ARRC JOURNAL
EVERYTHING THAT’S
NECESSARY,
NOTHING THAT’S NOT:
Reducing the Footprint of the Deployed Corps Headquarters
Major John Westwood, British Army
Captain Miles Cuff, British Army
Exercise ARRCADE FUSION 2017 (AF17) experimented with the ‘Survive to Command’
concept, culminating in the endorsement of a Forward Command Post (Fwd CP).
This year’s AF19 will see the ARRC experimenting with its Main CP as it attempts to
‘Survive to Control’.
As the ‘engine room’ that drives
operational staff work, the Main CP
must be located in theatre, under the
protection of theatre ballistic missile
defence (TBMD), and out of reach of
the enemy. However, the Main CP that
deployed on AF17 has a physical and
electromagnetic footprint that is distinct
and immediately identifiable as a corps
headquarters. The only way to reconcile
these two factors is to reassess what the
Main CP is, how it operates and what its
essential outputs are.
Survive to Control
The Concept. It is impossible to make
the Main CP invisible, so survival in
a modern battlespace is achieved by
reduction, dispersal and concealment
in plain sight amongst the noise of other
headquarters, enemy and civilian activity.
Not only does this reduce the probability
of being seen, targeted and struck, it also
reduces the impact of such a strike on
essential operational outputs.
Reduction. It is tempting to reduce the
size of the Main CP by cutting positions
in the deployed establishment or splitting
personnel amongst a greater number
of smaller work spaces. However, if
the Survive to Control concept is to be
innovative, as opposed to an iteration
of the current status quo, the basic
principles of the Main CP must be
questioned.
4
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
Dispersal and concealment. The
dispersal and concealment of the Main
CP across multiple cells is currently
being investigated by the Command and
Control Working Group (C2WG) and will
not be examined further in this essay.
This essay seeks to outline the basic
principles that should be used to reduce
the footprint of the Main CP and increase
survivability. It will go on to propose
practical solutions, with real-world
examples of how this can be applied in
time for AF19. Ultimately, the aim is to
raise questions that stimulate deeper
thought about the nature and operation
of the headquarters. As all proposals
are invitations to discussion rather than
solutions to be shot down, it is hoped that
this article will be read with this in mind.
A note of caution
Many of the suggestions presented
here are intended to encourage thought
and discussion. In a multinational
headquarters it is understood that
national sensitivities, the strength of
the Alliance and manning priorities may
mean that the ARRC might not be able to
make the same efficiencies as a national
headquarters.
Basic Principles
The Method. To successfully reduce
the size of the Main CP, we need to
The ARRC deployed at RAF St Mawgan as a JTF HQ. Note that the living accommodations and cookhouse
cover the same area as the headquarters working area. Additionally, no attempt has been made to disperse,
camouflage or conceal its footprint.