In the contact with the CHECKMATE experts, it became clear only certain verbs are actually used as action types. Further, some may be used but are not recommended (e.g. conduct). Thus, it is possible to list the recommended verbs so as to create a library of them, which can be made available to the user when s/he is specifying an objective.
The number of verbs used in practice seems surprisingly small: not more than 30 verbs have been used in the examples we got from CHECKMATE. This is due in part to the fact that objectives in air campaign planning in ACPT are actually force application objectives, and thus several other types of actions related to logistics, intelligence, etc. are not used. If ACPT is used to plan these other aspects then more verbs would have to be introduced.
Further, each of these actions carries limitations with respect to the types of action objects that can be used. For instance, all known occurrences of the action type establish refer to an aspect -- indeed, most of the times this aspect is air superiority or air supremacy. Further, all actions admit only very few action roles, most of them only the direct object. This indicates that, more than a list of verbs or action types, it is possible to provide a library of action templates: an action type plus one or more pairs role/object type.
The proposed library of action templates is listed below. The direct object is indicated as DOB. Action roles that admit more than one type of filler have them indicated as A | B. For example, a role DOB with filler action | aspect allow either an action or an aspect as their role object.
Attrit DOB object
Damage DOB object
Deceive DOB object
Defend DOB object
FROM action
Defend against DOB action | object
Degrade DOB action-capability | aspect
Deny DOB action
TO object
Deny use OF object
TO action
Deploy DOB object
Destroy DOB object | aspect | action-capability
Deter DOB action
Disable DOB action-capability | object
Discourage DOB action
Disrupt DOB action-capability | object | action
Drive DOB object
INTO area
Eliminate DOB action-capability | object
Ensure DOB aspect
Establish DOB aspect
Exploit DOB action | action-capability
Gain DOB aspect
Isolate DOB object
Limit DOB action-capability
Maintain DOB aspect
Neutralize DOB object | action
Prevent DOB action | aspect
Promote DOB aspect
Protect DOB object
Reduce DOB object
TO aspect
Reduce DOB action-capability
Separate DOB object
FROM object
Sever DOB object
Stop DOB action
Support DOB action
In this section, we discuss some issues on the choice of the elements that were included or not included in the library, and the modelling decisions behind these choices.
This library does not contain ready-made objectives or examples of objectives, but according to CHECKMATE this is a feature rather than a bug: ready-made objectives can make the users (particularly less experienced ones) lazy in composing their own objectives. A library of templates imposes a structure but leaves open several elements of the objective to be filled by the user. This is particularly important in training contexts, when the user might be interested to know what types of objectives s/he may write but must be led to think about the problem instead of accepting a ready-made solution. Another advantage of a library such as this is that it helps to maintain some degree of consistency and uniformity in writing the objectives, thus improving communication and reducing the chances of any misunderstandings.
Many verbs have been proposed to be included in the library but were discarded for specific reasons:
These verbs are not specific enough to be used in the levels of CINC Objectives and below (though they may be used in the levels above, e.g. National Objectives).
There are several occurences in practice of objectives with two action verbs in conjunction. The two most frequent examples are Gain and Maintain and Isolate and Neutralize. CHECKMATE experts have pointed out that this is common practice (culture) in the air force, but it is in fact wrong, since these verbs actually refer to rather different processes. For instance, different types of force and different tasks are necessary to gain air superiority and to maintain it once it has been gained. Therefore, the library does not contain these conjunctions, and they are not allowed in the grammar either. Of course, the user may still want to employ these in the free text description of the objectives.
The following is a first draft of a typology of action verbs prepared based on (i) the division of action verbs in groups drawn by the types of action objects they use (aspect, object, action capability, etc.) and (ii) a number of distinctions proposed by CHECKMATE experts. The first principle leads to a division in four basic groups: aspect-related, capability-related, action-related and object-related. The second principle defines four subtypes of object-related action verbs: denial, disconnection (or separation), protection and physical destruction. The typology is pictured in a tree-like form in Figure 2.
This typology is not a taxonomy (where alternatives are mutually exclusive) -- that is, certain action verbs fit in more than one place. Two verbs presently don't fit in any category: Deceive and Drive. They may be assigned to categories of their own, but a final decision depends on CHECKMATE's advice. The set of types is not definitive, and more types/sub-types may be proposed.
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Figure 2: Typology of action verbs (draft).
Below is a list of the action verbs belonging to each of the types:
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