Command, Control & Communication (C3) Concepts Analysis
The EBR program on Command, Control and Communication (C3) Concepts Analysis provides DOD decision makers leading-edge analytical capability for addressing critical issues associated with network enabled transformation of C3 – a major strategic undertaking which is aimed at achieving the force agility and effectiveness necessary to meet operational challenges posed by the full spectrum of threats and missions associated with an increasing complex and uncertain national security environment.
EBR’s overarching approach is based on four thrusts: (1) sound scientific principles, including modeling complex phenomena, developing clear hypotheses and metrics and conducting rigorous experiments; (2) comprehensive analytical frameworks that link multiple domains to relate enabling technology, people and processes within an overarching C2 concept to determine mission outcome; (3) adapting existing state of the art modeling and simulation tools or developing new decision support tools based on emerging theory; and (4) multidisciplinary expertise from the physical and social sciences as well as other applied sciences including mathematics, operations research, engineering and information technology/systems with input from military subject matter experts. EBR has more than 20 years of successful history addressing complex and challenging C2 and related information technology/systems issues. Examples of recent tasks that involved the integrated application of these capabilities are given below.
Development of C2 concepts and capability frameworks: Areas where EBR played a major role include the development of a multi-domain evaluation framework for capabilities associated with net-centric operations, a practical C2 maturity model and a comprehensive framework for characterizing net enabled C2 concepts, developed with organizations such as the U.S. DOD Command and Control Research Program, the former DOD Office of Force Transformation, the Joint Staff, and several NATO Studies, Analysis, and Simulation (SAS) Panel study groups. EBR also made significant contributions to DOD’s Joint Functional Concepts for C2, the Net-centric Environment and Force Management. EBR worked with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (OASD/NII) to develop DOD’s Strategic Vision for Network Operations (NetOps) based on a framework that views NetOps as “C2 of the Global Information Grid.” These efforts combined with case studies, widely disseminated publications and the organization of international conferences has provided leadership in shaping the vision of future C2, identifying key challenges, bringing to bear the best emerging thinking from fields such as network theory and complex adaptive systems, and defining the metrics for measuring progress in the information, cognitive and social domains.
Analysis of enabling technology, systems and programs: EBR support has focused on enterprise wide system of system issues associated with the DOD global information grid and network enabled information environment. These include a framework for technical requirements and guidance for interoperability, the strategic vision for network operations, concepts for enterprise wide governance. EBR helped to develop a flexible supply and demand model for capabilities that comprise the joint network and to rapidly apply this model to quantify major gaps in capability and evaluate improvement options. Building on its years of experience in analyzing military operations including counterinsurgency, security operations and irregular warfare, EBR has also pioneered methods for mission oriented evaluation of information systems that enable emerging critical C2 concepts. These include a methodology based on detailed end-to-end operational threads for evaluation of service oriented architecture and a complimentary method based on net-enabled C2 functionality for assessing the impact of gaps in network capability on mission success.