Decision Making Implications of Digital Information Systems for the Battalion in Combat

This study examines the impact of current and developing digital information systems on battalion commanders' ability to make decisions during combat operations. The All Source Analysis System (ASAS) and Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) represent current and developing digital information systems available to battalion commanders for the purpose of the study. As a precursor to the analysis, the study presents and describes naturalistic and normative decision making models. The study analyzes the objective capabilities of these systems to establish the type of information they provide. Then the study analyzes the battalion commander's information requirements for decision making. Information requirements are then re-examined in the context of the environment of combat to establish the degree of certainty information possess in combat. Having established that combat is a chaotic environment the study concludes that digital information systems do not reduce the amount of uncertainty that battalion commanders perceive when making decisions in combat. Further, the study indicates that battalion commanders use naturalistic decision models to make decisions during combat.