Enabling Success of Brigade Combat Team's Collection Management in the Era of Multi-Domain Operations

Based on operational conditions, the division employs BCTs and enabling units to defeat enemy forces in the close area, simultaneously consolidating gains achieved.9 To accomplish these tasks, BCTs will maintain the ability within MDO to converge organic information collection, maneuver, and fires capabilities with limited amounts of available aviation, maneuver support, electronic warfare, joint fires, and offensive space capabilities. According to the Army MDO operating concept, BCTs will habitually access intelligence, electronic warfare, cyberspace, and space capabilities through the division, corps, and field army.10 In MDO, information collection should still be an activity that synchronizes and integrates the planning and employment of sensors and assets as well as processing, exploiting, and disseminating systems in direct support of current and future operations.12 What MDO has changed is the degree of synchronization required by a BCT collection manager. The requirement for layering information collection capabilities and processing, exploitation, and dissemination of those assets to support MDO will require management and synchronization between brigades and echelons above brigade.17 In MDO, forward-postured divisions and brigades employ their organic ground reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft systems to develop the immediate tactical situation, while the field army supports lower echelons with organic high-altitude surveillance and joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities deployed from the forward edge of the tactical support area. At the tactical level, assets include the expeditionary-military intelligence brigades, target acquisition radars, reconnaissance and cavalry squadrons, attack reconnaissance aviation units, and unmanned aircraft systems.