Command And Control Of Theater Forces PDF Download

Command and control (C2) is at the heart of military campaigns and major operations. To orchestrate his campaign plan, the theater-level commander must make appropriate and sound organizational decisions. Ultimately his organizational decisions can make the difference between success and failure. In the C2 process, the organization provides the conduit for a commander's information and operational decisions. In our most recent conflict, the Persian Gulf War, USCINCCENT's organizational decisions positively contributed to his ability to wage a successful military campaign. He achieved unity of effort among the US joint forces and the multinational coalition forces. The C2 framework presents practical concepts on command structures and relationships, as well as organizational considerations for operations involving combined forces. The commander has a range of options for organizing his forces and must keep several factors in mind, including the mission, force capabilities, scope and size of the military operation, and interoperability. The goals of his organizational decisions are unity of command, unity of effort, centralized planning, and decentralized execution. The C2 framework provides a template for examining and assessing USCINCCENT's theater C2 organization during the Persian Gulf War, with special emphasis on his use of a Joint Forces Air Component Commander and the organizational arrangements he made to operate with multinational forces.