Evaluating Tactical Command and Control Systems--A Three-Tiered Approach.

摘要

The United States Marine Corps is developing a Command and Control system called the Tactical Combat Operations (TCO) system as part of a larger command and control architecture. This analysis was designed to assist the Marine Corps in deciding whether or not to continue development of TCO. We identified seven alternatives to TCO, which included variants of TCO, non-Marine systems and the current manual system. We first examined the costs of the alternatives. Next, we analyzed the effectiveness at three different levels. The first level looked at performance. The next level examined how improved performance assists in forming perceptions, which in turn are used to allocate resources. The final level focused on overall battle outcome. In order to compare all alternatives fairly, we constructed equal-cost forces by augmenting the less expensive alternatives with additional tank battalions. These forces were then compared using a computerized model. At all three levels of effectiveness, automating the command and control process was advantageous. The value of certain decision aids proved to be relatively high whereas the value of automation to lower echelons was relatively low.