Understanding MDO (Multi-Domain Operations) > the Air Force perspective in 13 minutes.
The naysayers might scoff that an Army officer is going to tell you anything about MDO, but I was once the JCCC Battle Captain for two XVIII Airborne Corps Task Forces, so I have some familiarity with the material.
Yesterday, Tues 17 Sept, Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein gave one of the best presentations I’ve ever heard, and the juice is definitely worth the hour squeeze. But if you only have 13 minutes, mouth a thank-you to the Air Force staff that put together this MDO (Multi-Domain Operations) script delivered by impresario Gen Goldfein. Start at 32 minutes in, and it goes until 00:45 min. Full Marks for the Air Force staff who put that script and scenario together.
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/709498/2019-air-space-cyber-conference-air-force-update
I spent a significant amount of time with the Air Force, specifically AFWERX this spring and summer on MDO, there are an increasing number of scenarios where rapid C2 among Joint and coalition partners is required.
- Humanitarian crisis support: Hurricane hits and aid needs to be rapidly provided to prevent further loss of life, but bad actors and misinformation abounds, both from domestic terrorists and foreign nation states.
- Terrorist acts: For example, a bomb destroys a key data center for the Chicago Mercantile or Hong Kong Stock Exchange and decisions need to be rapidly made as to how to respond and communicate to people
- Devastating Weather: For example, a huge unexpected snow storm hits the East Coast of the US and airlines need to quickly decide how to respond
- Foreign aggression: A hypersonic missile(s) is launched at multiple major US cities and the DoD needs to work together to prevent a huge loss of life
Lots of criteria and different components describe the problem sets any Joint Task Force Commander will encounter:
- Speed is of the essence and the need for rapid decision making and execution in less than 10 minutes
- Many disparate data sources — must validate the data so it’s not only coming from a single source: Trust But Verify
- Complex, unstructured data that needs to be analyzed and dare-I-say-it prepped for analysis
- Multiple communication platforms from different services and civilian agencies that need to connect without any latency. “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”
- The need to consider tactical, operational, and strategic information in minutes
- The need to factor in multiple permission levels in relation to the data and decision making
Multi-Domain-Operation is going to drive major funding shifts in the AF 2021–2025 PoM:
- Nuclear Power > more B-21s; GBSD; LRSO; NC3
- Penetrating Joint Teams > penetrate; persist; protect; proliferate; and punish
- “Logistics-under-attack” establish forward-bases; defend those bases; receive follow-on forces; and fight-those-bases
