The Virtual Combat Air Staff. The Promise of Information Technologies,
Abstract
The principal objective of this study was to explore whether the possibilities provided by advancing technology and alternative organizational models, as they might affect the deployed combat air staff in future military campaigns, would permit a distributed network organization of effort, operating in the virtual realm. The thrust of the research centered on assessing the issues inherent in employing the concept of virtuality to make deployed combat air staff operations more efficient and effective. A combat air staff is that staff required to perform the necessary actions to plan, coordinate, and execute an air campaign plan in support of military objectives. In essence, we postulate the need for a hybrid organizational structure that takes advantage of the best parts of the traditional military hierarchical and network information models. Within the confines of this study, virtuality refers to the concept that not all elements of a staff may be physically located in the same place, that communications technology may allow for the retrieval of information resources from diverse centers of responsibility, and that staff assets may be reabsorbed into host centers after the cessation of hostilities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 07, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA322858
Entities
People
- Arthur F. Huber
- J. L. Hollett
- Kenneth Keskel
- Philip S. Sauer
- William L. Shelton Jr
Organizations
- RAND Corporation