Network Topology in Command and Control: Organization, Operation, and Evolution

Over the past decade, the Command and Control (C2) field has been making a transformation from top-down, directive command to Network Centric Operations (NCO), peer-to-peer negation, self-synchronization, and agility. As the terms NCO and NEC suggest, C2 systems are regarded as networks, rather than a hierarchy. Accordingly, it is appropriate to view the C2 process and C2 systems through the lens of network theory.

Network Topology in Command and Control: Organization, Operation, and Evolution aims to connect the fields of C2 and network science. Featuring timely research on topics pertaining to the C2 network evolution, security, and modeling, this publication is ideal for reference use by students, academicians, and security professionals in the fields of C2 and network science.

About the Editors

T. J. Grant is retired but an active scientific researcher in the fields of network-enabled Command & Control (C2) systems, offensive cyber operations, sense-making in novel and unexpected situations, and agent-based simulation. He has a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering (Bristol University, UK), a Masters-level Defence Fellowship (Brunel University, UK), and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Maastricht University, NL). Tim’s working career covered 20 years as a military officer in the (British) Royal Air Force, 17 years consultancy experience in Atos (a global IT services supplier), and 10 years experience in academia (including a visiting professorship at the University of Pretoria, South Africa). His last appointment was as the Professor of Operational ICT & Communications within the Faculty of Military Sciences at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), where he led a team of five lecturers. He become a Professor Emeritus on 1 July 2012, when he founded Retired But Active Researchers (R-BAR) . He collaborates with other researchers and subject matter experts worldwide, and currently supervises two PhD students working on coalition and civil-military information sharing.

R. H. P. Janssen is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Operations Research within the Faculty of Military Sciences at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) and member of the Board of the Expertise Centre Military Operations Research. In this Expertise Centre he coaches officers facing operational and logistic problems that may benefit from a quantitative or Operations Research approach. His work concentrates on modeling and simulation of networks within the military domain with a focus on uncertainty and complexity. Dr.ir. Janssen teaches courses such as stochastic processes, optimization (with a focus on meta-heuristics), and simulation.

H. Monsuur is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Operations Research (OR) at the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), and is responsible for research and education on Military OR. He is also Head of the Expertise Centre Military Operations Research and member of the board of the Dutch OR Society (NGB). His research focuses on network science and C2, decision and planning tools, game-theoretic risk analysis of security threats, and quantitative operational logistics. Results of this research show the advantage of applying an analytic approach to (military) operational problems.