Training Field Grade Officers to Exploit the Maneuver Control System

As the U.S. Army transforms itself for future information age operations, it will rely heavily on the Army Battlefield Command Systems (ABCS) to provide digital Command and Control (C2) support to commanders throughout the theater of operations. ABCS is designed to provide the vertical and horizontal data flow required to achieve rapid decision-making and execution speeds needed to gain and retain informational dominance throughout future operations. As described in this monograph, the Maneuver Control System (MCS) provides this vertical and horizontal integration as a member of the Army Tactical Command and Control System (ATCCS), the middle layer of systems in the ABCS architecture. ABCS has the capability to provide the C2 support required by future commanders. At issue is whether the U.S. Army will train its leaders to exploit the provided technology, specifically the MCS. This monograph defines "exploitation of technology" (i.e., understanding its capabilities, recognizing its opportunities, and acting to multiply the affects of those capabilities); and provides reasons why it is necessary to train Army leaders to exploit technology, not just to use technology. ABCS use clearly improves C2 efficiency. ABCS exploitation combines and optimizes the strengths of decision-makers and systems to achieve even better and faster use of the technology. The focus of this monograph is, therefore, on the decision-maker/ MCS interface, the point where exploitation of technology must occur in order to retain the technological initiative. Determining how a decision-maker can exploit his C2 technology requires an understanding of what information a decision-maker needs to make a decision, and how a decision-maker makes that decision. Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) techniques and the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) are included in that discussion because experienced military decision-makers use both RPD skills and the MDMP to make decisions. Exploitation of technology