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Commanders use Cē to control, direct, and coordinate military forces to accomplish their missions. This process encompasses the personnel, equipment, communications, facilities, and procedures necessary to gather and analyze information; to plan for what is to be done; to issue instructions; and to supervise the execution of operations. Communications allows commanders to direct operations on the battlefield and to monitor their execution. It is a critical element to battlefield synchronization.
Within a theater, Cē is maintained by a successful transition from peacetime operations to war or contingency operations. This transition cannot be accomplished without communications and the flow of essential information between the theater Army staff, EAC subordinate commanders, and combat commanders. Operations of the peacetime command structure must include planning and preparing for wartime contingencies to ensure the orderly transition required for continuity of operations.
The unique character of Cē of military operations is that it must be effective under the extraordinary stress of battle in obscure situations, in compressed time, and under psychological and emotional stress caused by battlefield losses. An operational level commander, like any tactical commander, must be able to "see" the battlefield in order to effectively tie the tenets of AirLand Battle together into a winning strategy. The effectiveness of the theater Cē system can be measured by the extent to which the commander's intentions are carried out and the ability to cope quickly and effectively with changes in the situation.
The IEW structure at EAC supports the Cē process. The intelligence assets of the MI brigade enable the commander to see the battlefield. Intelligence operations at EAC accomplish the five IEW tasks which produce operational level intelligence (see Chapter 1). Intelligence feeds the concept development and planning of the staff which result in the command estimate. Once developed, the command estimate is continuously evaluated for changes required because of shifts in the situation. Intelligence processes, such as IPB and CM, shift accordingly to answer the commander's PIR and IR to help maintain the currency and validity of the estimate.
Specific Cē arrangements between MI brigade (EAC) and supported theater commanders are addressed in OPLANs and concept plans. These plans are formulated during the deliberate planning process. The Cē system at EAC includes a specified Army headquarters for US Army CS and CSS units in the theater. To accomplish this, the EAC Cē system provides long-range planning, centralized management, and decentralized execution.
IEW Cē is the responsibility of the MI brigade (EAC) commander. It is supported by the commander's staff, subordinate commanders, and the relationships with higher echelons of command, the host nation, Allied services commands, and the supported US forces. (For details on commander and staff roles, see FM 101-5.) To accomplish the Cē mission, the MI brigade (EAC) commander ensures--
The MI brigade (EAC) supports the Cē for EAC IEW operations by--
Tremendous amounts of information flow into the theater headquarters. In order to be of value to the commanders decision-making process, this information must be routed to the respective staff sections, processed in a timely manner, and incorporated into the staff estimate. Reports, including periodic situation reports, and other battle information systems used by the staff are a means of monitoring the battle.
Maneuver operations generate their own battlefield information which is usually specific to the event and where it occurred on the battlefield. The reporting of operations occurring simultaneously provides the commander with a sense of how his campaign plan is being executed. Intelligence collection operations complement this reporting because they are focused on enemy operations.
Situation updates peak during mission analysis when the enemy and friendly dispositions and status must be known as accurately as possible. Coordinating all this information provides the commander with the certainty he requires to direct friendly operations and to maintain the balance required for close, deep, and rear portions of those operations. The entire process equates to effective battlefield information management and supports theater Cē.
Theater automation systems must be capable of managing the significant amounts of information required at EAC. The automation support to Cē of an MI brigade is enormous. Its information-processing systems must be compatible between the EACIC, the brigade headquarters, and subordinate units. Secure communications equipment is essential to the passage of sensitive intelligence information and for the protection of scarce assets involved in other IEW support operations.
The automated systems of the MI brigade Cē system must be compatible with the theater Cē system to ensure interoperability. Automated systems involved with intelligence processing must have integrated switching, storage, and data retrieval capabilities which allow analysts to function with minimal delays. They should be hardened for protection and equipped with power sources that allow for continuous operations. Interoperability with the intelligence Cē systems of joint and combined commands will not occur without prior planning of how automation support is to be provided to these commands.
Theater Army MSC headquarters (for example, HHC, MI brigade) support is provided by an affiliated signal operations platoon from an area signal battalion which is part of the theater signal command, Army. This platoon provides circuit switching facilities and transmission equipment for connectivity into the area communications systems. The MI brigade (EAC) provides terminal equipment, such as telephones, facsimile, and data devices. All other MI users are provided access to the area communications systems on an area basis as designated by the theater commander. The MI brigade (EAC) and its battalions have organic terminal amplitude modulation (AM), and/or single side band (SSB), and other secure communications capabilities.
External communications support should be integrated into and evaluated during MI brigade CP exercises and FTXs to ensure that training conducted in peacetime prepares the unit for combat. The C-E annex of the brigade OPLAN and OPORD identifies the specific communications personnel, equipment, and nets that subordinate signal units are required to provide the MI brigade (EAC), as well as other major subordinate units of the brigade.
All support arrangements for the theater IEW force are established in accordance with theater war plans and other appropriate documentation. The requirement for these arrangements is based on the mission assigned to the MI brigade (EAC) and subordinate units. Their missions include IEW DS, GS, R, or GS-R to--
These missions describe in detail the IEW support responsibilities for an MI unit. They also establish an MI unit's relationship to a supported force or other MI units. Standard tactical support missions may affect the organizational structure and the command relationships that result from employment of IEW assets in specific support missions.
Administrative and logistic support to MI brigades (EAC) will be provided by TAACOM and its support groups or by the commander of the Army component of a JTF to which IEW assets may be employed. Support relationships in peacetime should be as closely aligned with wartime requirements as possible. This is necessary to minimize the changes in a transition from peace to war operations.