Red Force Interaction in Situated Cognition

Efforts to maximize the impact of network centric warfare (NCW) rely upon the effective integration of human and technological agents. Combat and command and control models must represent the entirety of a network-centric organization, including both humans and non-human components which comprise any complex system. The Dynamic Model of Situated Cognition (DMSC) was introduced by Miller and Shattuck in 2003 as a tool to help analyze this kind of complex system. The model has been applied in a variety of contexts to analyze military command and control and extended and applied to areas broader than its original use. This paper proposes to extend the model by explicitly adding Red force cognitive processes. With the addition of adversary forces, aspects of information warfare can be modeled. This includes actions against an enemy’s sensors and communications networks intended to reduce the quality of his information position and to disrupt the interaction between human and non-human elements of his command structure. Potential applications for the extension are proposed, including planning for and analyzing the effectiveness of 21 Century effects-based information operations against an enemy in both traditional and non-traditional conflicts.