The Next Generation of Command Post Computing Ross D. Arnold*, Aaron J. Lieb, Jason M. Samuel, Mitchell A. Burger Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, USA 07806 ABSTRACT The future of command post computing demands an innovative new solution to address a variety of challenging operational needs. The Command Post of the Future is the Army’s primary command and control decision support system, providing situational awareness and collaborative tools for tactical decision making, planning, and execution management from Corps to Company level. However, as the U.S. Army moves towards a lightweight, fully networked battalion, disconnected operations, thin client architecture and mobile computing become increasingly essential. The Command Post of the Future is not designed to support these challenges in the coming decade. Therefore, research into a hybrid blend of technologies is in progress to address these issues. This research focuses on a new command and control system utilizing the rich collaboration framework afforded by Command Post of the Future coupled with a new user interface consisting of a variety of innovative workspace designs. This new system is called Tactical Applications. This paper details a brief history of command post computing, presents the challenges facing the modern Army, and explores the concepts under consideration for Tactical Applications that meet these challenges in a variety of innovative ways. Keywords: Command post, CPOF, CPCE, COE, common operating environment, command post computing environment, army battle command systems, ABCS, TacApps, CPC, command post client
1. INTRODUCTION Command and control in a military organization is defined as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission.1 Effective command and control is critical to the accomplishment of a mission. In order to facilitate effective command and control, the U.S. Army employs a variety of Army Battle Command Systems (ABCS) which strive to provide accurate and timely data to commanders and their staffs. Historically within command posts, two widely used command and control systems have been the Maneuver Control System (MCS) and the Command Post of the Future (CPOF). The environment within a command post is called the Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE). The CPOF has replaced the MCS as the primary CP CE system. As CPOF reaches its end-of-life, a new solution is needed to tackle the evolving requirements of the CP CE. The command post of today is very different than the command post of 2000, as will be the command post of 2020 and 2030. However, many key command post capabilities remain similar: The need to collaborate on live, real-time data; the need to compose a workspace; the need to share a brief, create a schedule, or view a map with tactical graphics. Moving forward, these capabilities will need to be implemented in a new solution that meets the needs of the modern command post while also encompassing the legacy capabilities that will continue to provide the highest value to commanders and their staffs in exercising command and control activities.
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2. HISTORY 2.1 Maneuver Control System The Maneuver Control System (MCS) was the primary command and control system for Army maneuver elements in battalion through corps echelons2 prior to deployment of the Command Post of the Future. MCS consists of a network of computer workstations that integrate information from subordinate maneuver units with those from other Army Battle Command Systems (ABCS) to create a joint common database referred to as the Common Tactical Picture (CTP) 2. MCS’s role in communicating battle plans, orders, and enemy and friendly situation reports made it a central component of the Army’s effort to digitize the battlefield 2. In 2003, Command Post of the Future was fielded as a replacement for the MCS. 2.2 Command Post of the Future As of 2014, The Command Post of the Future (CPOF) is the primary command and control decision support system for the Army3. Command Post of the Future is a planning and mapping tool intended for collaboration between multiple echelons in a tactical environment4. In 1997, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began developing the CPOF, using a team of retired senior officers and experts in cognitive psychology, human-computer interfaces, and computer technology5. The team developed the CPOF as a commander-centric software environment. CPOF was specifically developed to enable distributed, collaborative, command and control, rather than simply allowing applications to share information5. CPOF supports deep collaboration at the thought process level intended to allow subordinates and key battle staff to see what the commander is thinking6. CPOF strives to give commanders a unified picture of the operational environment. By including real-time collaboration, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and Army Battle Command System (ABCS) data feeds, commanders using the system can gain situational awareness from one system rather than multiple3. CPOF enables exchange of information with other war-fighting applications (WFAs) via web services3. Shown below (fig. 1) is the CPOF timeline.
Figure 1. CPOF Timeline5.
Due to limitations inherent to the CPOF user interface and thick client application, the Army is now moving towards a new software solution. The future solution will likely incorporate the deep, rich collaboration afforded by CPOF combined with new data paradigms and a set of services and applications developed to run on multiple environments and form factors. Collectively referred to as the Tactical Applications program, or TacApps, these applications will form the backbone of the Army’s Command Post Computing Environment (CP CE) V3.
3. CHALLENGES 3.1 Politics, Multiple Stakeholders, and Program Managers Several significant challenges must be addressed in order to successfully develop a robust solution that meets the requirements of the near-future CP CE, known as the CP CE V3. The first is the navigation of the inherent politics involved with an effort on the scale of the CP CE V3. This effort spans multiple Program Management (PM) and Product Management (PdM) offices and has far-reaching effects. As the TacApps program is envisioned to serve as the collaborative backbone of CP CE V3, it is highly likely that many different viewpoints will be injected into its design. Unlike some Department of Defense (DoD) programs funded and managed by a single PM with few external inputs and desires, TacApps (though funded by a single PdM office) affects a large community of stakeholders. These community inputs must be carefully managed and considered in order to produce a successful product. 3.2 Budgetary and Fiscal Constraints The Command Post Computing Environment and its TacApps component, like other Department of Defense programs, is subject to the same fiscal uncertainty that has plagued the DoD for the past several years. Though the TacApps program is currently funded, it is difficult to predict the future funding situation. A dip in funding could significantly alter either the program timeline or the capabilities that will be deliverable in the CP CE V3 timeframe. 3.3 Disconnected Operations with Browser Client The TacApps program also faces several technical challenges. One of these challenges is to provide disconnected operations while potentially implementing a web or browser-based client architecture. Disconnected operations in this context essentially means that the user must have the ability to continue operating the TacApps software in a “client device disconnected” state with only the loss of collaboration capability. Upon reconnection, the collaboration capability must be restored. There are many additional technical nuances to this capability that will not be addressed in this paper. Traditional thin clients by definition are unable to implement this capability7. However, a browser-based implementation is likely necessary in order to meet deployability and maintainability requirements. Therefore, a hybrid browser-based client with disconnected thick client-like capabilities is likely to be a technical necessity. This implementation will be challenging but is technically feasible using modern programming and web technologies. 3.4 Supporting Mounted to Division Echelons Another technical challenge facing the TacApps program is the implementation of a cross-echelon solution that reaches from the division level all the way down to a mounted environment on a variety of form factors including, potentially, both laptops and mobile/handheld devices. These environments are very different and their battle command systems have traditionally afforded different capabilities to their respective users. The division echelon typically consists of a set of laptop and/or desktop computers deployed within a tactical operations center, while the mounted environment consists of hand-held devices and smaller, lighter hardware. Although many capabilities are cross-echelon, certain capabilities at each echelon are different. Form factors of relevant hardware systems can also be different at different echelons. Designing a system that looks and feels similar while providing both common and different capabilities on different hardware form factors will be a key challenge.
4. ARCHITECTURE APPROACHES The Weapons and Software Engineering Center (WSEC) located at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey is currently the TacApps prime developer. WSEC explored many different software architecture approaches as potential solutions to the future of command post computing. Four key overarching approaches were down-selected as the most technically feasible solutions possessing the ability to meet a majority of mission requirements. These four were further downselected by more specific criteria related to disconnected operations and interoperability. Ultimately a hybrid web / android application suite was selected as the most appropriate candidate. This approach combines the cross-platform
interoperability of a browser-based web application with thick client capabilities, ultimately aiming to provide a lightweight tactical client7 solution. In order to function on a mobile environment, the approach also includes adapting the tactical client to an Android platform following a set of community-accepted technical guidance. It is highly likely that the product developed in accordance with this approach will consist of a set of services and applications rather than a single application. The four approaches are outlined in table 1. Note that the actual selection consisted of a much larger criteria set than outlined in the table. Table 1. Architecture approaches explored.
Approach
Operating System
DisconnectedCapable
Interoperability
Usability on Both Android and Windows
Thick Client
Windows
N
Low
Low
Web Application
Windows / Android
N
High
High
Mobile Application
Android
Y
Med
Low
Hybrid Web / Android Application Suite
Windows / Android
Y
High
High
5. FRAMEWORK The proposed TacApps framework will consist of the workspace, operations (ops) center, and basic services required to support a shared workspace. The framework can be thought of as the backbone, the desktop, APIs, and messaging mechanisms that enable apps to collaborate within the same space. The framework will also provide mechanisms that allow 3rd party developers access to the deep collaboration that TacApps offers through the Mission Command Data Service (MCDS). A prototype of the framework architecture is shown in figure 1.
Figure 2. Prototype Framework Architecture.
The Framework can be thought of as a suite of several smaller components. Many of these components are to be leveraged from other ABCS systems. For example, the CP CE Map, developed by the Software Engineering Center (SEC) at the Communications-Electronics Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), is a 3D map used in other programs such as Command Web. The SEC Renderer (also developed by the SEC) generates MIL-STD-2525 symbology to draw on a map and has been used in both CPOF and in the Mounted Android Computing Environment (MACE). Reuse of existing components is expected to reduce development costs and improve inter-organization collaboration in the CP CE v3 baseline. 5.1 Components Developed by WSEC The following components are currently notional, as TacApps development has not yet begun. These components will be developed by the Weapons and Software Engineering Center. The Connection Monitor will be responsible for checking the connection status of the client's machine, as well as the chain of servers (Foundation, Mid-Tier, local server), and sending notifications to any subscribers. Any disconnections or reconnections from the client to any server on the server chain will trigger a notification. The Connection Monitor is also responsible for sending notifications concerning the current network bandwidth. One potential future option is to integrate the Connection Monitor with Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) to acquire additional connection notifications. The Import/Export Tool will be responsible for transferring files to/from outside the TacApps environment. This includes the ability to read and write files to/from the machine running the TacApps tactical client suite. The Import/Export Tool provides limits on file sizes in order to prevent the user from bringing files that are excessively large into the TacApps systems. Apps developers also have the ability to limit the types of files the user may import into the system. The Notification Framework will maintain a running list of current notifications. Any components/apps that generate notifications or alerts will run an instance of the Notification Framework. When a notification is added to the Notification Framework, the Notification Framework will push this notification to the MCDS. The TacLogger will be a module which provides a common and consistent way for TacApps to handle errors and other logging information. The TacLogger will store a list of generated errors and messages, periodically push them to the MCDS, and publish them to subscribing parties. Components of TacApps invoke the TacLogger with a message that can be an error, or logging information. The message includes a name, severity, message, and a timestamp indicating when the message is created. The TacLogger will then publish an event with the message. The User/Admin Privilege Handler retrieves user information from MCDS. This information can include user groups, on-line status, apps the user has access to, etc. Administrators can modify user privileges. Note that these components are all subject to change and are likely to evolve as TacApps development moves forward. 5.2 Reused Components The chat capability provided in TacApps will be a collaborative tool allowing users to communicate with each other via text-based messages. Additionally it will provide a means of sharing information by attaching items to messages. The scope of the chat capability is primarily limited to chat itself, but also has some ties in the notification component. WSEC developers are currently investigating the reuse of existing chat services. The Command Post Computing Environment Map (CP CE Map) provides a standardized approach for apps from multiple applications to visualize and interact with data on a common view without compromising application encapsulation and portability. This map will be reused in the TacApps program. The Line of Sight (LOS) component is a suite of tools and functionality that provides terrain analysis and distance tools. Ostensibly, the data that is provided by the LOS component would be displayed on the CP CE Map. WSEC engineers are examining the possibility of leveraging much of the LOS capability from the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS)-A and possibly WIN-T.
The MIL-STD-2525 symbol renderer (SEC Renderer) is both a developer’s toolkit and a ready-to-use deployable web application. The renderer provides a single distributable solution that supports a variety of MIL-STD-2525 rendering use cases. The Single Sign-On Service is a thin layer that will sit between the user and the TacApps client. It will validate the user against an authentication source, and if successful, launch the tactical client. The primary way in which users interact with the Single Sign-On Service will be through the login interface. WSEC engineers are exploring the possibility of leveraging currently existing solutions such as TS3 and those provided by WIN-T. In addition to visual collaboration, TacApps will support spoken collaboration via Voice over IP (VoIP) using WAVE. WAVE implements a distributed peer-to-peer architecture which provides a highly secure and scalable platform, optimized for integrating and transporting voice, video and other vital business information. WAVE has no single point of failure and provides robust, real-time unified communications across IP and non-IP networks and device.
6. COLLABORATIVE DATA SERVICE 6.1 Data in Mission Command Timely and accurate data is a crucial part of the Mission Command space and the broader defense community. The mantra that information wins wars often is at odds with our current data dissemination and discovery technologies. General Mark A Welsh, Air Force, was quoted as saying “The future for us is figuring out how to integrate data, how to better integrate information, how to move it quicker, how to connect platforms and sensors together. That’s not as expensive as new weapons systems, and it benefits us in the way we do the job today.” Unifying data among the CP CE is crucial to enabling commanders to correctly assess the battlespace and react accordingly. The Common Operational Picture (COP), the core representation of situation awareness, is the primary tool available to commanders in the Command Post (CP) to survey current operations and to plan for future movements. Precise data, delivered in real time to the CP helps to mitigate uncertainty about the battlefield, speed up operations, and ultimately saves warfighter lives. In CP CE V3, the next generation of the CP will be bringing a unified data model to the mission command arena. It is important that the CP be provided with a consistent and normalized source of information rather than a “report” concentrated view of data. In previous data service implementations, data has required constant re-organization to meet new reporting and display needs. In a unified model, a clear plan regarding short- and long-term goals drives the ways in which data is organized before being consumed by applications. In addition, a unified model allows for scalability in which business logic can be applied to different datasets conforming to the model. When this capability is coupled with a set of common data services, the time required to implement data driven capabilities in warfighter applications is expected to be greatly reduced. Implementing these capabilities is a key goal of the TacApps program. 6.2 Collaboration Processing accurate and timely data is a critical part of equipping the CP to respond to changes in field. Providing the capability to collaborate on the data being delivered is a cross-cutting capability that enhances the warfighter’s tactical advantage. Providing the mechanism for warfighters to share their understanding of the current operations, horizontally and vertically, among echelons brings an invaluable advantage on the battlefield. As a key to successful operations, communicating the commander’s intent to subordinates is enhanced when bringing collaboration to the table. Sharing of visualizations, voice, and the under-lying data aids strategic analysis and decision making. TacApps will implement a collaborative data service that provides these critical capabilities to the Warfighter. 6.3 Collaborative Data Service for CPCE V3 The concept that the Command Post “is not a place” is crucial in enabling the commander to effectively lead in the field. Moving into CP CE V3, the role of the “on-the-move” battle staff brings a new dimension to the availability of data and awareness of the battlespace. Vital to this awareness is the unification and provisioning of the various data sources available to the warfighter to allow him/her to build a common operating picture. Looking to the future, it is important that TacApps build upon the capabilities that are currently present in the field and enhance the tactical advantage to the CP. In CP CE V3, TacApps will be bringing a unified data model that organizes data elements and standardizes their relationships across the mission command product line. Tied to this unified data
model is a service-oriented architecture (SoA) as the data service layer. By reducing platform dependencies and delivering data which is agnostic to a particular product, the mission command space can share understanding of the current and future operations. The combination of a unified data model and data service layer allows rapid visualization of the information available in the CP. Standardizing the data model and data service implementation also allows extensibility to be built into the storage and accessing of the tactical data. In the ever-evolving world of data exchange, building flexibility into the way warfighter applications share and consume information opens the door for future capabilities to be integrated rapidly. Figure 3 shows the concept of the TacApps unified data model.
Figure 3. Unified data model concept.
CP CE V3 will evolve the way the warfighter views the battlespace and the way both the warfighter and the application developers respond to changes. Unified live data flowing through echelons will bring new and exciting possibilities to the warfighter. Collaborating on visualizations built on adaptive user interfaces from the handheld to the command post environment will improve system trainability and usability, ultimately allowing more effort to be spent on utilizing collaborative information to effectively plan and execute operations.
7. USER EXPERIENCE 7.1 Simplifying Strategies The higher order goal of the TacApps program, as charged by Mission Command and the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Capability Manager for Mission Command (TCM-MC) is to provide the warfighter with CPOFstyle collaboration, composability, and continuous operations with a simple, intuitive user interface. CPOF brought forward a new paradigm of rich collaborative capabilities to tactical environments, but with it came a number of new user interface concepts with which many warfighters were not immediately familiar. Due to this and other factors, each unit appears to possess a variability of understanding when it comes using the complex set of tools available in CPOF. A well trained Chief of Operations (CHOPS) is capable of manipulating the user interface to browse, search, and find the information that is needed to flow up and down the chain of command, but to the basic user, who may have had fewer training sessions with the system, accomplishing any of these tasks could be daunting when presented with essentially an empty workspace upon initial login. Once a user becomes accustomed to creating and finding data, he or she must then become familiar with a set of CPOF specific terms and interactions. These terms refer to the “live-ness” of the system; the concept of “always on collaboration”. This essentially means that all data products in the system can be viewed and updated by other users
who have permissions to do so in near-real-time. To accomplish this, data can be pulled onto the user’s workspace in two fundamentally different modes: clone and mirror. Mirrored data provides a shared view of the same set of composed data products. This means that changes to the view, such as the layout or map’s pan, tilt and zoom position, are seen simultaneously between all users viewing a particular product. Conversely, when working with cloned data, only changes to the underlying data itself are reflected to other users, but changes to layouts or map positioning are not. The concepts of cloning and mirroring need to be understood by users who wish to fully harness the system’s collaborative capabilities. After learning clone and mirror terminology, a user must learn how to correctly set privileges on each of his or her data products and maps in order to allow appropriate collaboration upon these data products with other users. This requires an understanding of the additional terms: Layout Privilege, Content Privileges, and Contributor. Failing to understand these concepts and to set these privileges correctly results in the inability to collaborate on data products such as the Commander’s Update Brief (CUB) as desired. The TacApps design strategy is to retain the capabilities that the Army has requested to bring forward, such as the exceptional collaborative power of CPOF, but to simplify the interactions, terminology, and presentation of the tools created for the user. TacApps user interfaces will not require an understanding of the underlying data sharing and permissions models being employed to facilitate real-time collaboration. These concepts will be abstracted and simplified through the design of apps that make the primary actions more visible and intuitively discoverable. Terminology will be carefully selected to name items in their respective user interfaces based on terms that are familiar to warfighter users from existing Army training doctrine such as the Army Doctrine Reference Publication No. 1-02, “Terms and Military Symbols”8. Terminology will also be generated through user jury engagements covering a swath of user ranks from operational to command level. Interfaces used in familiar Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) products will also be examined as possibilities during the design of the TacApps user interface. Options and tool flexibility will need to be constrained in order to simplify user workflows that allow users to browse, find and compose work products intuitively. Apps specific to a warfighter functional area such as Fires, Logistics, and Planning will likely be isolated to their own apps which may compliment a core set of common TacApps that every user will initially be presented with. A key user interaction concept is to present relevant data to a user upon logging into the TacApps workspace. A unit’s Common Operating Picture (COP) should be presented to the unit with little or no training required. A COP for every unit should be an integrated part of the system; this way, each COP does not need to be explicitly built and placed in an appropriate shared location by a knowledgeable user. Rather, each COP will exist upon deployment of the system and only require population with data relevant to the unit’s current operation. The proper permissions for COP views can be implicitly assigned based on unit task organization as opposed to self-creation by each unit. Setting up and collaborating upon a shared workspace of data will likely be designed with a more simplistic “share-to” model familiar to mobile users. Users will be able to select to share to an individual or a preset group of users such as “My Unit”, “My Subordinates”, “My Chain of Command”, and “Favorite Users.” This will alleviate the need for to set up and apply complex permissions to shared products prior to collaboration. Indications about which data is currently being shared and collaborated on as opposed to private data will be built into user interfaces using familiar icons and visual cues. Affordances to undo or reset changes to collaborative data to a previous state will be provided when possible. When not possible, visual explanations will be displayed to the user to indicate that an undo has been overcome by changes from other users. When this occurs, TacApps should be able to automatically connect these users together by launching apps that provide chat, voice, or comment threads that would allow the user to sort out mistakes in real-time or at their own pace of collaboration.
7.2 Intuitive Interfaces The TacApps design also needs to account for the user community that will exist when TacApps is deployed in the 2019 timeframe, and build user interfaces and data interactions with this group in mind. These users will be aided in their understanding of visual components of the system by using familiar action icons and symbols that look like the physical objects that they are meant to represent. To do this, the designs will rely on standard and prevailing user interface style guidance that will already be familiar to these soldiers through their years of exposure to Windows Office products as well as Android, and Apple’s iOS apps.
To aid the user in maintaining easily-understood workflows, TacApps will likely be designed with a starting point, base app that contains the common tools that all users need but also helps to direct and recommend users as to which apps are applicable to their staff function. From the base app, users will be provided with the ability to launch additional apps to accomplish more specialized tasks. These specific warfighter functional area apps will be designed to accomplish tasks such as Fires, Logistics, and Planning and will insulated the average user from being overloaded with the need to learn an overabundance of tools and options when navigating TacApps. This will allow the more specific functional apps to complement the base TacApp without taking away from the user’s ability to accomplish basic operations such as viewing, modifying, and collaborating on the COP map. Although all these designs are still in development, one key concept under consideration is the idea that each user will be presented with the user interface in a tutorial mode upon first logging into the TacApps base app. This tutorial will educate the user on the basics of how to accomplish several fundamental tasks. This process is known in web and mobile application development as the “onboarding” process. This process will provide the user just enough support to begin using TacApps in a guided fashion and will, at the same time, show the user early on, the added value TacApps provides to them. Some examples of onboarding are to guide the user through the process of loading a unit’s COP, composing a layout of data in a shared workspace, inviting users to collaborate on work products, and launching additional apps specific to a user’s role. Each additional app is also likely to provide an onboarding process of its own in order to explain its specific user workflow. Additionally, tutorial videos and help documentation that explains more complex usages of TacApps and how to solve common issues users encounter will eventually be available for viewing directly through a help menu. 7.3 Consistent User Experience Another key design strategy that will simplify the user of TacApps is the concept of providing a consistent user experience between applications used in the command post as well as the mounted computing environment. This means that the apps designed for use on a multiple or single laptop screen layout in a Tactical Operations Center (TOC) for the brigade user will need to look and feel similar for the battalion user operating a ruggedized tablet. This implies the need to employ a responsive web design which, “…is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation.”9 This means that applications designed for use on larger desktops displays will essentially have the same set of core features and functionality but the layout of screens, menus and tools will adapt to the size of the display. Regardless of screen size, users should only need to learn one way to accomplish their goals when using the applications and should have access to a common set of services and data regardless of which operating environment they are currently using. This concept of an integrated set of capabilities that provide collaboration and a consistent user experience across computing environments is called the TacApps Ecosystem. Within this ecosystem, data products and data feeds that are available to the Mission Command Data Service (MCDS) will be accessible and represented in a consistent way to users in either the command post or mounted operating environment. The way in which users’ identities are accessed and the authentication mechanisms used to grant access to MCDS resources will utilize the same security infrastructure across the environments. Otherwise, implementing authentication in a stovepiped fashion would result in scenarios in which a user could create content that is published to MCDS from TacApps at the command post but then not have the same data readily available to the same user when using apps at the mounted computing environment. Aspects of user management such as privileges, user groups, favorites, and preferences will be transferable between the environments in order to maintain consistent account management and user identity representation between the two. The way in which collaboration is designed to function between apps within the two operating environments will require alignment as well. If TacApps users in the command post initiate collaboration sessions on workspaces with one another through sharing, this same model will need to be followed within the mounted representation of a shared workspace app. Mounted users will see notifications about a new shared workspace using the same type of icons and visual indications as is used in the command post. Other collaboration mechanisms such as chat and voice will utilize the same underlying services and will be operated through app interfaces that look and feel the same between both environments. This commonality and reuse applies to how tools, icons, and map symbology will look in different apps as well. If TacApps implements a palette of tools represented by icons for placing MIL-STD-2525 symbols and graphics on a map, then all other apps that have a similar requirement for drawing tools should reuse as much as possible from the original palette application interface/component. This approach will improve user experience and trainability on each app in
TacApps, as the visualizations and user interactions are transferable between both tablet and laptop/desktop versions of apps. The government agencies and contractor support under Mission Command assemble in a weekly working group in order to select, design and provide decisions on how to build these common set of services and common looking user interfaces. The TacApps design team participates within these working groups and provides user interface concepts, mockups, and working prototypes in order to communicate ideas to related programs and stakeholders that are a part of the TacApps ecosystem.
8. CONCLUSION Following the framework design, Mission Command Data Service model, and user experience paradigms outlined in this paper will allow the TacApps program to succeed as the primary backbone of the next generation of command post computing. Although many of the design concepts outlined in this paper are still in development, the TacApps vision has evolved into a stable and clear picture of a product that will likely offer most or all of the benefits of CPOF-style rich collaboration while also affording users with exceptional usability and minimal training requirements. Implemented as a bundle of services and applications, TacApps will leverage the advantages provided by modern web and programming technologies while also providing the time-tested capabilities required of the Army’s future command post computing environment.
REFERENCES [1] Headquarters, Department of the Army, “United States Army Field Manual: FM 3-0”, Washington, DC: GPO, (2001). [2] The Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, “Maneuver Control System”, FY 2002 Annual Report, 105-106 (2002). [3] General Dynamics Mission Systems, "Command Post of the Future 7.2 Software Requirements Specification," Doc. No. 62-0014138, Contract No. W15P7T-11-D-C206, 11 (2014). [4] Myers, B., Malkin, R., Beet, M., Waibel, A., Bostwick, B., Miller, R.C., Yang, J., Denecke, M., Seemann, E., Zhu, J., Peck, C. H., Kong, D., Nichols, J., and Scherlis, B., “Flexi-modal and multi-machine user interface,” Proc. Fourth IEEE ICMI, 343-348 (2002). [5] Greene, H., Stotts, L., Paterson, R., Greenberg, J., “Command Post of the Future: Successful Transition of A Science and Technology Initiative to a Program of Record,” Defense Acquisition University, 6 (2010). [6] General Dynamics Mission Systems, Inc. (2014). [7] Arnold, Ross, D., “Lightweight Tactical Client: A Capability-Based Approach to Command Post Computing,” Defense Technology Information Center, 1-9 (2015). [8] Department of the Army, “Army Doctrine Reference Publication No. 1-02, Terms and Military Symbols”, (2 Feb 2015). [9] Pacholczyk, Dominik, “UXPIN Web UI Design Patterns 2014,” http://www.uxpin.com/web-design-patterns.html, 12 (2014).
