Distributed Networked Operations: The Foundations of Network Centric Warfare

This book speaks volumes to anyone interested in understanding complexity. It is proving to be invaluable for my dissertation.

This is in many ways a perplexing book. Its author, Jeff Cares, clearly understands the technical requirements for what is called Network Centric Warfare and offers some excellent insights on its relationship to distributed networked operations. Yet in the end, at least to this reviewer, his book is very unsatisfactory. This is because of the author's style: he does not provide very smooth transitions from one topic to another nor does he really integrate the information he presents in a very effective manner. Also the scenarios and analogies he offers by way of illustration do not seem well chosen or presented. While this book contains a lot of really good information, the reader has to work to dig it out of not very well crafted or organized prose.

Excellent book, it provides a clear understanding of a networked military scenario by using the main metrics of graph theory. Anyway it stills the question about how we should model the interactions and flows among the nodes in a network centric environment. Sergio Quijada Lieutenant Colonel, Chilean Army PhD Student

Jeff Cares has finally opened the long-needed discussion on the science of Network Warfare and Net Centric Operations. In this easily accessible work, Jeff challenges the short-sighted notion that if we build the right network, everything will be better for the warfighter. The network is only the beginning and it's not just about wires and switches...networks are behind everything, as Jeff lucidly points out. Distributed Networked Operations is a meaningful blend of complex systems theory (and application), the science of networks and the art of warfighting. This is a must read for modern warriors and those that support them. - Carl W. Hunt, Ph.D. Colonel, United States Army (ret)