John Hollywood

The authors present a framework and methodology to identify the roles and responsibilities of those implementing Department of Defense policies and also potential conflicts, ambiguities, gaps, inconsistencies, and redundancies in those policies. They introduce a new software tool that automates one step of the methodology--EPIC--and demonstrate its use with three case studies to illustrate the technique and also the tool's flexibility.

Compares three units that conducted stability operations in the same area in northern Iraq-the 101st Airborne Division (which had only limited digital communications), the 3/2 Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT), and the 1/25 SBCT (both equipped with digital networks) and finds that leadership, training, and tactics and procedures are just as important as networking capabilities for improving mission effectiveness in stability operations.

How much of an increase in mission effectiveness does the Link 16 communications system provide in prosecuting air-to-air combat and how can the observed increase in actual performance be attributed to the advantages of network-centric operations? Link 16 enables network-centric operations (NCO) in ways that voice-only communications cannot. How does this increase in effectiveness translate into success in battle? More than 12,000 sorties were flown in the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System Operations Special Project, where Link 16 and voice-only communications were evaluated. Using NCO metrics, the authors gauged improvements provided by Link 16. The almost threefold increase in effectiveness shows the merits of the Link 16 and NCO concepts. The authors conclude that further studies should examine more complex missions and increase understanding of NCO concepts.

This title presents a unique approach to selecting and assembling disparate pieces of the information to produce a general understanding of a threat.