STO-Activities: (no title)
Activity title:
Analytic Support for Military Adaptation in War
Activity Reference:
SAS-188
Panel:
SAS
Security Classification:
NATO UNCLASSIFIED
Status:
Active
Activity type:
RTG
Start date:
2023-09-01T00:00:00Z
Actual End date:
2026-09-01T00:00:00Z
Keywords:
Adaptation, analysis, ORA
Background:
The assumptions a military force brings with them into battle are almost always wrong, at least in parts. The nature of the opponent, and the nature of the war they find themselves in, are usually found to be different from the expectations built up in peacetime. These assumptions comes from both doctrine as well as operational planning. Increasing the quality of assumptions prior to conflict might increase the fit of the force to the war at hand, but eliminating this uncertainty entirely remains a distant prospect. As General Moltke said: “No plan survives first enemy contact”. The current war in Ukraine shows examples of both sides making erroneous assumptions about the nature of that conflict. Armed forces have repeatedly found adapting to the unexpected conditions of an ongoing war challenging. While the challenges to effective adaptation in war are numerous, there are examples of successful adaptation; that is adaptations that has contributed to the intended strategic outcomes. The focus of this proposal is to investigate how operational analysis techniques can be used for increasing the adaptability of defense organizations.
Objectives:
The objective of this RTG is to investigate how operational analysis can support military decision-makers in adaptation to the actual conditions of war. That would include decision-makers from tactical formations all the way to the military strategic levels. In order to achieve this goal, this RTG will undertake three tasks:
(i) Identify any additional documented cases of operational analysis support for military adaptation in war.
(ii) Identify tools and techniques that can be used by operational analysis personnel in support of military adaptation, while supporting commanders.
(iii) Identify if results from the Behavioral Operations Research field can be used for creating better ways of supporting military commanders in adaptation.
(iv) Identify what information is needed for adaptation, by the commander, the staff and operational analysts specifical
Topics:
The focus will be on the existing body of research on military adaption in war, which is mainly based on historical case studies. Successful adaptation can be framed as the outcome of effective learning, so results from lessons learned and organizational learning field is also relevant. In addition, the effort will be informed by results from behavioral operations research, organization theory and systems theory.
Contact:
Open2Partners:
Title:
Created at 12/04/2023 12:00 by System Account
Last modified at 16/05/2024 07:00 by System Account
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