Lessons Recorded from Applying the NATO Code of Best Practice (COBP) for C2 Assessment to Operations Other Than War (OOTW)

Over a seven year period, culminating in 1999, several NATO panels developed a NATO Code of Best Practice (COBP) for C2 Assessment. That product was focused on the assessment of C2 issues in the context of conventional conflict. Subsequently, a follow on Study Group, Studies, Analysis, and Simulation (SAS) — 026, was formed to explore the application and extension of the COBP to C2 issues in the context of Operations Other Than War (OOTW).

In order to achieve that objective, SAS-026 convened two complementary workshops: a (relatively) well-defined assessment of alternative Civil—Military coordination (CIMIC) centers in the context of the on-going Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and a broader assessment of the full set of C2 issues confronting SFOR.

The first of those workshops produced two classes of products. First, it generated strawman results for the assessment of the CIMIC alternatives. Second, the workshop led to a sequence of "lessons recorded" about the COBP that will be employed to guide the adaptation of the COBP to OOTW issues. The paper describes both of these classes of product. The workshop confirmed that assessments of this sort should not be approached as a linear, "cook book" process. They require the generation of a flexible plan of action that stimulates the creativity of the assessors while reinforcing needed RIGOR.