The “Red Team”

Summary

In this article authors Malone and Schaupp break down the intended application of ‘red teams’ and explain their use for military planning. The authors give step by step guidance on the planning and execution of creating a red team scenario and notes the potential issues that can be generating from the method.

Malone and Schaupp begin by explaining the missteps in the planning phases of Operation Allied Force in the late 1990’s. The authors make the argument that because no one planning the strategic military operation challenged the effectiveness in using airstrikes to achieve he overall goals of the mission, the strikes took far longer than originally intended. The authors argued that strategists could have foreseen this with some simple red teaming exercises.

The authors then provide a background on red teaming and its typical uses in military applications. The authors talk about how to construct a red team effectively and use it for planning.  According to the article, red teams need to contain their own experts and must be well versed in its practical application. Using the actions of General Gregory S. Martin, the authors depict an example for how red teams should be formed.  In General Martin’s red team operations, he pulled on the experience and strategic expertise of outside personnel from areas unrelated the area of operations of the blue team.

The authors also note the importance of participation in the practice by the blue team, or the team whose plan is being tested.  They warn that this is a fast way to limit the effectiveness of the exercise because of the inherent tensions that exist when testing a plan. The authors explain that the red team needs to work closely with the planning and construction of teams with the blue team in order to develop a trusting relationship that will function effectively.

The authors break down the necessary parts of creating a red team into a check list for planners to follow. They then set rules of engagement to ensure that the exercise is helpful and not outside of the scope of operations. Then the actions of the red team in the planning process is broken down into a generalized timeline consisting of 5 phases. The authors also state that the red team should be present as observers for mission rehearsals along with the blue team leadership following the exercise. The authors conclude that red teaming is a valuable practice that can provide much needed insight into strategic contingency planning.

Critique

While the authors went to great lengths to explain the process of red teaming, they offer little evidence to support its effectiveness.  The authors only explain where its practice would have been useful and where it has been helpful through loosely explain anecdotes.  Far more could have been done to test the method and explain why the authors were giving some of the planning advice they were giving.

Malone, T. G., & Schaupp, R. E. (2002). The “Red Team.” Aerospace Power Journal,

16(2), 22.

Logistics and the (Lost?) Art of Red Teaming

Summary:

This article describes the various barriers that aid in the knowledge of effective red teaming within the joint logistics community. Authors Christopher Paparone and George Topic address issues that arise for this tool within senior management and leadership positions. Paparone and Topic define red teaming as “the process of critically examining and challenging the basic assumptions underpinning professional knowledge, planning, programming, ideas, or initiatives.”

Used within the fields of business and national security, red teaming provides organizations with the ability to use unconventional methods in order to tackle simple or complex problems. Within this article, Paparone and Topic ask “How often and how well does the U.S. defense logistics enterprise red teaming and its major efforts?” Running contrary to the concepts and designs of red teaming, the authors state that many institutions within the logistics community tend to rely on unchallenged thought processes and ideas. 

Paparone and Topic stated that group think is one major issue that red teaming attempts to mitigate as much as possible due to its negative influence on group members as a whole. Controlling and bypassing group think has at least three barriers that the authors discuss throughout this article.

The first barrier that Paparone and Topic address is hierarchy. While hierarchy does provide uniform and efficient organization within the military for instance, it also can require unquestioned compliance. This compliance can prevent a specific environment from developing and encountering innovative ideas.

The second barrier presents the idea that the team should be valued more than the ultimate decision made in any given situation. According to Paparone and Topic, respecting team members and their ideas signifies a willingness to be open to new ideas and criticism.

The third and final barrier offered in this article displays a theme of self-censoring which in this case, there is no desire to offer an alternative solution for fear that it will fail. With this in mind, the individual not only fears failure, but also the blame that comes with that from other teammates.

One solution that the authors present in the academic realm to counter hierarchy, group think, and fear of blame is the process of double-blind peer reviews. This process helps to protect criticism from being concealed under any of these three previously discussed barriers. The authors conclude this article by stating that one of the most important lessons to teach future leaders is the “importance of candid and critical assessments.”

Source:

Paparone, Christopher R., Topic Jr., George L. (2015). Logistics and the (lost?) art of red teaming. Army Sustainment, 47(2), 7-8.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Evolving Optimal and Diversified Military Operational Plans for Computational Red Teaming

Summary:

This journal article uses multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) on Computational Red Teaming (CRT) to increase diversity of near-optimal alternative strategies in the decision variable space. CRT is the computerization of Red Teaming through the use of agent-based models for application toward a given battlefield. The Red team tries to break the Blue’s defensive strategy, and for their experimentation the scientists used two case study approaches that use diversity-enhancement schemes (DES) to increase the diversification of MOEAs.

1. Covered in the first part of the study the scientists expressed the recent literature of CRT, which is an agent-based system (ABS) that mimics and simulates intricate models of warfare. Similar programs include ISAAC/EINSTein, WISDOM, and MANA. The advantage of using these models the scientists point out is that their low-resolution in their simulation models can produce many various simulations with many properties. That can then be searched by analysts for particular techniques and models that interest them. Included in this section are the plethora of mathematical operations and equations included in MOEAs to carry and develop the results from population-based stochastic search heuristics created from real phenomena in nature.

2. Following the literature review came the methodology where the researchers used an evolutionary framework that included 1) a model generator; 2) a simulation engine that usually generates 30 repetitions for each simulation model; and 3) an evolutionary algorithm that generates results for model specification files. Added to these steps for this research paper was the diversity enhancement scheme (DES) which focuses the evolutionary search focuses, “1) to preserve and promote the non-dominated solutions to exploit Pareto optimal solutions, and 2) similarly, the solutions which contribute to the aggregated, in both decision and objective, space diversity are also preserved/promoted” (Zeng, Decraene, Low, Zhou, & Cai 2012).

3.  By the experimentation point, the scientists did two case studies where Red strikes Blues defensive strategies in an urban ops scenario and a maritime anchorage protection scenario. Included in the measuring of these case studies was the DES and MOEAs to assess similarities and differences in the selected MOEAs of DES, Niching, HypeE, NSGAII, and SPEA2.

4. It was found that DES and Niching were the best MOEAs showing significant indicators of Pareto optimal solutions and solution diversification, with DES taking the lead of the two.

Concluding it all the researchers in their conclusion found that most research conducted using MOEAs has used Pareto-optimality as the focus and neglect the area of diversification of solutions within the decision variable space. Thus limiting choices a decision maker has when applied to real world problems. Through the DES research applied in this research study, the researchers give the ability to diversify the decision space without compromising the Pareto-optimality. Thus allowing more room and information for a decision maker to make a more informed decision and conclusion that is likely to be positive than negative.

Critique:

The usage of red teaming can be a useful modifier when it comes to needing to produce more realistic analysis and give a decision maker a more rounded brief that he can make the best decision for. Yet, in the modern day as this study on using MOEAs on CRT, we face a more technologic based model that is more reliant on technology, particularly when it comes to the cyber domain. Therefore, the application of CRTs gives access to the ability to run an exponential amount of simulations that analysts can use to produce more informed briefs for a decision maker, and speed up the intelligence process. Though this exercise in the research study was more of a War Gaming view, it none the less covers the notion that it is no longer analysts that work on teams or red teams solely. It also puts the computer programs that aid in the ability to produce data to also part take in similar exercises increasing the number of simulations and decreasing the likelihood of a potential estimates failing. Of course, intelligence is still an imperfect profession and art, but the use of red teaming can reduce, particularly through the use of CRT and technology, the uncertainty for a decision maker.

Sources

Evolving Optimal and Diversified Military Operational Plans for Computational Red Teaming

Zeng, F., Decraene, J., Low, M. Y. H., Zhou, S., & Cai, W. (2012). Evolving optimal and diversified military operational plans for computational red teaming. IEEE Systems Journal, 6(3), 499-509. <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Suiping_Zhou/publication/258655766_Evolving_Optimal_and_Diversified_Military_Operational_Plans_for_Computational_Red_Teaming/links/5536541d0cf268fd00171fd6.pdf>.