Understanding Commanders' Information Needs

摘要

A commonly held belief within the Army is that commanders of higher- echelon units (Echelons Above Brigade, or EAB) often fail to obtain the information that they need. The problem is viewed as a function not so much of unavailable information as of getting the right information in the right form to the right place at the right time, to be used in the right way. In recent years, the Army has sponsored or conducted a variety of studies of varying methodological quality, all aimed at addressing the higher-echelon command-and- control problem These studies, most of which resulted in lists of commanders' information needs, have conceptual and methodological flaws that severely limit their usefulness. More important, we maintain that these studies have missed the main point of the problem. Commanders' information needs are rarely specific pieces of data but are instead highly variable and human-intensive elements. Therefore, any assessment of those needs must describe command-post information processing in a manner that captures the interactions between the commander and his staff in producing, transforming, and consuming information. Such a requirement implies, in turn, that information needs be examined from the dual perspective of information science and social psychology.