Sense and respond: an emerging DoD concept for national defense.

Sense and respond is a concept that is emerging from the context of the network-centric environment. The relative unfamiliarity of this concept within much of the defense community suggests that its meaning and necessity are not completely understood. To help make sense and respond less a catchphrase and more a well understood concept, the text that follows will address: what the term sense and respond means, why it is important to our national security, and its relationship and application to the logistics community. The goals of this article are to provide the reader with a fundamental understanding of the sense-and-respond concept and promote greater dialogue among a larger group of interested parties on this concept.

**********

Sense and Respond (S&R) is a business strategy that is being incorporated for military use in a network-centric environment. The developer of S&R, Steve Haeckel, the director of Strategic Studies at IBM's Advanced Business Institute, adopted this system approach to meet the competitive challenges of the marketplace (Menotti, 2004). Business in the information age, he argues, must respond quickly as an adaptive system to ever-changing, unpredictable customer requests. Knowing early and managing-by-wire are the cornerstones of this business strategy. The former is getting the jump on the competition, while the latter is using advanced information technology to do so nearly instantaneously. Knowing what is next on the business horizon and having the ability to rapidly adapt a business strategy based upon lightning-speed information being received from the market environment, improves both responsiveness to customers and business performance in the competitive market place. According to now-retired Navy Captain Linda Lewandowski (2003), it is this managerial framework, established by IBM and now being adapted for military application, that is at the heart of network-centric application and theory. According to Lewandowski, key ideas of S&R include:

1. Demand is ultimately unpredictable, so success depends on speed of pattern recognition and speed of response.

2. Organizations are prearranged in modular business units that can negotiate with one another over commitments.

3. Networks are self-synchronized via a common environment and shared set of objectives.

4. The supply chain is flexible.

5. Information Technology (IT) support enables data sharing, "knowing earlier," commitment tracking, and role reconfiguration.

Authors Al-Hammouro, Liberatore, Al-Omari, and Phillips (2005) point out that "Networked S&R systems extend human reach beyond temporal and spatial barriers. Remote physical environments can then be monitored, controlled, and affected through communication networks."

The two business tenets of S&R, knowing early on and managing-by-wire, can be adopted for use by the military. Similar to the commercial-business environment, the military is also increasingly confronted with a fast-changing, unpredictable, technologically sophisticated global threat. A military that can readily adapt, acquire, and assimilate information ahead of its adversaries will have the ability to control and dominate the enemy regardless of the type and location from which the threat is being received. The network-centric environment of the military provides the technical framework and resources to receive information early on and to manage that information electronically. This improved networking-communication system can lead to better information sharing and enhanced shared situational awareness (Army Business Transformation Knowledge Center, 2006). It can also improve the quality of decision making. Therefore, within the defense community, the concept of S&R has significance beyond the use of advanced technology. Its primary functions are leadership, decision making, and empowerment.

In a network-centric military environment that applies the S&R approach, the nature of leadership takes on a specific characteristic. Leadership does not effectively occur in a hierarchical structure, but rather occurs in a flatter organizational structure and is collaborative in nature, in networked structures, complex problems are solved by people from diverse organizations working together in ad hoc and sometimes virtual teams. Decision making is distributed throughout the organization. There are few formalized rules and procedures regulating behavior. As summarized by Garstka and Alberts (2004), "Individuals in these organizations come together to solve a particular problem or set of problems. Their interactions are guided by the nature of the problem, which determines the makeup of participants based on their different expertise."

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

With respect to the type of decision-making authority mentioned above, Garstka and Alberts (2004) note that:

   Rather than relying on rigid and formalized rules and regulations,
   these organizations will be characterized by a much more dynamic
   and evolving rule set. Individuals will need to be able to form
   appropriate bonds and identify with a variety of groups, from ad
   hoc co-located teams to virtual teams and networks of teams. Status
   will necessarily result from performance as very few roles will
   endure long enough to have institutionalized reputations.
   Importantly, these new organizational structures will require a
   synchronous perception of time; multitasking being the rule not the
   exception. Authority will be distributed rather than centralized
   and finally, the orientation toward the environment will shift from
   one based on control to one based on adaptation.

Furthermore, Al-Hammouro, et al. (2005) state that:

   [The] S&R control environments can differ radically in complexity
   and in applications. Such environments can range from simple linear
   systems as in the case of a thermostat to very complex ones, which
   might include systems of subsystems, as in the case of unmanned
   autonomous vehicles (UAVs) and in the case of value-chains in
   manufacturing. Moreover, some systems may include different
   hierarchical levels of complexity abstraction. For example in UAVs,
   there are several hierarchical levels. At the lowest level is the
   direct force level. At this level, the on-board controller issues
   tasks, such as rotating motors forward or reverse, based on
   feedback information supplied by sensors (this represents local
   S&R). At the highest level of abstraction are software agents.
   Software agents carry out high-level tasks, and are responsible for
   coordinating multiple UAVs into task-oriented teams, which can have
   impact on different applications, e.g., military transformation. On
   the other hand, an online auction S&R system would comprise only
   the software-agent level.

Agility is a prominent feature of the sense-and-respond concept, much as it is for network-centric warfare. By closely examining the definition of agility, we can quickly come to understand that there is a symbiotic relationship between agility and empowerment: "Agility provides the ability to be effective in changing, nonlinear, uncertain, and unpredictable environments. Agile organizations are the result of an organizational structure, command and control approach, concepts of operation, supporting systems, and personnel that have a synergistic mix of the right characteristics. The term agile can be used to describe each component of an organization's capabilities and/or an organization that can instantiate many different mission types" (Garstka & Alberts, 2004, p. 21). A 2005 Rand study of network-centric operations provides many threads of discussion which suggest that the implementation of S&R in an operational environment is, to a high degree, predicated on empowering soldiers throughout the brigade with decision-making authority. The study notes that "the [situational awareness/situational understanding] afforded platoon leaders and commanders by the lower [Tactical Internet] and Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) [gave them] the ability to maneuver their forces and close with and destroy the enemy during urban operations" (Gonzales, et al., 2005). The author goes on to state: "An important hypothesis captured by the NCO CF (conceptual framework) is that individual and shared sense-making are improved by the quality of interaction supported by the network." This quotation suggests that command decisions are knowledge-based and demand-driven, and "depend on highly adaptive, self-synchronizing, and dynamic physical and functional processes, employing and enhancing operational cognitive decision support" (Office of Force Transformation, 2005). The type of speed and recognition required of S&R needs an empowering organization structure, a structure that is atypical of decision-making processes within most Department of Defense organizations.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SENSE AND RESPOND

The reality of 21st century warfare is that it can occur at any place, anywhere, at anytime, and take many forms. The rules, norms, and expectations of warfare are highly unpredictable. The Office of Force Transformation (2003) states that there is an:

   Emerging global security environment [that] represents a new set of
   challenges and threats, and fundamentally changes the rules of how
   America fights its wars. The new threats are broader and include
   global, regional, and local elements. They are non-state,
   multi-dimensional, flexible, distributed, information aware, and
   rapidly adapt to U.S. strategies and tactics. They are
   unconstrained by the values that guide America's approach to
   warfare. Increasingly, these threats have at their disposal
   asymmetric, inexpensive, and competitive methods of creating
   large-scale effects.

This new global security environment is complex and highly unpredictable. Threats to U.S. security may be rooted in international organizations, nation states, rogue states, terror organizations, or any combination thereof (Office of Force Transformation, 2004a). Our survival depends, to a high degree, upon our ability to quickly adapt and appropriately respond to one or more of the changing challenges discussed above. The S&R system provides the technology, information, organizational structure, and cognitive speed and effectiveness to prevent minor threats from such entities turning into large-scale destructive action against the United States. Since the speed, intensity, and nature of the threat is highly unpredictable, our response capability has to be extremely agile. This agility requires "system" response at the Joint military level. "Sense and Respond is a transformational network-centric concept that enables Joint effect-based operations and provides precise, agile support" (Office of Force Transformation, 2004a, p. 3).

Table 1 is a display of S&R logistics attributes. It indicates, among other things, that S&R is a concept that is applicable to all units and troops engaged in activity within the network-centric, joint battle space. Of equal importance, Table 1 underscores the fact that logistics is now an integral part of the warfighters' operational and tactical planning and execution (Office of Force Transformation, 2004b).

APPLYING SENSE AND RESPOND APPLICATION TO THE LOGISTICS COMMUNITY

The logistics community must be prepared to meet the full range of military operations with the speed and agility that is expected from the warfighter. It must be able to distribute "guns, bullets, bread, and butter" and adapt its activities and support to quick, ever-changing threat environments. Lewandowski (2003) points out that "Hierarchical, stovepipe logistics chains cannot support distributed, adaptive operations." The S&R for the logistician means that logistics support has to be pushand-pull in nature. Push requires anticipating where the forces will be and delivering the right configured package in the fight place, at the right time, in the right amount. It is more than just-in-time, total asset visibility. It requires logistics to function as an integral part of a system. The very S&R system that jump-starts our military into action must be utilized by the logistician to support the commander's intent. As the fighting force becomes lighter and more agile, the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics should follow in kind. It must be flexible, agile, and fast. The logistics tail and footprint have to be significantly reduced in order to support and sustain the troops.

As indicated by the Office of Force Transformation (2004c), "Sense and respond logistics will locus logistics support towards direct correlation to total situation awareness. It will anticipate and proactively support future operations, and predict future situations." The ability to manage-by-wire will help fulfill the commander's intent. By fully integrating logistics with operations and intelligence assets, logistics resources can be better exploited. These resources will be based on the commander's intent, and will reduce risk and uncertainty of delivery and support as the redundant iron mountains of equipment and supplies give way to precisely tailored packages distributed by a transportation network that can transverse the full spectrum of the battle space.

The S&R Logistics Concept is based upon the power of the network (Office of Force Transformation, 2004a). It uses networks to support distributed, adaptive operations in a seamless and highly flexible manner. It is a transparent logistics system that the warfighter can depend upon and trust to deliver supplies and munitions to project power and sustain their mission. Table 2 indicates how S&R Logistics will change the manner in which logistics will function for the greater part of the 21st century. In the post-transformation environment, stovepipes become a relic of the past. Logistics, as with warfighting, will become a joint endeavor. Networking will be the glue that will successfully implement cross-Service and cross-enterprise support.

The lightning speed at which this responsive, collaborative, anticipatory logistics system must function requires a network-centric communications system. This system must be extremely robust and highly tolerant of nonlinear, nonhierarchal communications for planning and logistics support for a broad range of missions anywhere in the world.

THE FEASIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING S&R

The feasibility of implementation of S&R is closely related to the necessity for implementation. The former Army Chief of Staff, General Eric Shinseki, recognized that the threat to U.S. national security is taking on a radically different form in the 21st century. Our forces have to be fast, agile, and highly mobile to respond to unpredictable sources of threat, regardless of their source. Network-centric technology, and in particular S&R operations, can enable such forces. Therefore, S&R feasibility is closely linked to force transformation and associated strategic, operational, and tactical operations in a joint warfighting environment.

The S&R and the lighter, more agile force envisioned by General Shinseki are designed to work together. Both are complex to implement. The technical training associated with both is unprecedented. Both require a well educated workforce that has received extensive training in both warfare methodologies. In addition, the active and reserve components must be trained to the same degree and in the same manner. One important lesson-learned from our current military operations in Iraq is that the active force has been better trained to used advanced technology then their reserve component counterparts. The reserve forces often receive their first exposure to advanced technology shortly after their arrival into the theater. The S&R tactics and technology promise to be considerably more complex than much of the advanced technology currently being used in Iraq. The military op-tempo is expected to continue well into the future, suggesting that active and reserve forces will continue to be deployed together throughout the world.

The demographic and geopolitical backdrop of this situation is grounded in predications that indicate the global population will grow from 6 to 8 billion by 2025, which will help to accelerate international migration that will, in turn, contribute to global nation-state instability. Other issues are predicted to contribute to global instability. For example, the current National Security Strategy Plan and National Military Strategy are written to respond to the increased fragmentation of states along tribal, religious, and ethnic lines, as well as the proliferation of new states, and the loose alignment of regional political and economic associations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Gulf Coordination Council. If this trend continues, the demand on our military forces will be the same or greater than today. To cope with the sociopolitical challenges of the 21st century, it is imperative that S&R capability be adopted. The feasibility of implementation of S&R, however, is contingent upon ensuring that there is a cross leveling of training among the active and reserve component forces.

CONCLUSION

What has been briefly demonstrated in this article is that S&R is a viable concept that needs to be rapidly adopted in response to the diverse military challenges of the 21st century. The U.S. military has to function as a system in order to properly implement S&R. The decision maker must realize that S&R is not a concept to be solely implemented at the point of the spear. Logistics and related ilities are just as integral to the system as the combat elements. The feasibility of successfully implementing S&R is highly dependent on appropriate education and training of the entire force, requiring a great deal of time and effort that cannot take place in the battle space during the fog of war. The U.S. capability to respond decisively to the military challenges of the 21st century requires the near-term implementation of S&R. With an understanding of S&R and its relationship to national security, the logistics community, and the necessity/feasibility of application, the defense community can come a step or two closer towards developing a S&R plan for implementation.

SENSE-AND-RESPOND LOGISTICS

Sense-and-Respond Logistics (S&RL) is a transformational network-centric concept that enables joint effects-based operations and provides precise, agile support. The S&R Logistics relies upon highly adaptive, self-synchronizing, and dynamic physical and functional processes. It predicts, anticipates, and coordinates actions that provide a competitive advantage spanning the full range of military operations across the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. The SR Logistics promotes doctrinal and organizational transformation, and supports scalable coherence of command and control, operations, logistics, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Implemented as a cross-Service, cross-organizational capability, S&R Logistics provides an end-to-end, point of effect to source of support networks of logistics resources and capabilities. Within S&R Logistics, every entity, whether military, government, or commercial, is both a potential consumer and a potential provider of logistics. It delivers flexibility, robustness, and scalability for joint expeditionary warfare through adaptive, responsive, real-time, demand and support networks within U.S., allied, and coalition operations (Office of Force Transformation, 2004, p. 5).

REFERENCES

Al-Hammouro, A. T., Liberatore, V., A1-Omari, H. A., Phillips, S. M. (2005, June). Transversal issues in real-time sense-and-respond systems. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from http://vorlon.cwru.edu/~vxl11/NetBots/EESR05/

Garstka, J., & Alberts, D. (2004, June). Network-centric operations conceptual framework [version 2]. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from http://www.oft.osd. mil/initiatives/ncw/docs/20AUG04 Version%202-0%20Network%20Centric%20 Operations%20Conceptual%20Framework.doc

Gonzales, D., Johnson, M., McEver, J., Leedom, D., Kingston, G., & Tseng, M. (2005). Network-centric operations case study, the stryker brigade combat team. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Lewandowski, L. (2006, August 6). Sense-and-respond logistics: Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability (briefing charts). Washington, DC: Office of Force Transformation.

Menotti, M. J. (2004, August). The sense-and-respond enterprise. OR/MS today. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from www.lionhrtpub.com/orms-8-04/entrprise. html

Office of Force Transformation. (2003, November 17). Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability. Washington, DC: author.

Office of Force Transformation. (2004a, May 6). Operational sense and respond logistics: Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability (Concept Document [Short Version]). Washington DC: author.

Office of Force Transformation. (2004b, May 6). Operational sense and respond logistics: Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability (Architecture Concept Paper). Washington, DC: author.

Office of Force Transformation. (2005, November 30). Operational sense and respond logistics: Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability. Washington, DC: author.

Office of Force Transformation. (2004c, May 6). Operational sense and respond logistics': Co-evolution of an adaptive enterprise capability (Project Executive Summary Report). Washington, DC: author.

Dr. Russell A. Vacante is the program director for Sector Leadership at the Defense Acquisition University, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He is also the founder and president of TRANSLOG International and is Editor-in-Chief of the organization's newsletter, The Voyager. Mr. Vacante served as president of SOLE The International Society of Logistics from October 1, 2003 September 30, 2004. In addition, he has published more than 50 articles on the subject of reliability, maintainability, supportability and logistics.

(E-mail address: [e-mail])

TABLE 1. DISPLAY OF S&R LOGISTICS ATTRIBUTES

FOUNDATIONS                         GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR JOINT
                                    LOGISTICS AND DYNAMIC ADAPTABLE
                                    OF OPERATIONS

Dynamic adaptation of logistics     Emphasize achievement of
support, using situation and        commander's intent with speed and
commander's intent-adapted          quality effects
business rules, risk thresholds,
and multidimensional situation-
relevant metrics

Integration of operations,          Enable and sustain effects-based
intelligence, and logistics         operations, using reconfigurable
functions and activities            joint/allied/coalition/treaty
                                    organization force capabilities as
                                    building blocks

Total situation awareness: dynamic  Provide risk-mitigated situation-
knowledge of evolving commander's   aware preparedness, readiness,
intent, strategic, operational,     deployment, employment, and
and tactical situation, the global  sustainment options to the
and local environment, and          commander across the full range of
logistics and force capability      military operations
status

Functions and activities governed   Replace the cyclic nature of
by business rules that respond      planning and execution with a
dynamically, in real time, to       continuous application of total
total situation awareness           situation awareness to current
                                    and future operations

Rule-based risk-assessed and        Eliminated process lines,
mitigated dynamic adaptation of     structural lines, organization
functions, activities, processes,   overhead, and constraints
organizations, supply, and support

Cognitive decision support that     Provide deterrence and alter
is knowledge-guided, recognizes     initial conditions by developing
patterns and anomalies, and mines   kinetic and potential force
feedback and experience to adapt    capabilities relative to a
operations                          potential adversary's courses of
                                    action to: deny benefits, impose
                                    costs, and induce restraints

Network-centric operations and      Support expeditionary force
warfare as an operational concept   projection and application for all
and as an infrastructure,           military operations, emphasizing
including provisions for robust,    force-to-object maneuver
secure, agile, and assured
operations, and operations when
network resources are scarce

Coordination, collaboration, and    Provide logistics for force
coherence of operations through     capabilities from the point of
robust interfaces and shared        effect to the source of support,
knowledge across military domains,  using autonomous, peer-to-peer,
in multinational operations, and    and brokered demand and supply
with government, civilian, and
private organizations

Management of strategic,            Embed evolutionary development of
operational, and tactical           doctrines, tactics, techniques,
envelopes of operations coordina-   procedures, and organization into
ted among the operations, intelli-  the adaptation of functions and
gence, and logistics domains        activities
through the situation

Broadened asset visibility          Dynamically adapt current and
across: functions; services;        future operations to respond to
and private agencies; the CONUS/    evolving commander's intent and
OCONUS multinational partners;      to the known and anticipated
government, non-government,         status of situation, environment,
sustaining base; commercial and     and force capabilities
opportunisticsources of supply
and services; and captured and
confiscated resources

Proactively sustain and support     Defeat with modest forces
the force, using knowledge-guided   (economy of power) and modest
adaptation, prediction, and         reinforcement (demassification)
anticipation to preemptively
prepare and provide logistics
resources

Management of the mosaic of         Increase speed of command,
logistics resources and force       accommodate dispersed, distributed
capabilities and response to        forces, manage high rates of
demand and events using advanced    change, and respond to closely
information technologies            coupled events

Dynamic adaptive command and        Accommodate the compression of
control, using business rule-       (and simultaneous distributed
adapted, coordinated, synchronized  response to) the strategic, opera-
event processing, data/informa-     tional, and tactical levels of war,
tion/knowledge development,         including non-contiguous, non-
awareness, and sharing, and         linear operations
collaborative functions and
activities

Tailored, precise logistics         Support precision engagement/
enabled through global situation    strike, decisive coercive opera-
awareness and knowledge of          tions, adaptive warfare, operatio-
commander's intent, and local       nal/tactical agility, and
optimization of resource            integration of offensive and
allocations, distribution,          defensive operations
and employment

TABLE 2. LOGISTICS: PRE- AND POST-TRANSFORMATION

      PRE-TRANSFORMATION              POST-TRANSFORMATION

Linear                           Nonlinear
Chains                           Networked
Use-Based                        Effects-Based
Service Stovepipes               Cross-Service Mutual Support
Functional Stovepipes            Cross-Enterprise
Title Ten-Driven                 Joint Logistics
Pre-Planned                      Dynamic Continuous Planning and
                                 Execution
Poor Ops/Log ISR Integration     Net Warrior Ethos
Reactive                         Anticipatory
Parametric Analysis-Based        Collaborative
Hierarchical                     Networked
Monolithic                       Distributed, Modular
Poor Scalability                 Dynamically Scalable
Not Flexible                     Flexible
Consumption-Based                Adaptive, Cognitive
Mass                             Speed of Effect
Attrition                        Effects-Based
Service Perspective              Joint Coherence
Efficiency                       Effectiveness
Highly Optimized                 Effective
Brittle, Rigid Supply Chains     Robust, Flexible Demand Networks