C4ISR Issues Associated with the Shinseki Vision: An Application of the NATO Code of Best Practice for C2 Assessment

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Starr, Stuart
Abstract	In the summer of 1999, the new Chief of Staff of the Army, General Eric Shinseki, articulated a new vision for the US Army. He observed that for early entry in smaller scale contingencies, the major fighting forces of the US Army were either too “heavy” to deploy rapidly (i.e., using the 70 ton Abrams tank as the primary weapon system) or too “light” to be effective once they arrived (i.e., lacking substantial mechanized capability). To remedy this situation, he proposed the creation of “medium weight” brigades that would be built around a proposed family of Future Combat Vehicles. These 20 ton vehicles (probably wheeled vice tracked) would be designed to be transportable by C-130 aircraft. One of the initial goals of such a brigade would be to support early entry operations in a future theater of conflict within 96 hours. To understand the C4ISR ramifications of such a medium weight brigade, a multidisciplinary team of analysts was assembled to perform an initial conceptual study of the Shinseki Vision. The team used the NATO Code of Best Practice for C2 Assessment to guide their deliberations. To that end, the team characterized the new organizational features of the proposed medium weight brigade; identified a set of scenario conditions as context for the assessment; and formulated a relevant set of measures of merit. The primary findings serve to identify key issues, which should be the subject of more in-depth assessments. 1. Goal and Objectives The goal of this paper is to identify and explore potential C4ISR issues associated with General Shinseki’s vision for a transformed Army by applying the NATO Code of Best Practice (COBP) for C2 Assessment [RTO Technical Report 9, 1999]. Consistent with this goal, two objectives are sought. First, the paper will employ this process to identify key C4ISR issues that are worthy of future, more in-depth assessments. Second, it will explore the utility of applying the NATO COBP to a complex, ill-defined C2 problem area. To achieve those objectives and goal the paper will briefly summarize the major recommendations of the NATO COBP. Those recommendations will then be applied to one phase of the Army transformation process. The paper will conclude by summarizing the lessons learned in applying the NATO COBP.
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Language	English
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Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article