Managing Complexity During Military Urban Operations: Visualizing the Elephant

摘要

The complexity that characterizes modern urban operation combines wit ha perceived intolerance of military casualties to make actions in cities among the most difficult missions that U.S. armed forces will undertake. This study proposes a new planning approach that employs identification of critical points--the essential elements of the urban area's physical and demographic terrain--along with the notion of density --the quantity of elements and activities within the urban space--to aid military personnel in their efforts to overcome the complexity. Integrating this approach with the traditional command estimate process should assist the planner in determining how best to allocate a command's ever-scarce resources.