Knowledge Management and Collaboration in an Effects-Based Operations Environment

In Proceedings of the 7th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, Loews Le Concorde Hotel, Quebec City Canada, September 16-20, 2002.New warfighting concepts are currently under development to improve the ability of future Joint Force Commanders to rapidly and decisively conduct particularly challenging and important operational missions as they transition to the fighting force described in Joint Vision 2020. This paper describes one element that is part of these new concepts: knowledge management and collaboration as conducted to support effects-based operations. Collaboration offers great potential to better enable warfighters to plan, monitor, execute, and assess activities across the spectrum of joint functional areas. Collaboration is also essential to develop a shared situational awareness among heterogeneous, distributed team members. Effects-based operations is defined as a “process for obtaining a desired strategic outcome, or ‘effect’ on the enemy, through the synergistic and cumulative application of the full range of national (military and nonmilitary) capabilities at all levels of conflict." This paper reports on the results of a survey administered during an experiment conducted to help refine the effects-based planning process. Suggestions for improving knowledge management include developing business rules for working in a collaborative information environment and improved display capabilities to help planners track information and documents during different phases of the planning process.The research reported here was sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command, J9, Joint Experimentation Center, Suffolk, VA

Effects-Based Planning: An Empirical Examination of the Process

This paper is submitted for consideration for the 2002 CCRTS track on C2 Experimentation. 2002 Command & Control Research & Technology SymposiumRecent world events have demonstrated that future conflicts will not necessarily be between nation states. Transnational threats to U.S. national security include drug cartels and international criminal and terrorist organizations. In response, the U.S. Joint Forces Command is leading a transition toward a new approach to warfare. A cornerstone of this new approach is the concept of Rapid Decisive Operations, which integrate knowledge, command and control, and Effects-Based Operations to achieve the desired strategic outcome or “effect” on the enemy through the synergistic application of the full range of military and nonmilitary capabilities at all levels of conflict. In preparing for and conducting a RDO, the military acts in concert with and leverages the other instruments of national power to understand and reduce the adversary’s critical capabilities and coherence. Focusing on effects, rather than attrition, enables a highly coordinated level of inter-service, interagency, and international cooperation. An experiment was conducted to examine aspects of EBO, and to specifically assess and refine the effects-based planning process. This paper describes the results of a survey on the effects-based planning and assessment process, and is a companion paper to two other papers that discuss results of the other two surveys that were administered.The research reported here was sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command, J9, Joint Experimentation Center, Suffolk, VA

Collaboration Tool Suites Developed to Support Joint Command and Control Planning and Decisionmaking

This paper is submitted for consideration for the 2002 CCRTS track on C2 Experimentation.Military forces, operating as a networked force, can plan, decide, and act collaboratively and concurrently to accomplish many tasks simultaneously. Operating in a collaborative information environment will enable the joint force to transition from the use of a hierarchical, serial planning process to the use of a parallel, collaborative planning process to produce reduced decision times and an increased tempo of operations. Collaboration tool suites were introduced during two recent events to support operational planning and decisionmaking processes by providing an alternative means to communicate, collaborate, and share information among warfighters that extends what is available in today’s current operational environments. One goal for these events was to develop an understanding of the implications and effects of distributed planing. A second goal was to obtain feedback on the effectiveness of these new tools for supporting future military operations in a distributed, network-centric joint force and to identify user-defined enhancements that would better meet future joint operational requirements. New information technology tools, to be used as part of a networked, web-based collaborative system were also introduced. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the tool suites and describes additional capabilities needed for future collaborative information environments.The research reported here was sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command, J9, Joint Experimentation Center, Suffolk, VA