C2 Effectiveness and Operational Success: An Exploration
Abstract
This paper addresses the relationship of command and control (C2) to effectiveness. The paper compares the quality and importance of NATO's conceptualization of C2 effectiveness with the success or failure of a random sample of historical joint combat operations. The measurement instruments are a set of visual Likert-type scales subjected to assessment by a group of trained subject matter experts with respect to a pre-existing data base of Likert scales measuring the success or failure of those operations. In effect, this test is a modified version of Thurston's Rules for Comparative Judgment. The findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between joint operational success and the NATO measures of C2 effectiveness in terms of quality and importance. Also, there appears to be a significant auto-correlation between Situational Awareness and Situational Understanding. These findings should encourage the C2 research community because they reinforce the validity of major concepts used in C2 assessment using an independent data base. One may argue that the findings are premature because the sample is small, and because the actual measure of C2 effectiveness is quality and importance, not the direct measure of effectiveness. The author concludes that the NATO C2 model seems to be valid for use in the field. However, its C2 effectiveness measures require more rigorous measurement conception and validity testing against critical dependent variables. The presentation includes briefing charts.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA546803
Entities
People
- Jonathan E. Czarnecki
Organizations
- Naval War College