COMDTINST 5200.40
4. BACKGROUND.
a. M&S techniques and tools assist developers and decision makers throughout the acquisition,
operational test and evaluation (OT&E), training, and doctrine development process. In
particular, M&S capabilities support evaluating requirements, performing trade-off studies,
understanding and demonstrating system capabilities and performance, training and educating
military and civilian personnel, and developing, assessing, and analyzing operational courses of
action. M&S tools are applied in a wide variety of areas and provide valuable insights to reduce
uncertainty and risk. As M&S capabilities advance and become more accessible, their use
becomes more pervasive in the Coast Guard. To ensure the efficient and appropriate use of this
technology, reference (a) defines M&S and directs the issuance of common VV&A practices and
enterprise wide policies that maximize the benefits of M&S and reduce the risk of making a
faulty decision based upon M&S results.
b. This VV&A policy leverages many of the DoD best practices outlined in references (b-e) and
adapts them into a Coast Guard framework.
c. Confidence in a particular model or simulation must be justified before its results are used in
decisions involving large sums of money, risk to human life, or the possible loss of critical Coast
Guard capabilities. To ensure that confidence in an M&S is justified, a rigorous process must be
followed, such that:
(1) Modeling assumptions are accurate and well documented.
(2) Results produced by the M&S are stable, consistent and repeatable.
(3) The correlation between the M&S behavior and real world behavior is clearly understood.
d. VV&A is a process used to ensure that the application of M&S results is appropriate for a
specific purpose, e.g., supporting a system acquisition decision, training an operator, or
developing tactical mission plans or doctrine. While sometimes referred to as a single process,
VV&A consists of three tightly integrated processes that address verification, validation and
accreditation of M&S. Verification and Validation (V&V) functions are performed during the
M&S development process and are similar in concept to quality control practices in
manufacturing. Accreditation is a formal decision to use a specific M&S and its results for a
particular application. Properly performed and documented V&V are essential to the
accreditation process. However, it is equally essential that the Accreditation Authority
understand the scope and limits of the specific M&S capabilities before concluding that these are
applicable and appropriate for the intended use.
e. The formal definitions of VV&A are:
(1) Verification is the process of determining that a model or simulation implementation
accurately represents the developer's conceptual description and specifications.
(2) Validation is the process of determining the degree to which the model or simulation is an
accurate representation of the real world from the perspective of the intended uses.
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