C2 Agility: Evaluating a New Brigade Standard Operating Procedure for Information Management and Coordination

Abstract

This study experiments with two command and control (C2) concepts for Edge Force operations called Non-Hierarchical Information Management (NHIM) and Non-Hierarchical Coordination (NHC). The concepts were translated into a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a Brigade C2 structure. The purpose of NHIM is to share the information necessary to enable horizontal coordination among units of equal standing within the same C2 structure. The purpose of NHC is to speed up the decision loop and to free up mental capacity for forward planning on subsequent phases of operations at higher headquarters (HQ) level. This experiment attempted to validate the Brigade SOP in a realistic military C2 context. Thirty-four Swedish and Singaporean army officers participated as staff either in the Brigade or subordinated Battalions. The use of the NHIM/NHC SOP resulted in timely and accurate decisions and self-coordinating actions at the Battalion level, and the participants found the NHC process easy to apply. The technical C2 systems provided participants with easy access to all documents and situation map (sitmap) information for self-coordination. This study demonstrated the potential usefulness of the NHIM and NHC SOP in peace support/peace enforcement (PS/PE) operations. The criteria for NHC were tested and proven as useful guidelines for selecting the appropriate type of coordination during execution. The presentation includes briefing charts.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA546912

Entities

People

  • David Tan
  • Frederick Tey
  • George V Thomas
  • Lee T. Hua
  • Martin Bergstrand
  • Ong C. Siong
  • Per Wikberg
  • Peter Thunholm
  • Sven-ake Larsson
  • Ulf Gullberg

Organizations

  • Swedish Defence University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Asymmetric Warfare
  • Command And Control
  • Communication Channels
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Governments
  • Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Information Exchange
  • Information Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Measurement
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Standards
  • Task Forces
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.

Technology Areas

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