Simulating crisis communications

This paper addresses the need for simulation of voice and data communication demands during civil and military crisis events. Modeling of federal, state, and local civilian agencies in addition to military forces can lead to better planning and execution decisions during the crisis. The need has become particularly acute following recent terrorists attacks on the United States. Preliminary crisis communication modeling capabilities exist in the Network Warfare Simulation (NETWARS) software that has been successfully used to model networks supporting the military´s Operation Enduring Freedom. The authors examine the software´s features, limitations, and potentials.