Network Centric Warfare in the U.S. Navy´s Fifth Fleet

This case study was commissioned by the Office of Force Transformation in the United States Department of Defense to examine the employment of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) systems and practices in the U.S. Fifth Fleet´s Commander Task Force Fifty (CTF-50). The staff and commander of CTF-50, embarked on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), led a coalition force of 59 ships in combat operations against Afghanistan during the execution of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The task force adopted a number of networking and collaboration tools that had significant effects on how CTF-50 was able to plan and execute missions in the Arabian Gulf and Afghanistan. This case study draws on NCW, technology adoption, decision-making and human communication theories to examine and explain the behavior of NCW system users.