Wage Smarter War With Agile Army IT

An interesting article pertaining to military surveillance technology in Iraq and Afghanistan was published in the October, 2008, issue of Wired magazine.

Executive Summary

Name:
Colonel A. T. Ball

Position:
Chief of Staff, US Army, Pacific

Mission:
US forces operate hundreds of aircraft in the skies over Iraq. Yet prior to February 2007, they were spotting only a tiny fraction of the roadside bombs responsible for most US casualties. Then helicopter brigade commander A.T. Ball was put in charge of Task Force ODIN, a group of IT gurus, image analysts, and drone pilots charged with taking back the roads. The networked operation was able to spot bomb planters, transmit the coordinates quickly, and strike.

Results:
When Ball took over, ODIN was facilitating one kill every few weeks. In the final months of his command, it averaged one a day. Altogether, as of January 2008 the unit has helped take out more than 2,400 enemy bombers.

Key Takeaway
Network-centric warfare requires a flexible chain of command. Previous efforts were hampered by rigid hierarchies and top-down decisionmaking. Units could wait days to get a few minutes of surveillance drone time — only to see the craft fly away at a critical moment. Shifting the network to Ball's tactical level gave his forces speed and agility. In the future, small units like Ball's must be able to run their own networks — without waiting for input from generals.

An earlier related Wired article entitled "Drone, Copter Team Kills 2,400 Bombers in Iraq" may be viewed here.