Issues of command and control: Evaluating global interoperability in a multinational military task force

This study examined the U.S. Department of Defense support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) quest for command and control interoperability necessary to support the NATO combined joint task force initiative. Senior Department of Defense leaders had a straightforward concern. Was the U.S. doing the right things to accommodate implementation of NATO's new strategic concept? Two research questions arose from the literature review. First, had NATO defined its interoperability requirements sufficiently to enable implementation? If yes, was the Department of Defense in compliance with those requirements? The naturalistic paradigm used for this qualitative inquiry and the research was grounded in real-world observations. The research identified significant unresolved challenges in NATO's strategic planning and definition of interoperability requirements. Further, it found that although the U.S. is working to support the conceptual interoperability requirements that there are opportunities for improvements. Eight recommendations were proposed.