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  1. #1
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    Default Renamed Thread: Operational Design Discussion

    Hello all,

    Check and have a look if BGEN McMaster is going. He is the Concept Dev Cav guy at ACIC, and he is a straight shooter and has a lot to say about operational design and Human COG.

    Cheers,
    Rach
    "Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war." Thucydides

    "Philosophising about war is useless under fire." Linda Berdoll

    http://phoenix.mod.bg

  2. #2
    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HumanCOGRachel View Post
    .... and has a lot to say about operational design and Human COG.
    • What is "Operational Design"
    • What is "Human COG?"

    Thanks.
    Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"

    - The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
    - If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
    Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition

  3. #3
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    Default Hi William,

    In this context, operational design is decribed by McMaster to be a "creative approach" to solving challenges in planning for operations. Rather than following a checklist of items to match with the conditions on the ground and targeting tactics to support those criteria, McMaster talks about focusing on a problem statement, one that is centered around a human/population problem, and planning your solution around resolving the human/population problem. It's a very simplistic explanation, but McMaster, if he attends, will probably discuss this in detail, and I'm sure he has written in Parameters or other journals on that topic....

    Human COG refers to center of gravity, meaning that the environment and subsequent effects are dependant on the psychology or actions/behaviors of targeted humans (the capacity to execute is dependant on this core). See Nash, Nagl, Gurney, Vego, or Gavrilis for further authorship on this subject.

    Cheers,
    Rach

    (HOOAH)
    "Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war." Thucydides

    "Philosophising about war is useless under fire." Linda Berdoll

    http://phoenix.mod.bg

  4. #4
    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HumanCOGRachel View Post
    In this context, operational design is decribed by McMaster to be a "creative approach" to solving challenges in planning for operations.
    Let me guess. JP-3.0?
    Human COG refers to center of gravity, meaning that the environment and subsequent effects are dependant on the psychology or actions/behaviors of targeted humans (the capacity to execute is dependant on this core).
    I'm not sure I get this. A COG is "The most effective target for a blow," - IMO, the JP-3.0 definition never says this, so basically misses the point.
    So, if you are saying kill or capture the right people, then I can go along with that.
    If it doesn't then I'm getting pretty sceptical.
    Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"

    - The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
    - If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
    Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition

  5. #5
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    Hi William,

    When working on counterinsurgency definition with the Pentagon, we were looking at various thought leaders in preparing 3.24.2 (December 2006 revision). The idea with Human COG is to redefine the term to understanding the motivators and drivers of humans in the OE, and then understanding that those motivators (and human actors obviously) are what drive battlefield changes, whether of kinetic or non-kinetic effect. This is not a new idea, and has been floating around for some time now, and used in discussion amongst TRADOC, overall force transformation folks.

    Please PM me if you want to talk about this further.

    Cheers,
    Rach

    (HOOAH)
    "Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war." Thucydides

    "Philosophising about war is useless under fire." Linda Berdoll

    http://phoenix.mod.bg

  6. #6
    Council Member Dr Jack's Avatar
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    Default "Design" from FM 5-0 Draft

    Here's how we're defining "design" in the new FM 5-0 draft chapter 3:

    "Planning consists of two separate, but closely related components: a conceptual component, represented by the cognitive application of design, and a detailed component, which introduces specificity through a formal planning process, such as the military decision making process. During planning, these components overlap—no clear delineation exists between them. As commanders conceptualize the operation, their vision guides the staff through design and into detailed planning. Like planning, design is continuous—it evolves with increased understanding and drives the operations process. It underpins the exercise of battle command, guiding the iterative and often cyclic application of understanding, visualizing, and describing."

    "Design is a methodology for applying critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe complex problems and develop approaches to solve them. Critical thinking captures the reflective and continuous learning essential to design. Creative thinking involves thinking in new, innovative ways while capitalizing on imagination, insight, and novel ideas. Design is a way of organizing conceptual work within an organization to assist commanders in understanding, visualizing, and describing the operational environment and to develop approaches to solving complex, ill-structured problems. Design occurs throughout the operations process before and during detailed planning, through preparation, and during execution and assessment."

  7. #7
    Council Member Mark O'Neill's Avatar
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    Default What are you trying to say, in simple prose, and why?

    Quote Originally Posted by HumanCOGRachel View Post
    In this context, operational design is decribed by McMaster to be a "creative approach" to solving challenges in planning for operations. Rather than following a checklist of items to match with the conditions on the ground and targeting tactics to support those criteria, McMaster talks about focusing on a problem statement, one that is centered around a human/population problem, and planning your solution around resolving the human/population problem. It's a very simplistic explanation, but McMaster, if he attends, will probably discuss this in detail, and I'm sure he has written in Parameters or other journals on that topic....

    Human COG refers to center of gravity, meaning that the environment and subsequent effects are dependant on the psychology or actions/behaviors of targeted humans (the capacity to execute is dependant on this core). See Nash, Nagl, Gurney, Vego, or Gavrilis for further authorship on this subject.

    Cheers,
    Rach

    (HOOAH)
    George Orwell once wrote that one of the things a writer must ask is "Have I written anything unnecessarily ugly?"

    I am not sure if you have, because I understand neither your prose or context.

    Could you humour me( and maybe some of the other members) and explain what your point is, and why you are making it.


    Thanks

    Mark

    PS I would prefer in without any postmodern expression.

    PPS 'Hooah' means what as an emphasis for whatever point you were trying to make?

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    Mark,

    Dr. Jack and W. Owen did a great job of explaining OD/OPP and human COG, as well as provide some historical context, so have a look above.

    With regards to Hooah, I usually use it in an affectionate manner, when showing approval or excitement or gearing up to go do something fun. Hooah can also mean "yes" and a number of other different things. I just love my Army...

    Be advised that Hooah in the US Army takes a different meaning than OORAAHH in the Marine Corps - they use it more specifically when given a task/mission and it is more of a response that the task is understood and let's go get 'em!

    Cheers,
    Rach
    "Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly the perils of war." Thucydides

    "Philosophising about war is useless under fire." Linda Berdoll

    http://phoenix.mod.bg

  9. #9
    Council Member William F. Owen's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by HumanCOGRachel View Post
    Dr. Jack and W. Owen did a great job of explaining OD/OPP and human COG, as well as provide some historical context, so have a look above.
    Well that's very kind, but I'm not sure I did. (Cannot speak for Dr. Jack)

    My extrapolation of what you said was that the "Human COG" was the primary cause or motivation, and that some effort is made to try and understand this. If so, then that is not a COG, as in "Centre of Gravity" unless TRADOC is arbitrarily inventing some new meaning that is different from that which Clausewitz intended.

    As concerns "Operational Design," I remain a sceptic. It seems to have no clear and concise definition and like EBO seems to alter and morph when confronted by criticism. Manoeuvre Warfare may have been founded on ignorance, but it stayed consistent.
    Infinity Journal "I don't care if this works in practice. I want to see it work in theory!"

    - The job of the British Army out here is to kill or capture Communist Terrorists in Malaya.
    - If we can double the ratio of kills per contact, we will soon put an end to the shooting in Malaya.
    Sir Gerald Templer, foreword to the "Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya," 1958 Edition

  10. #10
    Registered User GMLRS's Avatar
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    Default Why renamed?

    Hello All,

    Curious as to why the thread was renamed. I say that because I am the Fires Center of Excellence STRATCOM Knowledge Management Advisor, and earlier this week we received correspondence from Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) Strategic Communications to announce the upcoming TRADOC Senior Leaders Conference (TSLC). I have posted the announcement to our Fort Sill Fires Center of Excellence website (https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/130700)

    See TRADOC message below:

    All,

    From 18 - 20 August, TRADOC invites every member of your organization to
    follow the semiannual TRADOC Senior Leaders Conference (TSLC) via computer by reading and posting comments on the Small Wars Journal (SWJ) discussion board.

    New for this TSLC, reporters and bloggers at the conference will provide
    significant public transparency and feedback using a near real time
    interactive discussion board as TRADOC's senior leaders discuss the
    requirements, capabilities, and topics that support the execution of
    TRADOC’s mission.

    Also, please ensure your leadership is aware of this media presence and that
    your offices are synchronizing engagements to outcomes and cross promoting
    the event in all traditional and social networking mediums.

    Please post this invitation on your websites and link to the TRADOC and
    small wars journal websites as well.

    Thank you,

    v/r,
    Major Bill Jakola
    Deputy Strategic Communication Director

  11. #11
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default It was renamed because the lead post in this thread

    Quote Originally Posted by GMLRS View Post
    Curious as to why the thread was renamed.
    diverted into a discussion of Design and a moderator pulled it an started a new thread to prevent disruption of the TSLC Thread.

    That thread still exists, it's here: LINK

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