Red Teaming: Past and Present

As warfare continues to become more complex due to the advent and proliferation of new technology, blending of ethnic and cultural groups, population growth and urbanization, and tendency towards asymmetric warfare, commanders will have more difficulty in understanding the battlefield and ultimately achieving success. Only through a complete understanding of the operating environment from the perspective of the U.S., its adversaries, and local inhabitants of the operational area combined with critical analysis in decision making and planning can the U.S. Army successfully accomplish the diverse and complex missions looming in the future. One proposed method for achieving this understanding is the concept of "red teaming". The term "red team" is a relatively new buzzword used in military and civilian enterprises. However, there is no common understanding of what red teaming means. Red teaming can mean role-playing the adversary, conducting a vulnerability assessment to determine weaknesses, or using analytical techniques to improve intelligence estimates and intelligence synchronization. While these definitions seem unrelated, they have in common the ultimate goal of improving decision making through critical thinking and analysis. This commonality forms the basis of the U.S. Army understanding of red teaming. The U.S. Army defines red teaming as "a function executed by trained, educated, and practiced team members that provides commanders an independent capability to fully explore alternatives in plans, operations, concepts, organizations, and capabilities in the context of the operational environment and from the perspectives of our partners, adversaries, and others." The key aspects of this definition are its emphasis on independent thinking, challenging the thinking inside the organization, incorporating alternative perspectives in an attempt to eliminate cultural and ethnocentric bias, and a focus on fully exploring alternatives. The purpose of this monograph i