Command and Control Research Program (CCRP)

[http://www.dodccrp.org The Command and Control Research Program (CCRP)] within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (NII) focuses upon (1) improving both the state of the art and the state of the practice of command and control (C2) and (2) enhancing DoD's understanding of the national security implications of the Information Age. It provides "Out of the Box" thinking and explores ways to help DoD take full advantage of Information Age opportunities. The CCRP bridges the operational and technical communities and enhances the body of knowledge and research infrastructure needed for future progress.

The CCRP pursues a broad program of research and analysis in command and control (C2) theory, doctrine, applications, systems, the implications of emerging technology, and C2 experimentation. It also develops new concepts for C2 in joint, combined, and coalition operations in the context of both traditional and non-traditional missions (OOTW). Additionally, the CCRP supports professional military education in the areas of C2, Information Superiority, network-centric operations, and related technologies. To complement its own program of research, the CCRP provides a clearinghouse and archive for other C2 research, publishes books and monographs, and sponsors workshops and symposia.

The CCRP program serves as a bridge among the operational, technical, analytical, and educational communities. It focuses on emerging requirements and mission areas where new concepts are needed. Combined and coalition operations constitute one of these areas. The evolution of Mission Capability Packages (MCPs) is the CCRP's approach to transforming new and promising concepts into real operational capabilities through the judicious blending of new C2 technologies and the essential elements of all related capabilities needed to field C2 mission capabilities.

About the Director

Dr. David S. Alberts is currently the Director of Research for OASD (NII) / DoD CIO. Prior to this he was the Director, Advanced Concepts, Technologies, and Information Strategies (ACTIS), Deputy Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, and the executive agent for DoD's Command and Control Research Program. This included responsibility for the Center for Advanced Concepts and Technology (ACT) and the School of Information Warfare and Strategy (SIWS) at the National Defense University. He has more than 25 years of experience developing and introducing leading edge technology into Private and Public Sector organizations. This extensive applied experience is augmented by a distinguished academic career in Computer Science and Operations Research and Government service in senior policy and management positions.

His publications include: [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_UC2.pdf Understanding Command and Control] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Campaigns.pdf Campaigns of Experimentation] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Power.pdf Power to the Edge] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_IAT.pdf Information Age Transformation] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_UIAW.pdf Understanding Information Age Warfare] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_NCW.pdf Network Centric Warfare] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Unintended.pdf Unintended Consequences of Information Age Technologies] , [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Arrangements.pdf Command Arrangements for Peace Operations] , and [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Defensive.pdf Defensive Information Warfare] . He also led efforts that produced the NATO [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/NATO_COBP.pdf Code of Best Practice for C2 Assessment] and the [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Experimentation.pdf Code of Best Practice for Experimentation] .

Recent honors have included the Secretary of Defense's Outstanding Public Service Award, Aviation Week and Space Technology's Government/Military Laurel, and the inaugural NCW Award for Best Contribution to the Theory of NCW presented by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA).

Dr. Alberts' experience includes serving as a CEO for a high-technology firm specializing in the design and development of large, state-of-the-art computer systems (including expert, investigative, intelligence, information, and command and control systems) in both government and industry. He has also led organizations engaged in research and analysis of command and control system performance and related contributions to operational missions. Dr. Alberts has had policy responsibility for corporate computer and telecommunications capabilities, facilities, and experimental laboratories. His responsibilities have also included management of research aimed at enhancing the usefulness of systems, extending their productive life, and the development of improved methods for evaluating the contributions that systems make to organizational functions. Dr. Alberts frequently contributes to Government task forces and workshops on systems acquisition, command and control, and systems evaluation.

Dr. Alberts' academic career has included serving as first Director of the Computer Science Program at NYU and has held professional rank posts at NYU Graduate School of Business, CUNY, and most recently as a Research Professor at George Mason University. He has chaired numerous international and national conferences and symposia and has many publications, some of which are included in tutorials given by the IEEE and other professional societies. He has served as an officer in a number of professional societies and has actively contributed to AIAA, MORS, TIMS, AFCEA, and ORSA. At the local level, Dr. Alberts has served as Assistant to the Commissioner, NYPD. Dr. Alberts received a Doctorate in Operations Research (1968) and a Masters (1966) from the University of Pennsylvania. His undergraduate work was at City College of New York where he received a BA in Statistics in 1964.

Publications

The CCRP has been publishing works on military science, theory, and history since 1994 (at that time, the CCRP published through the National Defense University, or NDU). Most of these works may be downloaded in PDF format from the organization's website, [http://www.dodccrp.org www.dodccrp.org] .

Recent works include:
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Planning.pdf Planning: Complex Endeavors by David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes (2007)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Kass_Logic.pdf The Logic of Warfighting Experiments by Richard Kass (2006)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Smith_Complexity.pdf Complexity, Networking, and Effects-Based Approaches to Operations by Edward Smith (2006)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_UC2.pdf Understanding Command and Control by David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes (2006)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Campaigns.pdf Campaigns of Experimentation by David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes (2005)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Atkinson_Agile.pdf The Agile Organization by Simon Reay Atkinson and James Moffat (2005)]

Other prominent titles include:
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_Power.pdf Power to the Edge by David S. Alberts and Richard E. Hayes (2003)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Moffat_Complexity.pdf Complexity Theory and Network Centric Warfare by James Moffat (2003)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Wentz_Kosovo.pdf Lessons from Kosovo by Larry Wentz (2002)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/NATO_COBP.pdf The NATO Code of Best Practice for C2 Assessment (2002)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_UIAW.pdf Understanding Information Age Warfare by Alberts, Garstka, Hayes, and Signori (2001)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Alberts_NCW.pdf Network Centric Warfare by Alberts, Garstka, and Stein (1999)]
* [http://www.dodccrp.org/files/Ullman_Shock.pdf Shock and Awe by Ullman, Wade, et al. (1996)]

Conferences and Events

The CCRP sponsors a number of events each year. These symposia, workshops, and special meetings bring together the brightest and most innovative minds of the military, government, industry, and academia to share ideas, explore new concepts, and understand the implications of emerging technologies. They are designed to encourage the coalescence of a knowledgeable and energized command, control, and transformation community that is better able to meet the national security challenges of the 21st century. The challenges include not only those associated with warfighting but also the challenges of stabilization, homeland defense, peacekeeping, and the full range of disaster relief and humanitarian missions.

The largest CCRP events are the (International) Command and Control Research and Technology Symposia or (I)CCRTS. These events have been held in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

At each event, the attendees present hundreds of technical papers on diverse subjects related to command and control. Recurring subjects include Experimentation, Modeling and Simulation, Cognitive and Social Domain issues, Architectures, Metrics, Information Operations, New Technologies, Networks and Networking, Lessons Learned, Coalition Interoperability, and the Future of C2.

The CCRP [http://www.dodccrp.org/html3/events_past.html website] contains the complete papers and presentations from each conference.

IAMWG

The Information Age Metrics Working Group is a panel of experts that discusses current events and issues such as network-centric operations, effects-based operations, agility, peacekeeping, and coalition interoperability and cooperation. The panel meets once per month. The presentations and materials from these meetings may be found on the CCRP [http://www.dodccrp.org/html3/iamwg_main.html website] .

International C2 Journal

In 2007, the CCRP launched a new peer-reviewed journal. Volume 1, Number 1, "The Future of C2", was published in June 2007. Volume 1, Number 2, "Decision Support for Network-Centric Command and Control", was published in October 2007.

The Mathieson Forum

In 2006, the CCRP created the Mathieson Forum to honor the memory of Graham Mathieson, a Fellow of the UK MOD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, who died unexpectedly earlier that year. The Forum allows the public to contribute personal experiences in anecdotal form for discussion and networking purposes. Each year, the individual who contributes the most noteworthy anecdote will receive the Mathieson Award. The Mathieson Forum can be found [http://www.dodccrp.org/html3/mathieson_main.html here] .

Relevant Links

* [http://www.dodccrp.org The Command and Control Research Program Website]
* [http://www.dod.mil/nii/ The DOD Office for Networking and Information Integration]
* [http://www.oft.osd.mil/ The DOD Office for Force Transformation]