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RAND: TO-BE CSC2 Operational Architecture

© Copyright 2002 RAND

This online copy of the CD-ROM included with the publication is designed to provide interactive access to the various stages of the TO-BE CS execution planning and control operational architecture. A complete PDF version of the RAND publication is available online.

How to Use This Tool

There are multiple ways to review the data:

Review the complete data table. The complete data table for each phase is presented in this section. Within each data table is a field called "ID". Some ID numbers are clickable links - clicking on those links brings up a separate window that lists the tasks for that particular ID number.

Query the data. This set of pages allows you to choose a phase and then an organization from drop-down menus. Click the "submit" button to view the corresponding data related to the phase and organization that you've selected.

View the flowchart. The flowchart is a graphical representation of the relationships and linking tasks between various phases and organizations. Clicking on a box in the chart will take you to the row in the data table that corresponds to the ID listed in the box.

How to Use the Flowchart

Individual activities and arrows on the flowchart itself are linked to the database, allowing the user to explore the relationships among activities, tasks, phases, and nodes. Information inputs and outputs between activities can be viewed by dragging the mouse over the connecting arrows. Clicking on an activity on the diagram brings up a table of tasks associated with that activity, as well as a listing of the individual information flows into and out of it. Clicking on an organizational node heading brings up all of the activities, tasks, and information flows associated with that node throughout the different phases. Clicking on an operational phase heading will similarly bring up all of the activities, tasks, and information flows associated with that phase across the different nodes. Finally, the user may select to view only those data associated with a particular combination of phase and node.

The activities are distinguished by operational phase and organizational node. The phases include readiness, crisis action planning, deployment, employment, and sustainment. The eight organizational nodes range from the President, Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), and associated high-level joint-service organizations to generic sources of supply (SOSs) for individual commodities.

The flowchart is drawn to emphasize process and information flows. Each box represents an activity, with the arrows connecting the boxes representing products and other types of information inputs and outputs to that activity. Although the processes generally flow from left to right, the activities are not necessarily performed sequentially. For example, a node may show tasks in both the readiness and crisis action planning phases. The iterative nature of many processes is shown by feedback loops, representing progressively refined information inputs and outputs.

Note that in several places multiple activities are contained within a larger activity that may span more than one organizational node. This notation conveys the importance of cooperation between different nodes for certain activities. An example is the collaboration between the JFACC/AFFOR and OSC in the various planning stages. This is a major component of the TO-BE architecture.

The most important modifications to the CS execution planning and control architecture are in theater-level combat support (as conducted by the AFFOR and the OSC) and inventory management (the focus of the Inventory Control Points and Global Integration Center). Consequently, these organizational nodes are portrayed here in somewhat greater detail relative to other nodes in which few changes were made. For example, no modifications were proposed for the SECDEF/JCS/Combatant Command/JTF level, so this node is not included in the database. The SOS node is similarly excluded; any important decisionmaking regarding supply is made at the ICP and GIC nodes.