A Historic Failure in the Social Domain

Abstract

This is a Social Domain case study using one of the costliest intelligence failures in US military history, the December 16, 1944 surprise attack in the Ardennes Forest. The publication of Network Centric Operations Conceptual Framework Versions 1.0 and 2.0 provide a framework for experimentation that can also be used for historical examinations which serve to explain the Social Domain and the components: Interactions, Shared Information, Shared Sensemaking, Awareness, Understanding, and Collaborative Decisions. This case study uses the December 1944 failure of the 12th United States Army Group to (1) make sense of the information gathered in the weeks preceding the attack, (2) to draw the correct implications, and (3) to mitigate the risks of the possibilities. The study finds that inter-personal communications and understandings and personality played a dominate role in the failure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA460947

Entities

People

  • Paul H. Van Doren

Organizations

  • Leidos

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Reconnaissance
  • Air Defense
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Attrition
  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Intelligence Community
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • Order Of Battle
  • Reconnaissance
  • Reconnaissance Aircraft
  • Second World War
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.