Combat Assessment of Non-Lethal Fires

Military forces conduct information operations against one of the most complex, adaptive systems - the human mind. Linear thought processes, prevalent in the military, correspond to, and understand well, the linear mathematics that measure the effects of lethal fires. They do not lend themselves well to the thinking necessary for understanding the effects of non-lethal fires on the complex adaptive system of the human mind. While each of the capabilities of information operations (IO) has individual Measures of Effectiveness (MOE), the cumulative effects they achieve, once integrated and synchronized in IO, are not simply a sum of each of the capabilities’ MOE. Nevertheless, these non-lethal systems, synchronized in information operations, must have predictive effects in order for commanders to employ them with confidence. Therein lies the problem; comprehensive MOE for information operations do not exist. The study of complex adaptive systems is a relatively new field of scientific study. Much of the study to date has been dedicated to developing non-linear mathematical models to measure complex adaptive systems found in nature such as ice, the human genome, and populated inner cities to name a few. The monograph determines that the military can use complexity science to predict and measure the effects of information operations in the same manner as linear mathematical models predict and measure the effects of kinetic weapons. Complexity science is a body of knowledge whose epicenter is the Santa Fe Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The institute’s scientists are the noted experts in the growing field of complexity. The monograph determines that the military must tap into this expert body in order to develop operationalized complexity models for use in planning, executing, and measuring the effects of information operations. It uses the historical analogy of the U.S. Air Force’s efforts to establish the RAND Corporation in the 1940s to conclude that capitalizingThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.