Abstract: As many armies worldwide aim to become well-equipped forces available for operations at short notice, the attractiveness of a networked wireless command support system (CSS) grows. The Australian Army's Battlefield Command Support System (BCSS) is one example of a system that seems ideally suited for wireless connectivity and its associated advantages. Cabled deployments of command support systems in headquarters (HQ) have several disadvantages due to the physical properties of the cables and the transmission media. Compared to fibre-cabled systems, wireless networking offers reduced set-up and strip-down times. Wireless systems also support the ad-hoc nature of field network deployments and do not require sustained effort towards architecture planning prior to deployment. Several candidate wireless technologies for use in a networked command support system are currently in commercial and domestic use but care must be exercised to ensure that these commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions meet the requirements for Army field use. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of cabled networks. Several current and future wireless systems (including IEEE 802.11) are reviewed and some predictions are made for the future of wireless systems in networks for command support systems.