Network Foundation for Command and Control (C2) Systems: Literature Review

We review the command and control (C2) literature to develop a comprehensive understanding of C2 systems and identify network evaluation methods. C2 is the recursive process of sharing the intent of decision-makers across organizations, turning intent into action, monitoring success, and adjusting goals to meet changing needs. Although substantial C2 research exists, the literature remains isolated by application context, and advances are rarely integrated. Our review identifies research in military, emergency response, civilian infrastructure, and management literature that inform the analysis of C2 systems. We organize C2 research with theory from Network Centric Warfare and complex systems to integrate knowledge across broad disciplines and applications. The review organizes studies across four interrelated domains (i.e., physical, information, social, and cognitive), presents system design and evaluation constraints across subsystems, and offers practical considerations for advancing C2 theory. The review also catalogues network evaluation methods used to study C2 agility, i.e., the ability to successfully effect, cope with, and/or exploit changes in circumstances. Together, this paper supports the organizing, integration, and advancement of knowledge for the influential, yet broad research subject of C2.