The Big Issue: Command and Combat in the Information Age - Future Conflicts, Digitized Military Command and Control, Commander as Expert, 3D Vision, Manned Reconnaissance, Asymmetric Warfare

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This paper considers command and combat in the information age. it is an issue that takes us into the realms of the unknown. Defence thinkers everywhere are searching forward for the science and alchemy that will deliver operational success. They must reconcile the tantalizing possibilities of technology with the enduring nature of the most demanding aspects of combat, framed by post-Cold War strategic realities.

Part One addresses a range of philosophical issues. in the opening scene, Tomorrow's War, the editor explores the nature of future conflict and the fragility of many of our current assumptions. He also provides some insights into the nature of tactical engagements in the information age. In No Revolution Please, We're British, he and Jake Thackray analyze the nature of Revolutions in Military Affairs (RMAs) and the innate British reluctance to acknowledge or embrace them. This has a potentially incalculable opportunity cost that we have paid dearly once or twice in our military history. Jake then goes on to describe The Holy Grail of a fully digitized and networked command system and the potential benefits it could yield. John Keegan argued that the 'mask of command' in the Cold War, nuclear age was 'Post-heroic', in Neo-heroic Command the editor picks up on this theme and examines the mask of command in the information age. Jim Storr then rounds off this section with two pieces. The first on Command Philosophy argues that Mission Command is enduring and is indeed a pre-requisite for the successful exploitation of information age command systems. in the second he stresses the importance of seeing the Commander as Expert decision-maker. He analyses how decisions are actually made and argues the importance of harnessing and developing intuitive judgment. Part Two highlights the possibilities and some of the challenges. Jake Thackray opens by describing A Commander-centric Approach to future command structures and investigates a range of issue such as span of command, hierarchies, the evolution of echelons, deputies, and the impact of reaching back to the home base to draw on support there.

Chapter 1 - Introduction * Part One: Philosophy * Chapter 2 - Tomorrow's War - an analysis of the nature of future conflict * David Potts * Chapter 3 - No Revolutions Please, We're British - a consideration of the nature of the contemporary Revolution in Military Affairs and the innate British reluctance to embrace it. * David Potts and Jake Thackray * Chapter 4 - The Holy Grail - the anticipated benefits of the application of information age technology to military command and control systems. * Jake Thackray * Chapter 5 - Neo Heroic Command - The 'Mask Of Command' In The Information Age * David Potts * Chapter 6 - A Command Philosophy for the Information Age - the continuing relevance of mission command. * Jim Storr * Chapter 7 - The Commander as Expert - harnessing intuitive judgement * Jim Storr * Part Two: Possibilities * Chapter 8 - The Commander-Centric Approach - philosophical principles for command structures fit for the information age. * Jake Thackray. * Chapter 9 - Beyond Interoperability: Part 1 - new imperatives and challenges at the tactical level. * Tim Blad and David Potts * Chapter 10 - Beyond Interoperability: Part 2 - information sharing post 11 September. * Paul Lefever. * Chapter 11 - The Divine Threads - the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance 'system of systems'. * Graham Le Fevre * Chapter 12 - 3D Vision - exploiting the third dimension. * Graham Le Fevre * Chapter 13 - The Case for Manned Reconnaissance. * Graham Le Fevre and John Thornton * Chapter 14 - The Delilah Factor - new vulnerabilities in the information age, * David Potts * Part Three: Prognosis * Chapter 15 - Tactical Combat with the New C4ISTAR. * David Potts * Chapter 16 - Whither the Close Battle