Effects-Based Operations: A Historical Perspective for a Way Ahead

摘要

Since the Gulf War, there has been a technology-driven rapid enhancement of military capabilities across a spectrum of disciplines. At the same time, the concept of Effects-Based Operations (EBO) has been evolving and gaining acceptance as a better way of thinking about military planning, execution, and assessment. In this paper, the authors review what the research and development community has done to support this change. They investigate methods, tools, and techniques that have been developed to enable the warfighters in the theater and civilian and military leadership to analyze complex situations, determine desired effects, and develop alternative courses of action that can be compared and evaluated. Their purpose is to focus on the directions that the R&D community should take to provide this needed capability to the operator. This is, unfortunately, a case of the R&D community not leading, but trying to catch up to the operator's needs.