Contemporising the Combat Estimate

15-1-6.jpg
15-1-6.jpg

Contemporising the Combat Estimate

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Author(s): Michael Forster; Laura A. Rafferty; Neville A. Stanton
No pages: 6
Year: 2012
Article ID: 15-1-6
Keywords: combat estimate, human factors, human terrain mapping, training and analysis
Format: Electronic (PDF)

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Abstract: The aim of this paper is to adapt the Combat Estimate so that it can be used to support Human Terrain Mapping for use in Contemporary Operating Environments, in particular to facilitate the planning and interaction of both soft and hard effects. The planning tools in the present version of the Combat Estimate were developed for hard kinetic effects and are less useful for planning for soft, influence, effects. This paper focuses primarily on identifying how tools from other domains, such as commercial marketing and political campaigning, can help to analyse, and then provide a path to influencing, a target population in a military context. A Contemporised Tool Set was developed and tested at the Joint Services Command Staff College with 186 newly promoted Majors undertaking their compulsory promotion training. The participants were divided into a control group (using the current planning tools associated with the Combat Estimate) and a treatment group (using the Contemporised Tool Set in addition to the current planning tools). The results suggest that the Contemporised Tool Set increased plan quality significantly without increasing workload or decreasing usability of the Combat Estimate.