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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

ghone.cu@defenceacademy.mod.ukI.r.whitworth@cranfield.ac.uka.farmilo@cranfield.ac.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