Improving Operational Situational Awareness with Collaborative Technologies

The American military spends a great deal of its resources in efforts to outmatch potential opponents. Usually this takes the form of better equipment, morale and training. Nonetheless, the most important facet of the military operation is leadership. There are, however, few concrete methods that can be applied to lend the commander a reliable advantage. One such approach that has proven successful is that of increasing the operational tempo to a rate that cannot be matched by the adversary. This article presents a qualitative field investigation of an effort to introduce a group support system (GSS) into the daily work of the staff of the US Navy’s Commander, Third Fleet (C3F or COMTHIRDFLT). This application is directly targeted at providing an operational advantage by speeding the commander’s decision-action cycle.