This study investigates the adequacy of doctrinal tools to meet the demands of command and control at the operational level of war. Specifically, the focus of this monograph lies in the realm of how American operational level commanders and staffs graphically portray and communicate their concepts for campaigns and major operations. The purpose is to answer the research question: How should military graphics support command and control at the operational level of war. The monograph introduces several theories, concepts, and background information that frame basic command and control (C2) issues. This framework drives the discovery of deficiencies and the resulting development of a set of proposed solutions. The AirLand Battle Future concept is also introduced to establish the azimuth for future doctrinal requirements in C2 support. Three historical vignettes are discussed to add depth and perspective to the developing list of graphics proposals. The initial list comes straight from the theory and concepts associated with command, control, and campaign planning. The historical vignettes apply these proposals to past events to ensure validity and to add items stemming from past experiences. The result is a framework of graphics proposals that apply to today's and tomorrow's C2 needs. The final step in the monograph takes criteria developed in FM 101-5-1, Operational Terms and Symbols, and applies the operational-level graphics framework against it. One additional criterion is developed to accommodate the proliferation of computers and digital transmission devices. Graphics must now be electronically transportable to be useful. The results of this analysis show that the graphics proposals meet the criteria although some doctrinal deficiencies still need to be approved. The conclusions of the monograph confirm the need to begin detailed development of operational-level graphics to support command and control requirements, today and tomorrow. The most significant implication from this is the need to eventually expand the effort to include the other services. With operational-level warfare inevitably consisting of joint forces, the need for joint graphics support will continue to develop as we move into the 21st century.

ADA 240296 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)