Innovative Aids: Effects-Based Combat Assessment

Combat, or Tactical, Assessment is the crucial first step in a larger Effects-Based Assessment (EBA) process. Unfortunately current tactical assessment tools and processes are insufficient to function in an EBA environment. Consequently, they do not feed operational, campaign, or national assessment. USAF Lt. General Deptula, deputy chief of staff for Air Force ISR, has emphasized the need to address this capability gap. Securboration is at the forefront of tactical and operational-level EBA. Our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have been assessors themselves, and they participated in the Air Force Assessment Task Force (AFATF) that shaped doctrine for EBA. In Phase I, Securboration, working closely with cognitive scientist Dr. Chris Hale from SAIC, prototyped the “Tactical Assessment Tools for EBA” (TATE). TATE is an innovative approach that combines assessment tools, universal net-centric data access, and automated, formalized processes. In Phase II, TATE will be developed through a systematic process to ensure compliance in three major areas: 1) formalizing and automating tactical assessment processes, 2) addressing the entire spectrum of tactical assessment tasks required of intelligence analysts, and 3) integrating into the entire EBA construct, both in approach and technology application.