Adapting Modeling & Simulation for Network Enabled Operations
Abstract : If there is a particular theme central to the body of literature produced by the CCRP Publication Series, it involves the challenges of complexity and the nature of an appropriate response to this complexity. This book continues our treatment of the subject of complexity and its implications for military organizations. Network Enabled Capability, first introduced to a wide audience with the CCRP publication of Network Centric Warfare in 1999, is, as the author points out, the embodiment of the military s transition from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. The struggles to understand, accept, and develop a network enabled approach to military operations mirror similar developments in the adoption of the Internet that have given birth to a variety of new business and organizational models. The relatively rapid rise of online book stores and more recently eBooks came to many as a surprise. The traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore is an endangered species that must adapt to these new realities or be relegated to a niche market. Hard copy books may soon follow. The increasing complexity of military missions from disaster relief through stabilization and peace support to warfighting has, in the CCRP literature, been referred to as Complex Endeavors. In Complex Endeavors it is not only the environment that is complex; it is also us, no longer a single organization, but a heterogeneous collective. Regrettably, this development, decades in the making, seems to continue to catch some by surprise. Many seem to think that business as usual is still an option. Many recognize that change is needed but do not understand how to change and do not accept the changes proposed by others. The rising calls for action are not advocating simply more expertise but a new kind of expertise; not more competencies but rather more agility. Nowhere is this more true than in the critical area of Command and Control.