Precision Minds: An Investigation Into the use of Information in Operational-Level Decision Making and Learning
Abstract
Information is all the world, and all the world is information. Every military action or inaction is based on information. Military transformation and modernization programs are focused on leveraging information as a battle-winning capability. The future is all about information. Modern military forces have never been so good or so fast at collecting it, processing it, sending it, and sharing it at all levels, and that is where the problem lies. By investing so heavily in collecting, processing, sending, and sharing information they have fallen behind on conceptualizing information itself, and investigating how they might exploit it better. They are in danger of failing to avoid a range of unseen vulnerabilities associated with using information without the degree of self-awareness that the modern battlespace demands. This paper will expose this central problem using the recent experiences of British and American forces in Iraq between 20 March and 9 April 2003. Responding to much of the same information in the same environment, the two forces conducted quite different operations. The reason was simple; they both used information in an entirely predictable way, dictated more by their prevailing organizational cultures and institutional repertoires than by any other single factor. Lack of understanding of these underlying concepts of information has the potential to ensure that transformation will only ever occur in name and that an intelligent and adaptive enemy will continue to be able to exploit the organizational vulnerabilities of both forces. A full and rigorous conceptual understanding of information is a vital, and overlooked, component of a future battle-winning force.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 17, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA436463
Entities
People
- Christopher J. Bell
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College