the awareness-order-action cycle and battlespace awareness
TRANSCRIPT
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The Awareness-Order-Action Cycle and Battlespace Awareness
Geoff Hone PhDIan Whitworth, Andy Farmilo
Hone, Whitworth, Farmilo:Department of Informatics & SensorsCranfield University at the Defence Academy of the UKShrivenham SN6 8LA UK
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The Argument:
1 – Awareness is a individual mental constructAn internal view of the external world
2 – If the external world is a battlespace, then:
Battlespace Awareness is the best term
3 – Many factors can and will influence awareness
4 – Two major influences on the military mind are:
Culture and Doctrine
5 – For any command group, there is a cycle through:
Awareness Orders and Actions
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The AOA Cycle
AWARENESS
ACTIONS ORDERS
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The AOA Cycle
DeterminesInfluence
Direct
AWARENESS
ACTIONS ORDERS
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Awareness1 – Any dynamic model of awareness fits the cycle:
(accepting awareness as a cognitive construct and thus open to potential change)
2 – Culture and Doctrine can influence:
Our cognitive constructThe orders that resultHow those orders are effected
3 – Result can be a change to the factors that led to the original cognitive construct
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BUT …
Awareness is not isolated to any one individual:
In 2008, a commander does not act alone:
“Multi-force … …”
“Multi-national … …”
e.g. NATOSEATOCoalition
And this introduces a new complication:Language
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Awareness
is part of something greater
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
??
From the 3-Questions model
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Battlespace Awareness
Any commander, any rank, anywhere, needs answers to three questions …
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
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Awareness
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
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Awareness
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
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Awareness
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
CommandersIntent
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Awareness-
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
CommandersIntent
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Awareness-Order
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
Cultural Influence
CommandersIntent
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Awareness-Order
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
Cultural Influence
National Cultural and Doctrinal Influences
CommandersIntent
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Awareness-Order-
WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
Cultural Influence
Orders
National Cultural and Doctrinal Influences
CommandersIntent
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WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
Cultural Influence
OrdersOwn ForceActions
National Cultural and Doctrinal Influences
CommandersIntent
Awareness-Order-Action Cycle(Multi-force Multi-national)
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WHO IS WHERE?
WHAT ARE THEY
DOING?
WHAT WILL THEY DO?
A
Com
man
der’s
Decis
ion
Command In
tent a
nd Dire
ction
Cultural Influence
OrdersOwn ForceActions
ChangesNational Cultural and Doctrinal Influences
Awareness-Order-Action Cycle(Multi-force Multi-national)
CommandersIntent
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First – the language problem
All multi-national staff come with a translation module *
OUTPUTINPUT PROCESS
The Translation Module
* Limited warrantyTerms And Conditions apply
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Just what is this Process ?
Communication Language
(CL)
Translateto native language
Mental Processing
(Thinking -national,doctrinal,cultural,
potential bias)
Translateback to
communication language
Communication Language1
(CL1)
INPUT OUTPUT
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The Official Languages of NATO
English:- UK English - US English - Canadian English
French:- French French - Canadian French - Belgian French- Italian French
? (???)
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Culture: A Simple Example
To take one single nation and one single event:
Balaklava (or The Charge of the Light Brigade)
This was a very simple command structure, but a combination of culture, doctrine, and personality, coupled with a failure of awareness, led to a total disaster.
(No language problems)
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Balaklava – British Command Structure
Army Commander
(Raglan)
Chief of Staff
(Airey)
ADC to CoS
(Nolan)Cavalry Commander
(Lucan)
Light Brigade Commander(Cardigan)
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Balaklava (or The Charge of the Light Brigade)
DISASTER!Or, from a French observer:
“C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre”
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DoctrineUnit A
“We do not fly helicopters at night”
Unit B
“We do not operate without helicopter support”
Order Unit B to conduct a night patrol and see just what happens (probably nothing at all)
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Doctrinal DifferencesThese certainly go back to the Napoleonic era, and were also found within NATO at the end of the cold war. Potential problems at the boundaries between units were identified.
At a low level:US and UK Armor/Armour have different ideas on when a vehicle commander should get his head down and close the hatch
Other studies of multinational command suggest:US Operations are Planner-drivenUK Operations are Command-led
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In conclusion
No force operates in a vacuum, so
Think Battlespacebut
Remember that units and nations have different cultures and doctrines as well as different languages.
Language Culture Doctrine
will all bear on the A-O-A Cycle