Applying the Contextual Control Model (COCOM) to the Identification of Situation Awareness Requirements for Tactical Army Commanders

Abstract

Tactical command and control (C2) operations under conditions of complexity, uncertainty, stress, and time pressure impose significant cognitive demands on the Tactical Army Commanders' (TAC) ability to successfully prosecute their missions. The objective of the present study was to apply Hollnagel's (1998) Contextual Control Model (COCOM) to the identification of time-critical Situation Awareness (SA) requirements for TACs engaged in time-critical tactical C2 operations. SA requirements relevant to the successful completion of a broad range of tactical C2 missions – convoy escort, checkpoint security, combat, and cordon and search – were identified. These SA requirements were then prioritized into a subset of ‘critical’ SA requirements and then further analyzed in terms of classifying them into one of four COCOM control modes (i.e., strategic, tactical, opportunistic and scrambled). Through this analysis, areas that impact the development of decision aids, and other forms of decision support techniques, for TACs were identified.