The "Green COP" (AKA, Civil Considerations Common Operational Picture)

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08-17-2009
BayonetBrant

The "Green COP" (AKA, Civil Considerations Common Operational Picture)

I just recently finished supporting an extended exercise for some folks working on a variety of tools for "mapping the human terrain" that included Army (active & reserve) Navy (MCAG) and HTS folks working together to solve some canned (and borderline trite) scenarios.

One common thread in the discussion throughout the 2 weeks was "what exactly is the "Green COP"? What goes on it? Who is in charge of it? How is it displayed (hint: it might not always be a map!)?

I figure who better to pose this question to than the (mostly) august minds here who have likely dealt with it downrange.

What are your thoughts?
08-17-2009
davidbfpo

The Green COP

Is it just me who thinks this phrase is rhubarb? KISS has been lost.

Nevertheless MIke F in another thread offered this aid and on a quick look is exactly what COP is looking for a knowledge map:

Quote:

Knowledge Mapping for Complex Social Messes: http://www.stanford.edu/~rhorn/a/rec...ldgPACKARD.pdf.

davidbfpo
08-17-2009
slapout9

Quote:

Originally Posted by BayonetBrant

I just recently finished supporting an extended exercise for some folks working on a variety of tools for "mapping the human terrain" that included Army (active & reserve) Navy (MCAG) and HTS folks working together to solve some canned (and borderline trite) scenarios.

One common thread in the discussion throughout the 2 weeks was "what exactly is the "Green COP"? What goes on it? Who is in charge of it? How is it displayed (hint: it might not always be a map!)?

I figure who better to pose this question to than the (mostly) august minds here who have likely dealt with it downrange.

What are your thoughts?

Plain old family tree can work for "Human Terrain".
08-18-2009
Ron Humphrey

Perhaps one way of thinking about it

Is simply the fact that any given org involved as part of a given task/operation/mission looks for specifics related to what they do. Each is different. How else should one refer to what might be seen as the larger all encompassing picture?

Hadn't really heard that one used before but at least to me it doesn't seem that far off as at least one way of describing it
08-18-2009
BayonetBrant

Yes, but the family tree only gets you so far, when you talk about tribal associations that may not be specifically family-related.

And given that the Green COP needs to include things like NGOs and local infrastructure and their abilities/capacities, the human terrain is only one facet of the COP.
08-18-2009
slapout9

Quote:

Originally Posted by BayonetBrant

Yes, but the family tree only gets you so far, when you talk about tribal associations that may not be specifically family-related.

Yes, but finding that out can be very important....it defines the boundry between systems, which can oftern be a conflict point or a point of cooperation. Anyway just an idea so what did you finally come up with?
08-18-2009
BayonetBrant

we haven't come up with anything... there are a lot of ideas floating around, several of which need to end up in a white paper I'm working on, but I was curious what folks have actually done downrange, and what lessons they might choose to share.
08-19-2009
Jedburgh

Culture: The New Key Terrain Integrating Cultural Competence into JIPB

Quantifying Human Terrain

Ethnographic Intelligence and Cultural Intelligence: Employing under-utilized strategic intelligence gathering disciplines for more effective diplomatic and military planning

Socio-Cultural Perspectives: A New Intelligence Paradigm

Finally, the MCIA published a Cultural Intelligence edition of their Generic Intelligence Requirements Handbook series last year. It is U/FOUO and available on the MCIA Intelink website if you have access.

As regards human networks of the familial, tribal or clandestine criminal/terrorist type, there are plenty of substantive discussions and links scattered about this board.
08-19-2009
BayonetBrant

Yes, but I think we're starting to see that the "Green COP" is much more than just human terrain/interconnectedness. There's a lot of infrastructure, local governance, criminal activity, and life support capacity that belongs in here, too.

One suggestion I've heard is that of a "Maslovian" set of layers on the Green COP. Start with the basic life support needs - food, water, shelter - and layer on the additional data as you move up Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Not sure I buy 100% but it seems like an interesting idea.
08-19-2009
Abu Suleyman

I am actually working a similar set of issues with a DoD organization. One of the tools that we are using is Social Network Analysis. I know that is a buzz word right now, but there is a lot of goodness in adapting the techniques used for ethnography, political science, or economics towards 'mapping' the green layer.

One of the issues that is addressed in academia is complexity. Unfortunately, complexity is a new methodology, but fortunately they are blazing the trail with new ways of examining data.

One of the main issues that I am attempting to look at is the issue of cross modal analysis. This is what BayonetBryant was hinting at with the "multiple issues" comment. While the green layer is a set of interactions, it is not just a set of interactions between people. People also have relationships with locations, or food sources, or ideologies, just to name a few. If you throw it all onto an ANB chart it turns into a colossal mess.

A good starting point may be to take the issues that we address when looking at ourselves and at the enemy and then look at them as far as the green layer. Just to use a simple paradigm, we could look at group membership relationships (S-1), communication and information flow (S-2), activities and operations (S-3), where people get supplies (S-4), intergroup relationships (S-5), Information infrastructure (S-6), and so on. (I just extrapolated from military to civilian ad hoc, so there may be better correlations than what I have listed here.)

The advantage of using a military paradigm over a civil one, like Maslow, is that the military paradigm includes all and only things which the military can affect. I don't think any military operation on earth could increase self actualization for the green layer. By isolating each aspect of what we are looking at, we can likely prevent seepage from one layer to the other. After all, even within an extremely hierarchical organization like the US military, the chain for supply is different than the chain of command, and so on.

One thing that I would caution against, and this is not uncommon outside of people who study networks, is that network analysis is not family trees. Family trees are networks, but there is a lot more in network analysis than just who is related to whom.
08-19-2009
slapout9

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abu Suleyman

One thing that I would caution against, and this is not uncommon outside of people who study networks, is that network analysis is not family trees. Family trees are networks, but there is a lot more in network analysis than just who is related to whom.

One thing I would caution is that the family tree is the first network your are involved in from birth! And can have a large impact on what other networks you are likley to be exposed to or end up joining.
08-19-2009
Abu Suleyman

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapout9

One thing I would caution is that the family tree is the first network your are involved in from birth! And can have a large impact on what other networks you are likley to be exposed to or end up joining.

That is true, except when it isn't.
08-19-2009
slapout9

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abu Suleyman

That is true, except when it isn't.

As in like an orphan? Can you expand upon that?
08-19-2009
Abu Suleyman

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapout9

As in like an orphan? Can you expand upon that?

Sorry, I was trying to be pithy and witty, but apparently ended up being opaque.

Family is important, but it is only one dimension of interpersonal and social development. Many people 'grow out' of their families, so to speak. The best example that I can think of is how Nikita "We will bury you" Khruschev's son, defected to the United States and now teaches at the Naval War College and Brown University. Anyone who looked at only his pedigree might have been surprised by that. However, by looking into other relationships we might be able to see and even predict such behavior.

Any good analysis will include a 'genealogy' of the area, especially if it is an area like the Middle East, which is rich overlapping families. Unfortunately the use of short hand descriptions, like "family tree's", of an in depth method like network analysis can obscure the value of network analysis to those unfamiliar with it. ("I don't need a family tree!") I suppose that I am somewhat sensitive to that characterization because I confront it fairly often.
08-20-2009
slapout9

Abu, I am tracking a little better now. What do you think of this reference?

http://www.grazian-archive.com/gover...0Contents.html
08-20-2009
Abu Suleyman

This is awesome! I haven't read the whole manual, yet, but just based on the introduction and the couple of sections I breezed through, this is going to be well worth a more in depth read. Given that this manual predates several modern analytic techniques, I will be interested in what he recommends for techniques.

How did you come across this? Do you have any idea why this is not more commonly referred to, or has not been revised and repubbed, as far as I know?
08-20-2009
slapout9

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abu Suleyman

This is awesome! I haven't read the whole manual, yet, but just based on the introduction and the couple of sections I breezed through, this is going to be well worth a more in depth read. Given that this manual predates several modern analytic techniques, I will be interested in what he recommends for techniques.

How did you come across this? Do you have any idea why this is not more commonly referred to, or has not been revised and repubbed, as far as I know?

I was introduced to it a long time ago.;) Was very surprised to find it on the internet. It works as advertised. The techniques were all originally done by hand and you can still do it that way, but as you read it, toward the end he talks about using a computer......with IBM punched cards. :)I imagine it is still read widely in certain circles. Didn't you ever wonder how A'stan went down so fast? Enjoy reading the magic book on how the world actually works:eek: You will see why I have the 3F's theory of networks...it is all family,friends,and finances. I did add a forth F....but that is for later.