Pentagon revamping 2020 vision

Joint Vision 2020 was released two years ago to define how information technology would support every component of military action, and that definition soon will include a new operational concept: joint command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (JC4ISR).

Air Force Col. Will Gildner Jr., a member of the Joint Vision and Transformation Division in the Joint Chiefs of Staff office, said May 22 that Joint Vision 2020 was being revised to include JC4ISR as the fifth operational concept alongside dominant maneuvers, precision engagements, focused logistics and full-dimensional protection.

Joint Vision 2020 replaced the Pentagon's first strategic planning document, Joint Vision 2010, which was published in 1996. The goal of Joint Vision 2010 was to develop a template to help DOD wage network-centric warfare, which seeks to make data available to those who need it across the organization or on the battlefield.

The advancement of information technologies dramatically changed the landscape of the modern battlefield and forced the Pentagon to expand its vision another 10 years with Joint Vision 2020. That document, released in May 2000, lays out the military's plan for how it will organize, equip, train and harness the power of IT through the year 2020.

Gildner, speaking at the International Quality and Productivity Center's Network Centric Warfare 2002 conference in Arlington, Va., said he was not prepared to provide any additional details about the revision, but that a meeting was being held this week about formally adding JC4ISR to the mix.