Tactical Command and Control Process

Abstract : The U.S. Army Command and General Staff College requested that ARI participate in the development of new descriptions of the command and control (C2) process for tactical commanders and staffs. The request was based on information from research on training of group decision making and development of C2 decision aids. These results, along with naturalistic observation of command and staff performance during command post exercises, were used to develop a modified process description. One major principle on which the description is based focuses on the fact that command and control is done to accomplish missions and not to select a best course of action. Other C2 activities are raised in importance in the new description, including situation understanding, battle forecasting, wargaming, synchronization, deception planning, contingency planning, and rehearsals. Practical themes (like commander involvement, allocation and management of planning time, and active error checking) are stressed to facilitate the application of the process. Command and control, Tactical decision making, Command and staff operations, Planning process, Human performance.