Multidomain Observing and Orienting ISR to Meet the Emerging Battlespace Maj Sean A Atkins USAF Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed or implied in the Journal are those of the authors and should not be con­ strued as carrying the official sanction of the Department of Defense Air Force Air Education and Training Command Air University or other agencies or departments of the US government This article may be reproduced in whole or in part without permission If it is reproduced the Air and Space Power Journal requests a courtesy line T he complexity and speed of future multidomain operations MDO hold deep implications for how military forces conduct John R Boyd’s famous observe orient decide and act OODA loop Increased domain interconnectivity and growing cross-domain interdependence underpin an emerging vision of future war­ fare that is beginning to take shape Publications that include the DOD’s Joint Op­ erational Access Concept family of documents and the Army’s multidomain battle operating concept describe the contextual drivers and outline the idea’s central ele­ ments 1 At its core the MDO concept is a response to a changing competition-space characterized by complex problems that defy current approaches and anti-access area-denial A2 AD challenges that require more fluidly integrated capabilities across all domains to overcome 2 As Dr Jeff Reilly the Air Command and Staff Col­ lege director of Future Warfare Studies warns “historical approaches to achieving 26 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting superiority in the air land and sea domains may no longer be valid ”3 To address this the nascent multidomain idea aims to make an expansion of jointness within and across domains 4 To better understand what this means for how militaries ob­ serve and orient OO this article first explores the context defining a domain a continuum of domains and their relevant features Second given this context it aims to outline future OO requirements and determine the likely implications for the intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance ISR enterprise Defining an Operational Domain Defining and designating operational domains remains a much-debated topic within the defense community Since the addition of cyberspace in 2011 the DOD officially recognizes five operational domains land air sea space and cyberspace 5 Still more are under consideration including the electromagnetic spectrum and the human or cognitive domain 6 The doctrinal debate on what does or does not make the cut as an operational domain is beyond the purpose of this article It is however important to progress with a common conception and since this article is concerned with examining the practical implications of MDO a more flexible definition will serve to enable a fuller conversation on its application In this article a domain is simply defined as a characteristically distinct maneuver-space within or through which advantage can be achieved over an adversary Operations within a Continuum of Domains Technological developments have long driven evolutions in the way wars are fought 7 One of the more profound impacts of these developments is found in the way in which they connect domains By enabling a projection of power and influ­ ence beyond where armies could previously travel early sea power capabilities pro­ vided new ways to gain an advantage on land Similarly with the advent of airpower came new ways to connect maneuver and gain an advantage over both land and sea forces More recent advances particularly but not exclusively in informa­ tion technology have created new maneuver spaces as well as new ways to con­ nect other operational domains further altering how we perceive domain interde­ pendence 8 Central to these changes is the emergence of cyberspace and space as increasingly important and contested domains 9 As recently described in the Air Space Power Journal “advances in technology have subtly nudged the entire globe into a realm where all previous notions of the battlespace have been radically al­ tered by domain interdependence ”10 Increasing domain connectivity and interdependence are pushing the battlespace toward a more fluid continuum of domains Within this context of increasing crossdomain opportunity the MDO concept involves the exploitation of asymmetric ad­ vantage across multiple domains to achieve the freedom of action and effects re­ quired for mission success 11 It is more than simply conducting operations in multiple domains—it is about synchronized maneuver between domains to create asymmetric effects at speeds that ultimately complicate and outpace adversaries’ Fall 2018 27 Atkins OODA processes The core thesis is the complementary vice merely additive use of capabilities across domains to create moments of superiority that can be leveraged to achieve mission objectives 12 Future war fighters will need to be able to gain su­ periority at the right time place and combination of domains to succeed Air Land EMS Sea Space Human Cyberspace Continuum of domains Not New in Concept but New in Character Although the idea of conducting operations across domains is as old as antiquity today’s MDO concept has increasing relevance and distinctive features One of the first recorded examples of an MDO occurred in 1187 BC when a coalition of tribes collectively known as the Sea Peoples threatened Ramses III’s Egypt with superior naval forces 13 Instead of conducting a traditional naval battle as his predecessors had done Ramses III secretly maneuvered his land-based archers to the Nile shore­ line while presenting a weak naval element to draw the enemy within bow range As his archers began annihilating the Sea People’s fleet the bulk of Ramses’ naval forces blocked their retreat permanently eliminating this threat 14 Airpower 3 100 years later further advanced the concept of MDO altering the character of war with its ability to conduct a quick strategic attack from afar as well as meaningfully influence operations on the land and sea domains So if the multidomain idea is a long-standing part of the evolving character of war what is new about the current MDO concept that requires attention Beyond 28 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting the recognition of technological advances and A2 AD challenges which have been well covered elsewhere there are distinctive characteristics these produce that de­ mand a more sophisticated MDO approach Exploring these salient emerging features that define the new MDO provides the foundation necessary to begin to understand how to approach effective multidomain OO Focus on Cross-Domain Synergy and Maneuver At the heart of new multidomain thinking is the idea of cross-domain synergy based on deeper interdomain connectivity Cross-domain synergy is the synchroni­ zation of individual domain activities to establish superiority in or through a combi­ nation of domains to achieve mission success 15 Commanders staffs and operators should be able to think beyond their organization’s home domain equipping and training forces to conduct cross-domain maneuver pivoting between domains for access and advantage Just as the Joint Concept for Entry Operations JCEO high­ lights “maneuver capabilities in multiple domains present many potential threats to the adversary overloading his decision cycle and allowing the joint force to seize and retain the initiative ”16 Windows of Superiority or Access Recognizing increasing A2 AD challenges today’s MDO concept is focused on establishing windows of localized superiority often opportunistically derived and fleeting in duration The aim is to penetrate enemy defenses with defined areas of domain superiority where joint and partner forces can achieve operational objec­ tives and prevent adversaries from disrupting friendly operations 17 As the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center highlights the military needs to be able to “create and exploit temporary points of advantage ”18 This concept differs significantly from traditional concepts of domain superiority that focus on gaining and maintaining superiority over broad swaths of battlespace for longer periods of time Just as the Air-Sea Battle team noted this shift in thinking “acknowledges that a joint or combined force may not be able to achieve either theater-wide domain superiority or an enduring and constant superiority but that it can achieve operational objectives with control that is limited in time or space ”19 Success in future operations will likely reside in a force’s ability to create precision access in one or multiple domains to enable effects and achievement of objectives in others 20 Increased Emphasis on Speed The fleeting and often opportunistic nature of this new environment places in­ creased emphasis on the speed of MDO The Chief of Staff of the Air Force under­ scored this point at a recent panel on multidomain battle stating that speed and multidomain maneuver at a pace the enemy cannot keep up with “is a defining concept for multi-domain operations ”21 Success will likely be found by the force with the ability to create and act on fleeting opportunities the quickest making the OODA competition between opposing forces even more intense Fall 2018 29 Atkins Emphasis on Lower-Echelon OODA The likelihood of disrupted communications in a contested battlespace combined with the focus on creating opportunistic advantage increases emphasis on the OODA cycle at lower echelons of action MDO expertise authority and capability must exist at the component-level and below to enable cross-domain actions that support commanders’ intent and schemes of maneuver 22 Jeffrey Reilly again high­ lights that “the requirement to think across domains is occurring at increasingly lower levels and will be essential in the future to generating the tempo critical to exploiting fleeting local opportunities for disrupting an enemy system ”23 More Possibilities in More Domains Means Increased Complexity The emerging battlespace has three key characteristics that create a far more complex operating environment First the addition of cyberspace as a new humanconstructed and changeable domain offers new possibilities to impact operations within cyberspace as well as in all other cyber-connected domains Second advances in technology have created new possibilities for maneuver and action in space as well as throughout the electromagnetic spectrum Finally advances in technology are also increasing physical and virtual connection within and between traditional maneuver domains creating more cross-domain options Combined these three characteristics lead to an increasingly complex battlespace with exponentially more combinations of opportunities and risks for war fighters to identify and consider Observing and Orienting for MDO If the multidomain context is as described above characterized by increased complexity and speed then to out-maneuver adversaries there will be far greater emphasis on warfighters’ ability to first out-observe and out-orient them Further this calls for a corresponding change in the way war fighters observe and orient themselves to the battlespace As William Dries an Air Staff strategist working on MDO notes “the ability to understand an enemy’s activities in multiple domains with speed and agility is the key to all of this ”24 The following sections outline the enduring foundations of observing and orienting as well as the new requirements and implications placed on both to create an advantage in a fast and complex context Foundations of Observing and Orienting Observation is the ability to perceive things and activities that have potential significance According to Boyd observation is fed and influenced by unfolding circumstances outside information interaction with the environment and iterative interaction with the orient-decide-act components of the OODA Loop 25 Observation in turn feeds the war fighter the information necessary to orient the interactive process of cross-referencing projections empathies correlations and rejections that is shaped by and shapes the understanding of the battlespace 26 Orienting is as 30 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting Boyd describes the most important part of the OODA Loop the Schwerpunkt that “shapes the way we interact with the environment ” as well as “the way we observe the way we decide and the way we act ”27 Without it “there is no command and control worthy of the name ”28 Enduring ISR principles further build this foundation While many experts and organizations have developed exhaustive lists of important principles that apply to ISR a set of core and enduring principles can be distilled for utility in the MDO dis­ cussion Primary among these are 1 Perspective—the ability to see and understand the competition and battlespace from others’ perspectives including partners nonplayers and the adversary 2 Objectivity—recognizing and counteracting biases to remain intellectually transparent and honest 3 Integration—information where and when it is needed 4 Context—aggressive collection and sourcing of information to provide multiple vantage points enabling the analysis and cross-referencing required to increase breadth and depth of understanding 29 In turning this toward practical application the Core ISR Tenets described in ISR 2023 provide an additional useful piece of this foundation 1 ISR is indivisible—effects depend on ISR synchronization and integration 2 ISR is domain-neutral—focused on capabilities and effects not platforms 3 ISR is operations—not solely support to operations 30 Requirements for Multidomain Observing and Orienting Examining the emerging multidomain context through the lens of the foundation provided above requirements for future observe and orient activities start to become discernible Aggressively sourced information that provides perspective and objec­ tivity integrated at the right time and place must now flex to feed opportunistic cross-domain maneuver via pockets of domain superiority created and exploited at all echelons at speeds that outpace adversaries’ ability to build awareness and re­ spond To meet these demands ISR forces must be able to identify cross-domain op­ portunities and vulnerabilities leverage increasingly vast amounts of data to provide clarity in complexity and provide broader awareness to a more diverse set of actors Identify Cross-Domain Opportunities and Vulnerabilities To feed multidomain maneuver ISR must be able to identify cross-domain oppor­ tunities and vulnerabilities recognizing and correlating capabilities connections and patterns in a more complex and interconnected operational environment This means observing the battlespace in greater depth and breadth to have enough puzzle pieces to configure and reconfigure to create opportunity or discover vulnerability If Fall 2018 31 Atkins as the JCEO describes future forces will need to “employ opportunistic unpredict­ able maneuver in and across multiple domains ” then their OO functions must be able to identify these fleeting cross-domain gaps and opportunities faster than the adversary can discover and close them 31 Sense-making in Complexity and Among Voluminous Data Observing and orienting for success in MDO will require the ability to make sense of a more complex battlespace with vastly growing volume and variety of data This places an even greater emphasis on orienting in particular and the ability to fully translate increasingly vast data into insight relevant to commanders’ vision intent and objectives The JOAC’s call for the joint force to be able to “collect fuse and share accurate timely and detailed intelligence across all domains ” barely scratches the surface on the depth of what this requirement really means 32 It is a de­ mand for a far more sophisticated ability to as Boyd described analyze and synthesize “across a variety of domains” to “evolve new repertoires to deal with unfamiliar phe­ nomena or unforeseen change ”33 This means that to create the “mental patterns that match with activity of the world” in this new multidomain context OO func­ tions must be able to make sense of increased complexity and data volume 34 Broaden Awareness at All Decision Levels To create cross-domain synergy at increased speed and at lower echelons broader awareness of activities risks and opportunities in and between domains becomes a necessity from the joint force commander JFC down through compo­ nents and tactical forces To maneuver in multiple domains war fighters must be more fully aware of the interconnected domain space their forces operate in and the opportunities that present themselves or can be created This awareness needs to be available at the same speeds and fidelity as higher echelons to afford forces the ability to disperse to avoid A2 AD threats and then re-concentrate rapidly to exploit opportu­ nity 35 With this sort of breadth and depth of access to facilitate multidomain OO ac­ tors at all levels will be able to as Boyd describes “exploit lower-level initiative yet realize higher-level intent ”36 Implications for the ISR Enterprise The evolving battlespace demands and OO requirements outlined above build toward an inflection point for the ISR enterprise New multidomain challenges and opportunities are beginning to present themselves but existing ISR tools organiza­ tions and concepts are not postured to engage them The positive news is that new and developing ideas within industry and the ISR community provide a useful foundation to build from Many of these ideas and tools emerging in pockets of in­ novation can be refocused and tied together to begin to meet the MDO challenge Just as early aircraft changed how military forces observed their battlespace pro­ viding awareness far beyond the perspectives of ground and naval forces these new 32 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting concepts and capabilities are putting an ISR paradigm shift in sight one that can provide a more holistic understanding of the complex multidomain battlespace 37 It is a paradigm shift with as the Air Force lead for intelligence analysis highlighted broad implications for “what we collect how we process it how we analyze it and how we connect to the operators platforms and staffs that need that information ”38 Rethink the Battlespace First it is essential to rethink the battlespace itself re-conceptualizing it as a lay­ ered and interconnected multidomain maneuver-space This interconnected con­ tinuum of domains contains innumerable new maneuver options that are not suf­ ficiently captured through traditional often stovepipe OO constructs Within modern military operations exists a tight interdependence between individual do­ main functions Being able to discern and visualize the layers interconnection points and dependencies will provide the sort of battlespace understanding that en­ ables multidomain action Rethink Actors and Activities To achieve success in a multidomain competition ISR professionals must also re­ think their conception of activities and actors within the battlespace Instead of fo­ cusing on one dimensional targets with narrow activity sets ISR must hunt targets as multidomain systems with exploitable interconnected surface area Further it must have a broad baseline understanding of the multidomain environment to de­ tect anomalies and be able to observe and orient off the series of interconnected ac­ tivities that relate to a particular behavior or actor Most current ISR constructs stovepipe their questions and focus narrowing collection and analysis resulting in missed opportunities and vulnerabilities 39 Recent developments in ISR methods and technology provide the practical foun­ dation to realize this necessary perspective shift The advancement of object-based intelligence OBI and activity-based intelligence ABI concepts in which intelli­ gence work is organized around the person place or thing being studied along with its associated activities vice any particular organization or collection system enables the more holistic OO that MDO requires 40 Instead of interpreting a snapshot image to discern a narrow amount of information an MDO ABI approach would focus on understanding what is happening with the person place or thing studied and how that activity and its interconnected elements and environment change over time 41 The ISR paradigm shifts from simply identifying enemy capabilities and estimating motivations to assessing a changing battlespace and its impact on operations 42 Change How We Observe the Battlespace Decisions that drive MDO demand new information and awareness that necessi­ tate a corresponding change in how we observe the battlespace In order to quickly identify and leverage opportunity for cross-domain maneuver and effects future Fall 2018 33 Atkins ISR operations should involve collecting broader information across all domains More specifically MDO requires greater data volume variety and velocity derived from more sources Increased interconnectivity between domains means actors and activities in one domain are more likely to appear with exploitable surface area in others For exam­ ple during the 2014 Russian seizure of Crimea the lack of traditional telltale signs of invasion surprised intelligence analysts 43 While Russian soldiers obfuscated their traditional visual and EMS signatures where ISR was postured to look they inter­ estingly began showing up prominently in cyberspace on social media sites includ­ ing Twitter Instagram and the Russian version of Facebook 5 July 2014 Krasnaya Talovka Russia 3 July 2014 Voloshino Ukraine Russian soldier Alexander Sotkin’s Instagram posts revealing clandestine movement into Ukraine 34 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting Of course this kind of exposure is not limited to Russians in Crimea Private citi­ zens are publishing volumes of information revealing military activities from spy ship tracking to missile launch details 44 Twitter feeds publishing locational data on military assets and activities The power of these sources was demonstrated recently when amateur analysts pub­ lished a minute-by-minute account of the combined US–UK–French strike on Syrian chemical weapons facilities as it was occurring The details released via Twitter updates included tanker support tracking strike aircraft routes and ISR aircraft positions 45 Further developing the kind of awareness that enables quick multidomain action requires continuous collection that not only feeds characterization of actors and ac­ tivities but of the multiple environments that make up the multidomain battlespace as well Continuous sensing across domains enables quicker identification of multi­ faceted patterns and anomalies that lead to speedier identification of opportunities to exploit and vulnerabilities to address Additionally increasing data sources and types provide analysts the ability to correlate and cross-verify ensuring increased veracity of conclusions It also enables big data reliant methods such as OBI ABI to perform better with increased volume and variety As noted in the JOAC this re­ quirement of broader and continuous collection has implications for “steady state sizing systemic capacity and analytic technologies of intelligence forces ”46 To accomplish this the type of sensors employed and even what constitutes an ISR platform must fundamentally change In contrast to ISR platforms equipped with narrowly focused sensor suites observing for MDO requires sensor systems capable of collecting broader types of data It also demands shifting to an “every­ thing a sensor” model in which every asset regardless of primary purpose can si­ multaneously act as sensor platforms Every friendly point of presence is also an access point into the battlespace that can be leveraged for collection and if needed Fall 2018 35 Atkins as a pivot point for potential multidomain maneuver As Gen Carlton Everhart high­ lighted during a discussion on air mobility assets “we need our aircraft to be sensor platforms that can gather and securely communicate information ”47 This does not mean scrapping the charge to develop ISR sensors and systems de­ signed to penetrate and survive in high-threat areas 48 These are still critical to ac­ quiring data that would be otherwise impossible to reach The end result will look similar to a multidomain crowd-sensing effort similar to commercial products like Waze Every platform and point of presence should be an ISR contributor an ele­ ment of a larger intelligence collection network composed of interlinked sensors across all domains Further this approach to collection demands a more prominent role for opensource data As Col Sean Larkin noted in Foreign Affairs “over the next decade the market-driven explosion of surveillance sensors and data analytics will bring an un­ precedented level of transparency to global affairs offering inexpensive and auto­ mated reports on everything from crop yields to military activity ”49 Dr Jon Kimminau describes how “the foundation of knowledge we need can come from Open Source ” freeing more exquisite sensors to collect less accessible data 50 The openly available LiveUAmap’s coverage of conflicts in Syria and Crimea produced information that often rivaled classified sources and methods Reprinted from image of map of Syria to illustrate un­ known aircraft in News Live accessed 14 May 2018 https syria liveuamap com 36 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting Change how we derive understanding from observation With new demands to understand more detail on more aspects of the battlespace and activities within it the challenge then becomes deriving understanding from observation that produces vastly increased data velocity variety and volume This challenge is at the heart of multidomain orienting and requires a significant shift in analysis to produce decision-level understanding without proliferating a multitude of systems that only bury users in data 51 Fortunately this is another area where intelligence professionals can adapt recent initiatives in data analysis tools tech­ nologies and concepts First the current DOD and broader intelligence community efforts to adopt a bigdata approach must be redoubled and steered to facilitate multi-domain awareness Shifting to a big-data construct is ideally suited to the MDO challenge in that it is designed to derive deeper understanding in greater interconnected complexity with vast data volumes and types As Dr Kimminau again highlights increasing data types and volumes should enable cross-domain thinking 52 In fact even with “dirty” or raw unprocessed data a common concern of many ISR professionals regarding big data these new analytic approaches are proving able to better discern activities or opportunities that analysts did not know to look for in the first place 53 Second artificial intelligence AI and machine learning must be further in­ vested in and integrated to provide the speed of analysis in complex interconnected environments to out-orient adversaries at the operational and tactical levels The multidomain battlespace will increasingly overwhelm existing analytic approaches that primarily rely on human and “brute force” computer analysis At the same time advances in commercially developed AI such as IBM’s Watson are capable of leveraging vast data to learn and develop as James R Clapper described “a beauti­ ful intuition” that can identify and even predict the sort of opportunities and vul­ nerabilities that enable MDO 54 Additionally AI can further accelerate analysis by quickly translating raw or un­ structured data into a more useable form 55 For instance AI is proving increasingly pro­ ficient in deriving data within raw data structuring it to become useable by follow-on analytics A recent example that highlights the utility of these advances is found in a Google team’s research on Convolutional Neural Networks’ ability to learn iden­ tify and catalogue objects or activities in video and audio data 56 Quickly deriving and structuring useful data embedded within other data is critical to maximizing the possibility of finding multidomain opportunities and vulnerabilities enabling tighter and truer orienting As the previous Deputy Secretary of Defense noted “the Department of Defense must integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning more effectively across operations to maintain advantages over increas­ ingly capable adversaries and competitions ”57 Change How Users Interact with the Observe and Orient System Changing the OO paradigm and supporting system to enable MDO creates new opportunities for decision makers at all levels in how they engage that system In particular the technologically and conceptually complex system described above Fall 2018 37 Atkins requires a new approach to crafting and translating critical intelligence require­ ments to drive collection and analysis Further decision makers at all levels will add to and shape the system in real-time as participants not just receivers For this new system to perform the ISR enterprise must build the connective tis­ sue between decision makers’ information needs and the complex analytic system that supports them This connective layer must perform dynamic mission data sci­ ence DMDS to translate information requirements into analytic models and algo­ rithms that can adapt to meet the demands of an evolving battlespace enabling true multidomain awareness and prediction To achieve this higher-order predictive analysis that tightens the OODA loop in multidomain complexity there must be people in place who understand the requirements and how to dynamically craft the analytic tools to get there 58 Further the DMDS function must exist broadly across the operational force to en­ able multidomain action at all levels of decision and execution The same data and analytic expertise that provides operational-level insight to JFCs can be leveraged to quickly identify or predict opportunities and vulnerabilities at the tactical level Dif­ ferent algorithms can be crafted and run on the same data to serve different per­ spectives and needs As Vice Adm Jan Tighe notes it is critical to “more rapidly up­ date modernize and customize our applications inside their actual environment with the end-user community fully embedded in that journey ”59 To achieve OODA advantage across a continuum of domains at each level ISR data science functions must be embedded with each of these end user perspectives In addition to connecting with the OO system through a DMDS layer decision makers and operators will also interact directly with the system to further orient and sharpen collection and analysis In its simplest form it is similar to how com­ panies like Amazon leverage consumer interaction with their system to generate more data to analyze and determine how to shape what it produces to best fit the user’s needs In this construct decision makers are more than users of information they are participants in the data analytics 60 Change How We Architect and Evolve the ISR System The system that begins to take shape in the descriptions above points toward a change in how the ISR enterprise is designed and probably more importantly how it is quickly evolved The shift toward MDO is largely technology driven and as such advantage can be lost just as easily as it is won when adversaries integrate the next technological development that provides it an edge Because the majority of information technology development is led by private industry the US must re­ shape its acquisition model to enable broader and faster partnership with industry The current infrastructure model and acquisition processes do not allow for the speed required to consistently evolve ahead of threats The future ISR infrastructure must be an open architecture system that maxi­ mizes interoperability between services and partners as well as the ability to quickly integrate new capabilities from across industry It must be based on the same com­ mon industry standards that allow the quick evolution and integration of new and 38 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting disruptive technology in the commercial world In a battlespace where speed and broad interoperability translate to significant advantage proprietary developments by a handful of defense contractors is increasingly a national security liability Dynamic Mission Data Science DMDS Algorithms DMDS Algorithms Air DMDS Algorithms EMS DMDS Algorithms DMDS Algorithms Land Sea Space Human Cyberspace Leveraging Dynamic Mission Data Science to conduct multi-domain maneuver enabling asymmetric advantage that outpaces adversary observe orient decide and act capabilities An open architecture platform makes it simple to agilely adapt and leverage new sensor or analytic advances as soon as the industry develops them keeping the ISR enterprise on the technological edge at less cost A competitive advantage in a com­ plex multidomain battlespace will be achieved by whomever can first leverage devel­ opments that drive faster more capable OO operations machine learning cloud ana­ lytics human-machine teaming interfaces supporting information infrastructure and so forth Fall 2018 39 Atkins Further an open architecture makes possible the degree of interoperability re­ quired for interservice and interpartner effectiveness in a multidomain environment The current architecture built over decades of individual service initiatives that cre­ ated proprietary products hinders or precludes interoperability between domain op­ erators and thus the true Joint operational flexibility required for multidomain ad­ vantage As a recent C4ISR article describes “the idea behind an open-systems architecture is to create opportunities where you don’t have stovepiped proprietary systems that don’t allow for things to plug in ”61 An open architecture system ensures not only that the ISR enterprise can iterate with industry faster but that it will more easily interconnect across all domain operators and international partners Success in a multidomain environment also depends on the ISR enterprise’s ability to eliminate stovepipes At the very heart of the MDO concept is the need for quick maneuver or action between domains The supporting OO system cannot have barri­ ers in place that prevent or slow the identification of multidomain opportunities or vulnerabilities The effectiveness of a big-data approach for example relies on its ability to leverage disparate multidomain data to correlate opportunities and build a more holistic awareness At the information infrastructure level this means breaking down stovepipes be­ tween services and agencies as well as the types of collection signals human im­ agery open source and so forth Currently every type of intelligence is stovepiped often with separate information environments and even within each there exist sub-stovepipes of more specific types of collection 62 Breaking down these stovepipes is critical to transitioning to become data-focused and will require a re­ examination of current classification access and data sharing protocols 63 Change How We Organize to Orient This re-examination also calls for a change in how the analytic force is organized moving further toward a sensor agnostic collaborative and data science focused force The goal is to move away from stovepiping thought or data access in a way that limits analysts’ ability to identify multidomain opportunity and vulnerability For the DMDS layer described above to operate effectively teams composed of ana­ lysts data scientists and programmers are required at each of the decision-making levels and perspectives DMDS teams must be present at the unit level to develop and dynamically modify models and tools that feed tactical decisions for ground air space cyber and maritime operators These teams must also be present at the JTF and component levels to develop and dynamically modify the models and tools that feed operational decision making Further this analytic force arrayed at various levels and perspectives should not be hindered by organizational boundaries to collaborate enabling an adaptive approach based on a more open organizational construct 64 Fortunately if a cloud-based infrastructure that eliminates stovepipes and en­ ables a true multidomain big-data approach is meaningfully implemented there will not be a need to expand the ISR workforce Currently a majority of the ISR workforce is engaged in time-consuming data-processing functions Leveraging AI and big-data analytics to increasingly conduct data processing functions potentially 40 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting liberates thousands of minds to work on analytics 65 As Vice Admiral Tighe again points out the Navy’s migration to cloud-based architectures both ashore and afloat will “enable analytic environments and battle management decision aids that reduce the dependency on our people for tasks that can be automated and free up our analysts to go further faster in a human-machine teamed environment ”66 Conclusion The development and proliferation of advanced technology are once again changing the battlespace and shifting the character of conflict away from what the US military has prepared for Still in development the MDO concept proposes a bet­ ter integration of capabilities across all maneuver domains to overcome challenges that increasingly defy current operational concepts Although MDO is not a new idea its emerging shape places new demands on the joint force that have funda­ mental implications for how it observes and orients itself MDO will require re-con­ ceptualizing the battlespace how we derive understanding reshaping approaches to constructing and organizing ISR and new ways of using and interacting with the ISR enterprise More than 30 years ago Boyd expressed the need to simultaneously “generate many different possibilities as well as rapidly implement and shift among them” to outmatch adversaries 67 The MDO concept is built on the idea that these possibili­ ties are exponentially increasing in number as interconnectivity between domains both physical and virtual continues to grow Without the ability to observe and ori­ ent to these new combinations of possibilities however MDO will remain out of reach Just as ISR shapes and drives decisions and actions ISR professionals are now in a position to develop a multidomain OO construct that shapes and drives multidomain warfare from concept to practice  Notes 1 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept 7 January 2012 https www defense gov Portals 1 Doc uments pubs JOAC_Jan%202012_Signed pdf and US Army Multi-Domain Battle Evolution of Combined Arms for the 21st Century 2025–2040 December 2017 http www arcic army mil App_Documents Multi-Domain-Battle-Evolution-of-Combined-Arms pdf 2 United Kingdom Ministry of Defence Joint Doctrine Publication JDP 2-00 Understanding and Intelligence Support to Joint Operations 3rd ed London UK UK Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff August 2011 1–4 and Bill Dries et al “Securing Operational Access Evolving the Air-Sea Battle Con­ cept ” The National Interest 11 February 2015 http nationalinterest org feature securing-operational -access-evolving-the-air-sea-battle-12219 3 Jeffrey M Reilly “Multidomain Operations A Subtle but Significant Transition in Military Thought ” Air Space Power Journal 30 no 1 Spring 2016 61 http www airuniversity af mil Portals 10 ASPJ journals Volume-30_Issue-1 V-Reilly pdf 4 George M Gross “The New Generation of Operational Concepts ” Small Wars Journal 8 January 2016 http smallwarsjournal com jrnl art the-new-generation-of-operational-concepts 5 DOD Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace July 2011 https csrc nist gov CSRC media Projects ISPAB documents DOD-Strategy-for-Operating-in-Cyberspace pdf Fall 2018 41 Atkins 6 Sydney J Freedberg “VCJCS Mulls Newest Domain Electromagnetic Spectrum ” Breaking De­ fense 22 April 2016 http breakingdefense com 2016 04 vcjcs-mulls-newest-domain-electromag netic-spectrum 7 Max Boot War Made New Technology Warfare and the Course of History New York Penguin Books 2006 8 Reilly “Multidomain Operations ” 61 9 Joint Chiefs of Staff JCS Joint Concept for Entry Operations 7 April 2014 vi http www jcs mil Portals 36 Documents Doctrine concepts jceo pdf ver 2017-12-28-162000-837 10 Reilly “Multidomain Operations ” 67 11 Ibid 71 12 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept 14 13 Jeffrey M Reilly “Over the Horizon The Multi-Domain Operational Strategist MDOS ” Over the Horizon Multi-Domain Operations and Strategy 13 January 2017 https overthehorizonmdos com 2017 01 13 oth-mdos-reilly 14 Marc Van de Mieroop A History of Ancient Egypt  New Jersey Wiley-Blackwell 2010 240–57 Margaret Bunson  The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt  New York Gramercy Books 1999 111 and Arther Ferrill The Origins of War London Westview Press 1985 86–87 15 Reilly “Multidomain Operations ” 63 16 JCS Joint Concept for Entry Operations 19 17 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept iii and Dries et al “Securing Operational Access ” 18 Mark Pomerleau “Generals Describe Challenges Characteristics of a Multi-Domain Battle ” C4ISRNET 14 March 2017 https www c4isrnet com show-reporter global-force-symposium 2017 03 14 generals-describe-challenges-characteristics-of-a-multi-domain-battle 19 Dries et al “Securing Operational Access ” 20 Reilly “Multidomain Operations ” 71 21 Gen David L Goldfein “AUSA 2016 Multi-Domain Battle Ensuring Joint Force Freedom of Ac­ tion in Future War ” 4 October 2016 https www dvidshub net video 485976 ausa-2016-multi-domain -battle-ensuring-joint-force-freedom-action-future-war 22 Dries et al “Securing Operational Access ” 23 Reilly “Multidomain Operations ” 61 24 William Dries “Some New Some Old All Necessary The Multi-Domain Imperative ” War on the Rocks 27 March 2017 https warontherocks com 2017 03 some-new-some-old-all-necessary-the -multi-domain-imperative 25 John R Boyd “The Essence of Winning and Losing” lecture Defense and the National Interest DNI Washington DC 28 January 1995 https danford net boyd essence1 htm 26 John R Boyd “Organic Design for Command and Control ” lecture DNI Washington DC May 1987 http www iohai com iohai-resources organic-design-c-and c_files frame htm 27 Ibid 28 Ibid 29 Adapted from Joint Doctrine Publication 2-00 Understanding and Intelligence Support 30 Air University Air Force ISR 2023 Delivering Decision Advantage Washington DC US Air Force 2012 7 http www airuniversity af mil Portals 10 Research ISR Rotator documents AF-ISR_2023 pdf 31 JCS Joint Concept for Entry Operations vi 32 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept 29 33 Boyd “The Essence of Winning and Losing ” 34 Boyd “Organic Design for Command and Control ” 35 JCS Joint Concept for Entry Operations 20 36 Boyd “Organic Design for Command and Control ” 37 JCS Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Joint Force 2020 White Paper Washington DC JCS June 2014 1 http www airuniversity af mil Portals 10 Research ISR Rotator documents Joint_Force_White_Paper pdf 38 Sean Atkins “Finding Clarity in Complexity Interview with Dr Jon Kimminau Part I ” Over the Horizon 24 January 2017 https othjournal com 2017 01 24 interview-kimminau-part-1 42 Air Space Power Journal Multidomain Observing and Orienting 39 Sean Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part III An Interview with Dr Jon Kimminau on Big Data and Activity Based Intelligence ” Over the Horizon 30 January 2017 https overthehorizonmdos com 2017 02 07 interview-kimminau-part-3 40 James R Clapper address 2016 GEOINT Symposium Orlando FL 17 May 2016 http usgif org events geoint-symposia 41 Ibid 42 Benjamin Jensen and Ryan Kendall “WAZE for War How the Army Can Integrate Artificial Intelligence ” War on the Rocks 2 September 2016 https warontherocks com 2016 09 waze-for-war -how-the-army-can-integrate-artificial-intelligence 43 Adam Entous et al “U S Scurries to Shore Up Spying on Russia ” Wall Street Journal 24 March 2014 https www wsj com articles u-s-scurries-to-shore-up-spying-on-russia-1395625416 44 Ben Sullivan “Twitter’s the Only Tool You Need for Tracking the Military ” Vice 24 April 2017 https motherboard vice com en_us article twitters-the-only-tool-you-need-for-tracking-the-military 45 David Cenciotti “Everything We Know and No one has Said about the First Waves of Air Strikes on Syria ” 14 April 2018 https theaviationist com 2018 04 14 everything-we-know-and-no-one -has-said-so-far-about-the-first-waves-of-air-strikes-on-syria 46 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept 29 47 Gen Carlton D Everhart III “Air Mobility Multi-Domain Operations and the MAF’s Future An Interview with General Everhart ” Over the Horizon 15 May 2017 https overthehorizonmdos com 2017 05 15 air-mobility-c2-interview-geneverhart 48 Joint Force 2020 White Paper 2 49 Sean P Larkin “The Age of Transparency International Relations Without Secrets ” Foreign Affairs 95 no 3 May–June 2016 https www foreignaffairs com articles world 2016-04-18 age-transparency 50 Sean Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part II An Interview with Dr Jon Kimminau on Big Data and Activity Based Intelligence ” Over the Horizon 30 January 2017 https othjournal com 2017 01 30 interview-kimminau-part-2 51 Joint Force 2020 White Paper 1 52 Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part III ” 53 Ibid 54 Clapper GEOINT Symposium 55 Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part II ” 56 Shawn Hershe et al “CNN Architectures for Large-Scale Audio Classification ” Google Inc 10 January 2017 https arxiv org pdf 1609 09430 pdf 57 Bob Work “Establishment of an Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team Project Maven ” DOD Memorandum https www scribd com mobile document 346681336 Establishment-of-the -AWCFT-Project-Maven skip_app_promo true 58 Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part II ” 59 Sean Atkins “On the Precipice The Future of Cyber and Intelligence with Vice Admiral Jan Tighe ” Over the Horizon 27 February 2017 https overthehorizonmdos com 2017 02 27 inteview -vice-admiral-jan-tighe 60 Atkins “Clarity in Complexity ” Part I 61 Mark Pomerlau “AUSA Open Architecture and Multi-Domain Battle ” C4ISRNET 15 March 2017 http www c4isrnet com articles ausa-open-architecture-and-multi-domain-battle 62 Atkins “Clarity from Complexity Part II ” 63 DOD Joint Operational Access Concept 29 and Atkins “Clarity from Complexity ” Part I 64 JDP 2-00 Understanding and Intelligence Support 1–6 65 Sean Atkins “Clarity in Complexity ” Part I 66 Atkins “On the Precipice ” 67 John Boyd “Patterns of Conflict” briefing presentation December 1986 http www dnipogo org boyd pdf poc pdf site discontinued Fall 2018 43 Atkins Maj Sean A Atkins USAF Major Atkins is a doctoral student in the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Previously he was the deputy director of future warfare con­ cepts and an instructor in the Air Command and Staff College’s multidomain operations and strategy program Major Atkins has served in a range of assignments from forward operating bases in Iraq to the Office of the Secretary of Defense He is also the founding editor of Over the Horizon a Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List online profes­ sional journal that brings together diverse perspectives to advance the conversation on future security Distribution A Approved for public release distribution unlimited http www airuniversity af mil ASPJ 44 Air Space Power Journal