and offer suggested avenues to further work towards that goal.