Dynamic Analysis of the Brigade Combat Team's C2 Architecture

The current revolution in military affairs is centred largely on the integration of new information technologies into traditional military command and control (C2) structures. While many military leaders report that new information 'tools' such as the U.S. Army's Battle Command System (ABCS) give them an unprecedented level of situational awareness, others assert that the integration of this new digital technology comes with some unintended consequences that in some cases actually slows information flow. We studied the brigade combat team (BCT) with specific emphasis on the brigade's ability to disseminate and process information within and between command posts, using system dynamics as a modelling tool to help to understand better the impact of various policy decisions. Our study concluded with five heuristics that could potentially have profound implications for future C2 architectures.