Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection 2009-12 Close ISR support re-organizing the Combined Forces Air Component Commander's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance processes and agencies Price, Stephen C. Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/4349 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS CLOSE ISR SUPPORT: RE-ORGANIZING THE COMBINED FORCES AIR COMPONENT COMMANDER’S INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE PROCESSES AND AGENCIES by Stephen C. Price, Jr. December 2009 Thesis Advisor: Erik Jansen Second Reader: Michael Freeman Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED December 2009 Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Close ISR Support: Re-organizing the Combined Forces Air Component Commander’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Processes and Agencies 6. AUTHOR(S) Stephen C. Price, Jr. 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION Naval Postgraduate School REPORT NUMBER Monterey, CA 93943–5000 9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING N/A AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance support to counterinsurgency operations is significantly different from the support necessary for conventional, major theater warfare based upon the command levels of planning and execution, the developing nature of “wicked” problems within a counterinsurgency, and the competing needs for highly limited resources. The U.S. Air Force, however, maintains an organizational structure optimized for conventional warfare at the expense of the responsiveness and flexibility necessary to conduct ISR operations in coordination with supported maneuver elements. This thesis identifies the problems encountered by the ISR community in supporting counterinsurgency operations and makes several recommendations for mitigating those problems, among them the development of a dynamic organizational design, a request and tasking process that manages both ISR and operations assets with a focus on the disparate needs of responsible commanders, and the transition to a doctrine focused on real-time ISR integration with, rather than preliminary support to, operations. The doctrine proposed by this thesis is exportable to non-military operations to include disaster recovery and humanitarian relief operations. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance; ISR; counterinsurgency operations; COIN; PAGES Combined Forces Air Component Commander; CFACC; airborne ISR; collection 399 management; ISR planning; ISR Liaison Officer 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20. LIMITATION OF CLASSIFICATION OF CLASSIFICATION OF THIS CLASSIFICATION OF ABSTRACT REPORT PAGE ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified UU NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 i THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited CLOSE ISR SUPPORT: RE-ORGANIZING THE COMBINED FORCES AIR COMPONENT COMMANDER’S INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE PROCESSES AND AGENCIES Stephen C. Price, Jr. Major, United States Air Force B.A., Colorado State University, 1995 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DEFENSE ANALYSIS from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL December 2009 Author: Stephen C. Price, Jr. Approved by: Erik Jansen Thesis Advisor Michael Freeman Second Reader Gordon H. McCormick, PhD Chairman, Department of Defense Analysis iii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv ABSTRACT Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance support to counterinsurgency operations is significantly different from the support necessary for conventional, major theater warfare based upon the command levels of planning and execution, the developing nature of “wicked” problems within a counterinsurgency, and the competing needs for highly limited resources. The U.S. Air Force, however, maintains an organizational structure optimized for conventional warfare at the expense of the responsiveness and flexibility necessary to conduct ISR operations in coordination with supported maneuver elements. This thesis identifies the problems encountered by the ISR community in supporting counterinsurgency operations and makes several recommendations for mitigating those problems, among them the development of a dynamic organizational design, a request and tasking process that manages both ISR and operations assets with a focus on the disparate needs of responsible commanders, and the transition to a doctrine focused on real-time ISR integration with, rather than preliminary support to, operations. The doctrine proposed by this thesis is exportable to non-military operations to include disaster recovery and humanitarian relief operations. v THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK vi TABLE OF CONTENTS I. ORGANIZATIONAL RE-DESIGN AND THE PROBLEM OF CFACC ISR SUPPORT TO COIN OPERATIONS .......................................................................1 A. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................1 1. What Is ISR? ........................................................................................3 2. What Has Changed?............................................................................5 B. THE MACHINE BUREAUCRACY..............................................................6 1. Basic Structure.....................................................................................8 2. Context for Effectiveness.....................................................................9 3. Limitations..........................................................................................10 C. JOINT PLANNING IN A CONVENTIONAL CAMPAIGN ....................10 1. 21–25 March 2003—Campaign Planning and the “Dust Storm”.................................................................................................10 2. CFACC ISR Adaptability within Design.........................................23 D. U.S. ARMY ORGANIZATIONAL RE-DESIGN.......................................25 1. Impetus for Change ...........................................................................25 2. Transition from Division to BCT......................................................26 3. Impact .................................................................................................27 E. THE ADHOCRACY......................................................................................27 1. Basic Structure...................................................................................28 2. Context for Effectiveness...................................................................29 3. Limitations..........................................................................................29 F. JOINT PLANNING IN 2007.........................................................................30 1. 12 June 2007—Chasing Black Marketers........................................30 2. What Went Wrong and Why?..........................................................37 G. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ..............................................................44 II. COIN ISR AS A WICKED PROBLEM ..................................................................45 A. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................45 B. WICKED ISR PROBLEMS .........................................................................46 C. ISR AS TAME AND WICKED PROBLEMS.............................................48 1. Formulation........................................................................................48 2. Stopping Rules....................................................................................51 3. Test for Correctness...........................................................................52 4. Solution Types ....................................................................................54 5. Trial and Error ..................................................................................55 6. Exhaustible Set of Solutions..............................................................56 7. Unique .................................................................................................58