ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a historical perspective on the problem, presenting examples from military history to illustrate a series of general principles for consideration prior to the application of technology to complex military decision making and C2 problems. A concept often designated as critical to understanding the role of technology in military decision making is that of mediation: each successive development in military technology has resulted in a more elaborate relationship between those applying force and the force they are opposing. As Barnett has pointed out, the United States military spends more on information technology than most countries spend on their entire military, creating an environment that makes it as difficult for allies as it is for adversaries to stay abreast. One likely consequence of the use of technology to support C2 and decision making is the alteration of how tasks are distributed within the chain-of-command.
