C2 Agility: Evaluating a New Brigade Standard Operating Procedure for Information Management and Coordination

• Main Authors: Thunholm, Peter, Tan, David, Wikberg, Per, Tey, Frederick, Gullberg, Ulf, Larsson, Sven-Ake, Hua, Lee T, Siong, Ong C, Bergstrand, Martin, Thomas, George
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: ARMY PERSONNEL; BRIEFING CHARTS; BRIGADE LEVEL ORGANIZATIONS; COLLABORATION; COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS; Command, Control and Communications Systems; DECISION MAKING; EDGE FORCE OPERATIONS; FOREIGN REPORTS; HORIZONTAL COORDINATION; INFORMATION EXCHANGE; Information Science; MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN); MILITARY OPERATIONS; NHC(NONHIERARCHICAL COORDINATION); NHIM(NONHIERARCHICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT); OFFICER PERSONNEL; PEACEKEEPING; SHARED AWARENESS; SINGAPORE; SINGAPORE ARMED FORCES; STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE; SWEDEN; SWEDISH ARMED FORCES; SYMPOSIA; Unconventional Warfare

This study experiments with two command and control (C2) concepts for Edge Force operations called Non-Hierarchical Information Management (NHIM) and Non-Hierarchical Coordination (NHC). The concepts were translated into a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for a Brigade C2 structure. The purpose of NHIM is to share the information necessary to enable horizontal coordination among units of equal standing within the same C2 structure. The purpose of NHC is to speed up the decision loop and to free up mental capacity for forward planning on subsequent phases of operations at higher headquarters (HQ) level. This experiment attempted to validate the Brigade SOP in a realistic military C2 context. Thirty-four Swedish and Singaporean army officers participated as staff either in the Brigade or subordinated Battalions. The use of the NHIM/NHC SOP resulted in timely and accurate decisions and self-coordinating actions at the Battalion level, and the participants found the NHC process easy to apply. The technical C2 systems provided participants with easy access to all documents and situation map (sitmap) information for self-coordination. This study demonstrated the potential usefulness of the NHIM and NHC SOP in peace support/peace enforcement (PS/PE) operations. The criteria for NHC were tested and proven as useful guidelines for selecting the appropriate type of coordination during execution. The presentation includes briefing charts. Presented at the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (ICCRTS 2011)(16th) held in Quebec City, Canada, on 21-23 June 2011. Published in the Proceedings of the 16th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, June 2011.