military task assignment

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Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization

A mini review on UAV mission planning

• Xinwei Wang 1 ,  , 
• Hai Wang 2 ,  , 
• Hongyun Zhang 2 ,  , 
• Min Wang 2 ,  , 
• Lei Wang 2 ,  , 
• Kaikai Cui 3 ,  , 
• Chen Lu 4,5,6 ,    and  
• Yu Ding 4,5,6 ,  , 

Department of Engineering Mechanics, State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116024, China

School of Mathematical Science, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, Liaoning 116024, China

No.92942 Unit of PLA, Beijing 100161, China

Science and Technology on Reliability and Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Beijing 100191, China

Institute of Reliability Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

School of Reliability and Systems Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

* Corresponding author: Yu Ding

The authors are grateful for the National Key Research and Development Plan (2020YFB1709403); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12102077); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (DUT20YG125, DUT22RC(3)010)

With the increasing complexity of modern air warfare, an efficient and robust mission planning, which mainly includes task assignment and path planning, becomes the key issue to improve the combat efficiency. This paper reviews recent progress in UAV mission planning. First, basic concepts of UAVs and their mission planning problem are given. And several representative existing mission planning systems are briefly introduced. The constraints and objectives in the task assignment model are reviewed, and the pros and cons of algorithms commonly used are then summarized. After that, the algorithms for path planning are reviewed. Finally, we point out current problems and future research directions. The paper provides a comprehensive review of the field and enables a quick start for those who aim to do related research.

• mission planning ,
• task assignment ,
• path planning ,
• algorithm .

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Figure 1.   Three typical UAV swarm architectures: centralized architecture, distributed architecture and mixed architecture

Figure 2.   Development of US military mission planning systems

Table 1.   Contents in existing review papers on UAV mission planning

References	Task assignment	Path planning	Re-planning	Models	Algorithm	Analysis of Algorithms	Problem analysis
Zhao	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $
Guo	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $
Du	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \times $
Debnath	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $
Aggarwal	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $
Jia	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $
Pang	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $	$ \surd $
Zhang	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \times $	$ \times $	$ \surd $	$ \times $	$ \surd $

Table 2.   Capability set of each type of UAV

Type of UAV	Capability set
Surveillance UAV	$\{C,V\}$
Combat UAV	$\{C, A, V\}$
Munition UAV	$\{A\}$

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Three typical UAV swarm architectures: centralized architecture, distributed architecture and mixed architecture

Development of US military mission planning systems

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How airmen are assigned jobs gets a fresh look from new Air Force panel

A new Air Force panel will rethink how the service assigns airmen to new jobs, including for troops in complicated situations like dual-military relationships, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass said Monday.

“We’re about to have an assignment working group,” she said in a livestreamed question-and-answer session with Chief of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown. “What do we expect assignments to look like as we look into the future of our Air Force? What should assignments look like in 2030? We’re kind of backward planning.”

While Bass did not elaborate on the issues the group will tackle, she stressed the Air Force wants to make the assignment process more flexible and transparent. She pointed to her own experiences hashing out military assignments with her husband, Rahn Bass, a retired Army first sergeant.

“I felt like the [Air Force Personnel Center] was very transparent,” Bass said. “They will do everything that they can to ensure that families can stay together, to include sister services.”

That effort will go hand-in-hand with a new enlisted force development plan due out this summer to better shape the careers of those airmen. Career policy discussions come as the Air Force considers how to meet its combat and peacetime needs while improving quality of life for servicemembers and their families.

Service leaders anticipate a future without much growth in the total workforce. Some career fields are stretched thin by low staffing, high turnover, and a hectic operations schedule, while the Air Force faces record-high retention at the same time.

To balance out the force, the service has suggested allowing airmen to retrain into jobs that are hurting for people, as well as offering early separation and transfers into the Air Force Reserve.

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The service is also trying to adjust to the changing needs of military families, seeing more instances of troops marrying each other, couples where women are the military member, and families where both partners want to work.

Leaders have already begun tweaking some aspects of the assignment process, like growing its searchable online database of job opportunities, and better connecting airmen with bases where they most want to serve.

Earlier this year, the Air Force lengthened the amount of time airmen and Space Force guardians without dependents spend at certain bases overseas from 24 to 36 months. Stretching out those tours of duty at 21 locations is meant to bolster training and better integrate troops into the local community, the service said.

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“There’s going to be some folks that’ll get a little upset … but the key part is, what are we doing to ensure we are helping our airmen?” he said.

The service is also taking a fresh look at professional military education, Bass said, hoping to create good supervisors as well as good followers. Brown suggested there’s an opportunity for leaders to learn how to give their subordinates helpful feedback for better professional development.

Perhaps there are certain tasks the Air Force can move off of its plate because they aren’t unique to the service, Bass added.

“I think our manpower standards and how we look at managing manpowe need a relook as well,” she said. “Every unit can do that at their level.”

Rachel Cohen is the editor of Air Force Times. She joined the publication as its senior reporter in March 2021. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Frederick News-Post (Md.), Air and Space Forces Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy and elsewhere.

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Military professional performance task

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Military Professional Performance Task

1. What it means to be a profesional2. What it means to be an effective leader and manager 3. Their duties and responsibilities that align with their role 4. Their level of professionalism by how the member embodied the Profession of Arms, Warrior Ethos and progressive professionalism

Donald Maynard

He born and raised in Baltimore Maryland, 35 years old. He joined 2010, been in the Air Force 13 years. Hobbies include anything to do with cars, to include working on them, taking care of his Airman and paying it forward. We met during his second tour at Shaw Afb, working at the 609 ASUS, he became my supervisor while he was in charge of the Airman and scheduling flight. Also he helped me to purchase my first car as well.Additionally, he’s a family person. Every day he was the one to tell us that at the end of day, just your family is gonna be there for you and you need to care of them. Do your best in the military and make them feel so proud of you.

Basically, separating how his previous jobs contributed in our unit when we met and we were working together. He has done everything from flight chief of training, UDM, First Sergeant and section chief of scheduling for my most notable jobs.

What it means to be a profesional, an effective leader and their duties and responsibilities?

On the order hand, being a network operator, directly lend a hand to those airman (me included) to have a better idea to how to use network systems, creating a handbook and a checklist which used to explain every single step required to submit our missions at work.

Joint Area Request Network Operator (JARN) at 25th Air Support Operation Squadron , Wheeler AFB, HI

His experience over there, definitely helped us when he was in Shaw because he was in a expert in that specific job and his knowledge helped the unit to increased and changed a lot of maintenance stuffs, even the apps we used to use at work and of course, more free time because everything was faster when he was around and he was the one in charge.

Data link Manager at NTTR, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, NV

NCOIC SPINs Cell at 609 Air Operations Center, Al Udeid AB, Qatar

My first job in my currently unit at Shaw was scheduling, so basically, I was doing his job here at Shaw as an airman. That gave me more experience and knowledge about other positions in the unit.

NCOIC of Scheduling at 609 Air Operations Center Det 1 Shaw AFB, SC

Flight Chief of (DOA) Airman Flight 606 Air Control Squadron Aviano AB, Italy

Section Chief (C4I )COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND INTELLIGENCE (C4I) SYSTEMS. 609 ASUS Shaw AFB, SC

His duties include mentoring and molding NCOs to take care the junior Airman as they prepare to serve their first term in the military by making sure stey are maintain. When he is not in the flights, he is contributing to the NATO mission as an Air Surveillance technician. As an AST he oversees a 5-member team that controls aircraft for two MAJCOMs, EUCOM and AFRICOM. Lastly, for his deployment as the Senior enlisted leader where he lias with Partner Nation leaders daily while he oversees a team of 5 to provide 24/7 support for air deconfliction of 380 nautical mile airspace for the Horn of Africa.

Members duties and responsabilities aligned with role

He embodies the P.A, W.E and the P.P through the strength of his character and respect for others. During his time at Shaw, he was the go-to NCO for all the Airman whenever they had a question about the military or even their personal life. MSgt Maynard would treat every Airman as if he was their equal. His favorite saying was “Each one teach one.”, he always tries to instill confidence and knowledge in every airman he encounters because he believes they will pay it forward.

Demonstrate the member embodied the profession of arms, Warrior of ethos and progressive professionalism

Profesionalism

MSgt Maynard’s ability to empathize and see situations from different viewpoints has helped him deal with many delicate situations on and off duty. He noticed a first term airman that was struggling in their personal and professional life. He recognized what the individual was going through because he had been through it too. He saw that the individual’s 4 pillars weren’t balanced, so he took that individual to the military family & life counselor and that member used that safe space to balance their pillars. That Airman is now on their second term and MSgt Maynard is his mentor.

Actions and decisions

How members actions and decisions and behaviors contributed to a specific event in their Career:

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Afghanistan War Commission seeks better resources for ‘daunting’ task

The independent work group tasked by Congress with creating a definitive accounting of the war in Afghanistan has released a first report on its work — and it reveals it’s already encountering hurdles that could jeopardize its ability to deliver in the appointed timeline.

The 57-page interim report, published Aug. 22, lays out a timeline for its work through 2026, and highlights three major research priorities: identify overarching objectives for Afghanistan and their effects on combat operations ; evaluate the effectiveness of military operations in achieving policy objectives; and examine the work to man, train and equip the Afghan military, and “the circumstances leading to their disintegration in 2021.”

In evaluating the successes and failures of the 20-year war , though, staff are realizing they’ll need to process a large volume of documents classified at the highest level. And that represents a challenge for the civilian-run commission, one based out of a headquarters building in an Arlington, Virginia high rise, not a government compound.

The report indicates that some of the commission’s 51 full-time staff and commissioners are still securing the security clearances needed to handle classified materials. And while its leased office space is certified for operations at the Secret level — the middle of the three clearance echelons — it does not have a reserved and dedicated space for reviewing documents at the Top Secret level.

Afghanistan War Commission wants veteran stories and questions

A congressionally-appointed group is seeking insight from those who served in afghanistan..

“The commission appreciated the prioritization placed by the Office of Senate Security on clearance processing for commissioners and staff,” the report states.

But it adds that it still requires classified IT support, a need conveyed to the Defense Department in February that still remains unfilled.

“In particular, the commission has an acute need for the timely provision of computers that can store and process information up to the [Secret/No Foreign Nationals] level, on which much of the commission’s work will be drafted,” the commission’s report notes. “Relatedly, the commission requires computers that can store and process information up to the [Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information] level to complete its research and analysis of more sensitive material.”

The commission, according to the report, also lacks a dedicated Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, a workspace equipped to handle material of all classifications without risk of security breach. It expects to get a leased space later in September through an arrangement with the Defense Department, and has until now been able to work on a limited basis in secure spaces owned by the Senate.

Ultimately, the commission’s tight timeline — to finish all research and interviews and deliver a comprehensive written report with its findings in August 2026 — is at risk, the interim report warns.

“While the commission is encouraged by the Department of Defense’s efforts to date, any further delay in reaching a solution will adversely impact our ability to deliver the thorough accounting of the Afghanistan War that the American people deserve,” the report’s authors write. “The timely resolution of this issue is vital to the successful execution of the commission’s mandate.”

In a statement to Military Times, commission spokesman Matthew Gobush declined to say how many commissioners and staff still needed to obtain security clearances. He also demurred from discussing alternatives to the commission’s stated timeline.

“The commission is working closely with the Department of Defense on outstanding items pertaining to operational readiness,” Gobush said. “We believe [DOD] is acting in good faith. As noted in the report, we are encouraged by the progress made to date but continue to approach the requirement with a sense of urgency. We fully intend to deliver the comprehensive, detailed report that Congress commissioned and the American people deserve by the statutory deadline.”

The interim report offers new information about the makeup of the commission’s staff team as well. Of 35 full-time staff, 18 hold analyst positions. Two staff each have research and writing-focused titles. Other jobs include specialists in military operations, intelligence assessment, diplomacy and Afghanistan outreach.

The caliber of the staff and commissioners is impressive. Members include author Anand Gopal, a finalist for the Pulitzer and the National Book Award; Chris Molino, who along with family members spent a total of 159 months serving in Afghanistan; and former U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

To date, according to the interim report, the commission has held meetings with 20 senior government officials and been briefed by more than 30 offices in the Defense Department, State Department, and other government entities.

But with 29 specific aspects of the war to analyze and cover, plus an additional requirement to assess the U.S. military’s counter-corruption and counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan, the scope of the project increasingly comes across in the report as unwieldy. It uses the word “ambitious” three times, and “daunting” once to describe its task.

“It’s important that we get this work right to understand what happened in Afghanistan, but also to rationalize it within our broader society,” Commissioner Luke Hartig, a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, said in a statement published in the report.

But whether the commission has the time and resources necessary to get it right appears more in question now than ever.

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Enhancing Crowdsourcing Through Skill and Willingness-Aligned Task Assignment with Workforce Composition Balance

23 Pages Posted: 7 Aug 2024

Riya Samanta

Indian institute of technology (iit), kharagpur, soumya k. ghosh, sajal k. das.

Missouri University of Science and Technology

The rapid advancements in pervasive and mobile computing have revolutionized crowdsourcing(CS), making it a vital tool for harnessing global collective intelligence and resources. Whilemicro-tasks have been well-explored, complex tasks requiring diverse skill sets remain a chal-lenge, emphasizing the need for skill-oriented task assignment. Commercial CS platforms un-derscore the importance of matching tasks with skilled workers within budget constraints, whilealso considering worker willingness. Sustaining engagement and retaining potential workers arecrucial for the long-term success of CS platforms. This study introduces the Task Assignmentwith Workforce Composition Balance (TACOMB) problem, which aims to optimize utility andmaintain workforce diversity. We propose the Skill-Aligned Task Assignment and Potential-Aware Workforce Composition (SATA-PAW) framework, integrating algorithms for skill andwillingness alignment and retention strategies based on potential level. SATA-PAW achieves anet utility of approximately 594 units and a success ratio of 0.54 on the UpWork dataset, outper-forming existing methods. The PAW algorithm also excels, achieving a mean satisfaction scoreof 0.80. These results highlight SATA-PAW’s robust approach to enhancing task assignment andworkforce composition in CS, making it a promising solution for future applications.

Keywords: Crowdsourcing, Skill-oriented, Willingness, Potential Level, Task Assignment, Workforce Composition Balance

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Riya Samanta (Contact Author)

Indian institute of technology (iit), kharagpur ( email ).

Kharagpur West Medinipur, WA 721302 India

Missouri University of Science and Technology ( email )

1870 Miner Cir Rolla, MO 65409 United States

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An Army team won the Call of Duty Bowl as services look online for new recruits

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Aug 29, 2024 3:13 PM EDT

7 minute read

The Army won the biggest military esports tournament in the world, a hope for the service’s recruiting efforts as they try to meet more of Gen Z where they’re at: online gaming.

On Wednesday, esports teams from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, Coast Guard and the UK and Canada tac-sprinted, corner sliced and sniped their way through the fifth Call of Duty Endowment Bowl V. In an arch-line atrium of a Washington museum, contestants hunched over desks covered in networked desktops and Monster energy drink cans. Teams of two from each service rotated through direct match-ups inside the uber-popular combat game, with each team coached by a professional Call of Duty player.

When the dust settled, the four soldiers on the Army team had scored the most points in head-to-head battles with other services. The team included Staff Sgt. James Sheives, or “Actual,” from Fort Moore, Georgia, and three soldiers from Fort Bliss: Staff Sgt. Randy Ojeda or “ItzDejavvu,” Spc. Chrisopher Montalvo or “Qwae,” and Staff Sgt. Monsef Taj or, “Taj.” It was the Army’s first win in the contest.

Close to 250,000 tuned into the contest’s livestream on YouTube .

“This is, believe it or not, the world’s largest military esports competition,” said Dan Goldenberg, president of the endowment. “It’s international. It’s like the Army-Navy game for everyone.”

The contest was the fifth annual military-wide shootout held by The Call of Duty Endowment , a foundation funded by Activision Blizzard, the game’s maker, to aid veterans transitioning into civilian jobs after service. The endowment donated over $10 million to veteran charities in 2023 , according to IRS filings, and since 2009, says its placed 130,000 veterans into jobs with $73 million in nonprofit grants .

In 2020, to the surprise of many, the Space Force pulled out a win – only a couple of years into its existence. For the endowment bowl’s fifth year, the other services were hungry to take home the Monster trophy presented by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Their win was not only a first for the Army but potentially a successful marketing campaign. The goal of the Army’s esports teams is to grab the attention of young people who might become recruits, current and former service members said. With the Army’s recruitment overhaul , officials are looking to interact with young people where they are by investing in more online outreach. 

“Where is the 17 to 34 audience?” said Christopher Jones, a retired Sergeant First Class, who was playfully referred to as the godfather of Army esports at the event. Jones helped establish the service’s esports team under Army Recruiting Command.

“Gaming is not the reason you enlist,” Jones said. “It’s the second, tertiary, whatever reason. Everybody has their priority reason of why they’re looking at the service but then when they find out, ‘oh, well, I also have a community within my community, like that sounds awesome.’”

The esports team reaches a younger demographic which generally isn’t familiar with Army marketing at all, said Sgt. Brendan Huffman, Army esports media director. 

“The value esports provides in marketing is a touch point to the new demographic that [Recruiting Command] has not been the best at reaching out to, or Army marketing as a whole,” he said. “It’s their first time having a good first impression with anything to do with the military.”

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When the Army decided in November 2018 to officially add esports to their roster of Army-sponsored teams, Jones said, “it was kind of a ‘no duh’ moment.” In 2024, esports drew a total of 640 million viewers to its streaming events around the globe, according to Demandsage , a company that collects data for business intelligence.

Montalvo, or “Qwae,” a network communication specialist, made one of the biggest ‘plays’ of the day, taking out two rifle-armed opponents in a solo mission with just a pistol to clinch first place for the team. When he joined the Army, he said, his recruiter specifically discussed the esports team.

“I didn’t really have a plan when I came into the Army,” Montalvo said, adding that esports has given him more soldiers to relate to in a service made up of more than 400,000 people.

The service members at the Bowl typically play in their free time. Some even thought about going pro before they joined the military like Specialist 4 Ryan Cabase, who does cyber security for the Space Force. He said he clocks probably 40 hours a week, the equivalent of another job.

“There’s a lot of young aspiring gamers out there that genuinely get worried about how joining the military could impact being able to fall back on your pastime,” Cabase said. “Seeing service members come out to these types of events and still be able to actively game and be sent out to these cool events and stuff, I think it’s an eye opening kind of thing.”

Huffman said the Army esports program wouldn’t exist without the volunteer players. 

“They sacrificed a lot of free time after their normal Army job to compete and play because when they qualify for a tournament, that’s where Fort Knox comes in, and we provide the funding to send them out and compete,” Huffman said.

The soldiers who won the Endowment Bowl are considered “at large” players assigned to different bases across the U.S. but the Army’s official esports team has 16 slots at Fort Knox. Like Army-sponsored athletes seeking to reach the Olympics or other high-profile sports events, the esports team soldiers are assigned to gaming duties full-time. 

A normal day, said Huffman, starts with morning PT before they head into the office where they practice playing and review footage of previous sessions and scrimmages they hold against college teams and other opponents. The soldiers might also be “nailing down certain team cohesion issues that they have within the team, or just communications issues.”

The goal, Huffman said, is to qualify for and perform well at national competitions, with wide audiences of possible recruits.

“They maintain their high-level competitiveness to compete at the national level to be on that national broadcasting stage to show that while you’re in the Army, you can still maintain your passions that you had before joining and continue them well after dealing with their service,” Huffman said.

When they’re not training at home, they’re going to tournaments across the country about once a month. 

To be one of the 16, soldiers play trials to prove their skills. Soldiers can even move up in rank during their time playing for the Army’s esports team. 

“I came in as a specialist. I’m now an E5. We’ve had people jump from E5 all the way to E7 while at Knox,” Huffman said. “It doesn’t stop your military career.”

Some Army players have even been poached for full-ride scholarships to college teams or by professional esports teams, according to Huffman.

Call of Duty Endowment

The Call of Duty competition is a major fundraiser for the endowment, which connects veterans with non-profits specializing in veteran-civilian transitions like Hire Our Heroes. The group’s chief operating officer, Ross Dickman, said that they coached veterans on how to pitch their military experience to civilian employers.  

“If you carried a rifle and were in the infantry, for a logistics organization, what use do they have for that? On the surface, it doesn’t translate well. On paper, it’s tough for a hiring manager who’s not military connected to understand that. It’s even harder for the veterans to articulate it, because they’ve been trained against a certain set of objectives,” he said.

They also help veterans practice mock interviews and write resumes.

“They’re very confident in their abilities in the military. They’re confident in who they are. They have a strong degree of self confidence,” Dickman said. “But then, if you get more specific and say, ‘How comfortable do you feel interviewing?’ Pretty low. ‘How confident are you that the resume represents your skills?’ Super low. So we do work on that type of confidence.”

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