This research paper will explore the missions and construct for Army future force information and knowledge management organizations as part of a network centric information infrastructure. The Network Centric Information infrastructure will herald in a new paradigm for the Army Signal Corps-it no longer will be just a communications provider. Through the implementation of enhanced technologies and the adoption of a network centric approach we can obviate the need for communications installers and maintainers on the future battlefield. This requires a vision predicated on dramatically changing the Signal Corps as we know it. We must begin with the end in mind and recognize that technology and new doctrine will allow us to move to this new paradigm. We can field a future force with embedded communications capabilities thereby allowing the Signal Corps to move into the arena of joint information and knowledge management. This will require specialized training but not a unique force to implement. We can mold Military Intelligence (MI) Information Operations (IO) and automation officers into a cohesive team of knowledge management professionals that will be the core of the new Signal Corps. Professional Army communicators must embrace new missions and define a new paradigm or find themselves in forced obsolescence. This paper will propose a feasible course of action that will facilitate the development of a network centric information infrastructure in support of the future force. Furthermore the paper will present the benefits of transforming the core mission of the Signal Corps to one of knowledge management in keeping with the overall implementation of a network centric system in an era of joint interdependence.
Provides answers to some of the fundamental questions regarding network-centric warfare (NCW) as an emerging theory of war in the Information Age. Describes how the tenets and principles of NCW are providing the foundation for developing new warfighting concepts, organizations, and processes that will allow our forces to maintain a competitive advantage over potential adversaries, now and in the future. Provides an overview of the ongoing implementation of NCW in the Department of Defense (DoD).
The United States military is adapting itself to fight warfare in the Information Age, preparing forces that use information superiority as a key weapon. Advocates of this communication-based and information-based form of warfare use the term 'Network-Centric Warfare' to describe the new paradigm. This new form of warfighting is expected to fully exploit the power of shared information and superior communications. Both of the recent 'Joint Vision' documents, Joint Vision 2010 and Joint Vision 2020, embrace this new form of warfare as a central feature of the future of the U.S. military. But does Network-Centric Warfare significantly alter operational design of a campaign? Network-Centric Warfare is essentially warfare that generates combat power by effectively linking (networking) actors, sensors, and decision-makers. Shimon Naveh's definition of a campaign (as the competition of two competing complex systems) helps frame the context and relevance of Network-Centric Warfare. Given this context, one cannot underestimate the central importance of the sensor network to the overall effectiveness of the networked force. A campaign planner must consider the abilities and limitations of his sensor network as he plans the campaign, and design appropriate actions accordingly. Additionally, the campaign planner must carefully balance dispersion and mass to counter erosion of forces and sustain operational momentum. A campaign plan must contain the right balance of Network-Centric Warfare and traditional means to attain operational objectives.
A report by the Dept. of Defense¿s Command and Control Research Program. Contents: (1) Complexity in Natural and Economic Systems; (2) Concepts for Warfare from Complexity Theory; (3) Evidence for Complex Emergent Behavior in Historical Data; (4) Mathematical Modeling of Complexity, Knowledge, and Conflict; (5) An Extended Example of the Dynamics of Local Collaboration and Clustering, and Some Final Thoughts. Appendix: Optimal Control with a Unique Control Solution. Tables and figures.
"In this paper, the author examines the claim that information technologies will allow for wider and more rapid sharing of information. In order to take advantage of the emerging possibilities presented by information technologies, NCW [network-centric warfare] theorists recommend changes to the structure of information age military organisations and changes to the methods for command and control of military forces. Some of their ideas have implications for the traditional function of command. This study paper asks how contemporary military theorists account for the essence of command in information age theories of warfare. Case studies of Frederick the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Dwight D. Eisenhower demonstrate that the essence of command is the dynamic relationship among nine imperatives. This study paper contends that the emerging information age theories of warfare are flawed because they are based on a definition of command that does not account for these imperatives."--Land Warfare Studies Centre website.
As US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) develops strategic concepts for synchronizing the military dimensions of the Global War on Terrorism it will need to address a full range of factors that describe the strategic environment, centers of gravity, and operational approaches for pressing the counterterrorism fight. One key factor is the construct of a global terrorist network and what that implies for the ways that US joint forces must organize and operate. In this paper, Dr. Jessica Glicken Turnley helps the planner to consider the challenge of how a bureaucratically organized force might assess a network-centric enemy and develop appropriate strategies.Implications drawn here by Dr. Turnley relate to USSOCOM strategic priorities for winning the war on terror and ensuring a competitive advantage in the future. These priorities include leading the planning for the DoD Global War on Terrorism as well as commandspecific counterterrorism operations. The paper also implies considerations for force readiness and developing USSOCOM's next-generation capabilities.Dr. Turnley advises that we are facing the challenge of responding at once with force structures appropriate for geographically based adversaries and network based adversaries. The US military must develop the ability to quickly change and redefine force structure, force development, and force management techniques, and Dr. Turnley believes that this may be one of the key enablers of the future force.
Network-Centric Naval Forces: A Transition Strategy for Enhancing Operational Capabilities is a study to advise the Department of the Navy regarding its transition strategy to achieve a network-centric naval force through technology application. This report discusses the technical underpinnings needed for a transition to networkcentric forces and capabilities.
This professionally-formatted free-flowing ebook provides a complete guide to the famous Army Signal Corps, with reproductions of four major histories and documents from the Department of Defense.Concise History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - Regiment * An Overview of Signal Corps History * A Brief History of the Signal Corps * Chief Signal Officers * Medal Of Honor Recipients * Chronology - This book traces the history of the U.S. Army Signal Corps from its beginnings on the eve of the American Civil War through its participation in the Persian Gulf conflict during the early 1990s. Over the course of its 135 years of existence, the Signal Corps has often been at the forefront of the revolutionary changes that have taken place in communications technology. It contributed significantly, for example, to the development of radar and the transistor. While accounts of the branch's service during the Civil War, World War II, and Vietnam have been published, little has been written about the rest of the Signal Corps' accomplishments. This book fills out the picture. It shows today's signal soldiers where their branch has been and points the way to where it is going. The reader, whether military or civilian, can follow the growth and development of one of the Army's most sophisticated technical branches. By telling the Signal Corps' story in a comprehensive manner, this volume makes a significant contribution to the history of the Army.Getting the Message Through - A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps - CHAPTER I - THE BIRTH OF THE SIGNAL CORPS * Early Military Signaling * Albert J. Myer - Father of the Signal Corps * The Civil War - Organization and Training * Signal Equipment and Methods * Wartime Operations * The Confederate Signal Corps * The Signal Corps Survives Its Baptism of Fire * CHAPTER II - WEATHERING THE POSTWAR YEARS * The War Clouds Lift. * The Signal Corps Becomes the Weather Service. The Stormy Years * Military Signals Weather the Storm . A Change in the Weather * CHAPTER III - FROM THE TROPICS TO THE ARCTIC * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1891-1898 * The War With Spain * Postwar Operations * Organization and Training, 1899-1903 * New Frontiers: Alaska and the Dawn of the Electrical Age * The Roots of Change * CHAPTER IV - THE SIGNAL CORPS TAKES TO THE AIR * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1904-1907 * Upheavals at Home and Abroad * The Signal Corps Gets the Wright Stuff * Radio - The Wave of the Future * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1908-1914 * The Signal Corps Spreads Its Wings * Bordering on War * CHAPTER V - WORLD WAR I * Trouble in the Air * "Over Here": Mobilization and Training * "Over There": Organization and Training * "Over the Top": Signalmen in Battle * The Signal Corps Loses Its Wings * The Signal Corps Comes of Age * CHAPTER VI - BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1919-1928 * Research and Development * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1929-1939 * The Road to War * CHAPTER VII - WORLD WAR II: ESTABLISHING THE CIRCUITS OF VICTORY * The Search for Manpower and Brainpower * Marshall Reshapes the War Department * The Worldwide Network * Signal Security and Intelligence * Photography: Shooting the War * Equipment: Research, Development, and Supply * The Signal Corps' Contribution * CHAPTER VIII - WORLD WAR II: THEATERS OF WAR * Defending the Hemisphere, December 1941-June 1943 * Signal Support for the Pacific Theater, 1941-1943 * Passing the Test in North Africa and Italy * Signal Soldiers in Europe: D-Day and After * The Asiatic and Pacific Theaters, 1943-1945 * CHAPTER IX - THE COLD WAR, KOREA, AND THE COSMOS * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1946-1950 * The Korean War * Signals in Space * From Signals to Communications-Electronics * Force Reductions, Readiness, and the Red Scare * Organization, Training, and Operations, 1960-1964 * From Cold War to Hot * CHAPTER X - THE VIETNAM CONFLICT * CHAPTER XI - SIGNALING AHEAD
We know from history that the ability of a military commander to effectively control his forces was forever changed by the French Revolution and the levee en masse. Thereafter, the sheer size and dispersion of forces made it necessary to subdivide them, and eventually to institute a rigid organizational system that has become increasingly more complex. Communications became extremely difficult with the available signal technology, making it almost impossible to synchronize these widely dispersed forces. The subsequent arrival of the telegraph vastly improved military communications, and today forces of almost unlimited size and separation routinely share information and intelligence in near-real time. From the late 20th century explosion in information and computing technology emerges the concept of Network Centric Warfare. Network Centric Warfare applies the vast potential of the Information Age to warfare, envisioning a netted battle force executing high-speed, synchronized operations with precise effect. Rich, scalable visualizations that reflect all relevant factors in the battlespace, or Common Operating Pictures (COPs) as they have been coined, become the essential element of United States military power in the 21st century.
