Templating Command and Control Warfare: Slaying the Hydra or Chasing Chimeras

摘要

The recent notion of the increasing importance of information as a means ofexercising control over ones military forces has come to the forefront of military thought dominating professional discussions and journals alike. This realization of the importance of information as the medium of control for armies on the modern age has led to the formulation of the concept of Command and Control Warfare (C2W). Command and Control Warfare represents the merging of the four previously independent elements (Operations Security, Military Deception, psychological Operations, Electronic Warfare, and physical destruction of targets) in a synergistic union to sever the enemy command from its subordinate units, in effect decapitating him. Critical to this effort is the role of intelligence and the intelligence system. Intelligence serves as the driver for C2W in that it is used to identify enemy vulnerabilities, and measure success of C2W operations. The method used to conduct intelligence operation at the tactical level in the US Army is the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield process. This is a systematic and continuous process for evaluating the physical aspects of the battlefield, but lends itself, with some modification to the support of C2W. One of the key products in the IPB process is the situation template, also called a 'snapshot in time' of the enemy forces. By modifying the situation template to depict C2W type targets the intelligence staff can contribute significantly to the conduct of C2W operations. With the means of control changing as a result of the availability, velocity and amount of information, the products used for decision making must evolve as well. The situation template must change into a more dynamic product than it currently is. The role of information will become more critical as we move firmly into the Information Age and the manner that w.