Improving C2 and Situational Awareness for Operations in and Through the Information Environment

Abstract

Recent operational experiences and Russian information aggression are among the many reasons that the information environment (IE) is ascending as a consideration in the planning, exercise, and conduct of U.S. military operations. Despite this growth in interest in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), attention to the IE remains insufficient. Ever-increasing technological sophistication and global adoption of advanced communication networks have rendered the IE more extensive, complicated, and complex than ever before. Efforts to coordinate and conduct military operations in and through the IE are beset with a fog-of-war problem not unlike that experienced in the traditional domains of air, land, and sea. How can U.S. forces maintain situational awareness of the IE? What exactly does situational awareness mean in the context of the IE? Given the difficulties associated with bounding, comprehending, and meaningfully observing even small portions of the operationally relevant IE, what steps must DoD take to be able to effectively assert command and control (C2) and situational awareness over operations in and through the IE, including the ability to organize, understand, plan, direct, and monitor these operations? Once concepts for C2 and situational awareness are identified, how should they be integrated and implemented at the geographic combatant commands (GCCs)? Which staffs, structures, or organizations should have responsibility for C2 and situational awareness in the IE? At what echelons? This report identifies and refines concepts for organizing for, executing, and supporting C2 and situational awareness of the IE to improve the integration and execution of military operations, as well as the organizational implications of these requirements for the GCCs.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2018
Accession Number
AD1063629

Entities

People

  • Bonnie L. Triezenberg
  • Bradley Wilson
  • Christopher Edward Paul
  • Colin P. Clarke
  • David Manheim

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cognition
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Psychology
  • Recreation
  • Self Organizing Systems
  • Social Media
  • Terrorism
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control