Human Performance Under Two Different Command and Control Paradigms
Abstract
What is this report about?
This report is about subjecting commonly held beliefs about the benefits of Network Enabled Capability (NEC) to direct empirical tests. In this case, the assumption that NEC leads to increased tempo and effectiveness is considered.
Background and reasoning behind the work
The motivation for this report is based on a number of intriguing observations made previously during several large-scale simulated command and control (C2) exercises. A consistent observation was that NEC systems exhibit unusual, sometimes paradoxical behaviour. It is argued that this behaviour might provide several powerful clues as to how these systems are thought about, designed, procured, and the role of the human within them.
What was undertaken in the research?
The Brunel University NEC test-bed enabled a traditional hierarchical command and control organisation (‘classic C2’) to be pitted against a network centric alternative on a common task, performed thirty times by two teams.
What was discovered?
Time series analysis revealed that whilst the NEC condition ended up being slightly slower than its hierarchical counterpart on a simulated Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT)-type task, it was able to balance and optimize all three of the performance variables measured (task time, enemies neutralized and attrition).
Military relevance of the work
This work lends weight to an alternate view of NEC. It is argued that a useful conceptual response is not to consider NEC as an end product comprised of networked computers and standard operating procedures, nor to regard the human system interaction as inherently stable, but rather to view it as a set of initial conditions from which the most adaptable component of all can be harnessed: the human.
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