Model of Tactical Battle Rhythm

摘要

The purpose of battle rhythm management is the maintenance of synchronized activity and process among distributed warfighters. It is most critical in rapidly evolving situations or in highly distributed operations. Successful battle rhythm implies the synergism of procedures, processes, technologies, individual activities and collective actions at warfighter, staff level, command node, and unit levels in order to facilitate military operations. The concept is ubiquitous in daily military operations (particularly at the operational level of command), but little exists to define it at the tactical level or substantiate its existence in the experimental or analytical literature. There is a need to establish a common referent, a model of tactical battle rhythm, in order to discover the methods best suited to command and control it. If the battlefield has turned electronic, then so too must our methods for synchronizing the actions of thousands of warfighters. We propose that the judicious employment of collaborative technologies among distributed warfighters is one strategy for managing tactical battle rhythm. We assert that the increasing reliance on collaborative technologies will lead to successful management of tactical battle rhythm. However, we need a way to model the tactical battle rhythm in order to predict the most effective times to use collaborative tools. We propose a conceptual framework of tactical battle rhythm (TBR) and present a model of real world TBR in the context of a notional humanitarian assistance operation. The focus of our model is at the battalion/squadron/combat/service support group level, in an attempt to explore the execution phase of warfighter activities, the activities that define the tactical level.