Based on the results, JFCOM's Joint Urban Operations Office (JUOO) could produce the prototype and a framework to support information requests in fiscal year 2006 or 2007, according to the office's deputy director, Duane Schattle.

Both are integral to an evolving concept for supporting in-theater decision-making dubbed the “Distributed Decision Support System” (D2S2). One of JFCOM's main goals is enabling commanders and their staff to consult experts far away on topics that fall outside traditional military competence, he said.

“The [system] is a concept that brings together great minds, expert organization, detailed information on areas outside of the [United States], and computing resources to help plan, make decisions, and solve complex problems” in a timely manner, a JFCOM fact sheet on the concept states.

JUOO wants to pursue future experiments in Iraq to further determine the applicability of the concept in real-world situations.

The computer program prototype would be part of an overarching process that would allow warfighters to work with designated command personnel or “knowledge brokers” to craft information requests pertaining to their current or upcoming missions, Schattle said.

The knowledge broker would then task analysts and the program to pull resources or data mine for materials, including names of experts and published reports, to craft answers for the requester, he said. The program also would organize and statistically analyze information, the fact sheet states.

The purpose of the concept is relaying this information to the requester in an easily understandable manner and quickly to speed the process of making decisions, Schattle said.

Thus, D2S2 would offer a “Virtual Brain” capability, the fact sheet notes. Such functions would be especially helpful for urban operations, during which commanders often find themselves dealing with both military and nonmilitary roles, Schattle said.

“Commanders and staffs conducting urban operations find themselves responsible for an enormous number of tasks outside the scope of their military competence,” the fact sheet states.

If successful, the concept would assist military leaders like brigade commanders who suddenly go from combat operations in a city to a role more akin to a mayor who must supervise garbage pickup or oversee electricity distribution, Schattle said.

In the past, military doctrine has cautioned against fighting in cities because urban environments are complicated by civilian activity, extensive infrastructure and complex terrain. As populations increasingly move to urban areas, this approach is no longer feasible, many military leaders say.

Asymmetric warfare in urban environments is another reason JUOO is pursuing the concept, Schattle said. The concept, which would require minimal involvement from the requester, may help deliver “actionable information” to the “individual at the tip of the spear,” he said.

The current process to get real-time information to the warfighter is “stovepiped,” Schattle said. Currently, information must reach an analyst, who then sends it up the chain of command, only to have that information move down to troops, Schattle said.

D2S2 could be used to give information such as building specifications to troops readying to enter a structure by telling them the number and layout of rooms and stories. The so-called Virtual Brain could also be used to assist commanders who find themselves acting as mayors to correspond with civilian city officials to exchange tips on how to deal with food distribution and power disbursement, Schattle said.

Nearly 80 percent of the information knowledge brokers and the analysts they work with tap into would be open source, thus forcing personnel to move beyond the classified intelligence world, he said.

The “seed” for the concept was planted in 1999 during a Joint Urban Working Group meeting, of which Schattle was a member. In 2003, JFCOM became executive agent for joint urban operations.

Military officials have formed partnership with George Washington University as a way to “leverage their great minds” and technology to realize the D2S2 concept, according to Schattle. JUOO is forging relationships with other universities, businesses and think tanks to research data mining and security tools, he said.

The experiments related to the concept prototype are dispersed, with some overseen by JFCOM's Joint Futures Lab and others done as part of the command's Urban Resolve warfighting simulation exercise, Schattle said.

“We're incrementally funding” successes in experimentation from JUOO's budget, he said.

Although there are no results yet from a series of “limited objective experiments” that are addressing D2S2's concept of operations, JUOO officials are watching closely certain trends that can be ascertained from the effort, Schattle said.

One such area officials are observing is the possible affect bridging the gap between the warfighter and analyst may have on the chain of command, he said. JUOO is observing if the roles of commanders would change, he explained.

If the Virtual Brain is successful and can accurately pool together information and direct it toward the warfighter quickly, it may revolutionize the chain-of-command structure and benefit all military personnel levels -- a process that may be “transformational, but threatening” Schattle said.