ISSUE 182 : Jul/Aug - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

DSTO Operational Support CentreThe framework established for DSTO support to operations, shown in Figure 1, can be thoughtof as comprising a number of layers of S&T effort coordinated by a small central unit knownas the DOSC, whose mission is ‘to actively engage with the ADF in order to deliver urgent S&Tsupport to the planning, conduct and lesson capture for military operations’.An ADF commander seeks S&T support through an OPSTSR. On receiving an OPSTSR, DOSCwill establish a ‘tiger team’ that lasts between one and six months, often with members drawnfrom across DSTO. At any one time, DSTO will be working on 15-20 OPSTSRs that vary widelyin their nature and scope. To coordinate and facilitate such a program, there is a core teamwho have both direct links to the various ADF operations and the necessary linkages acrossDSTO. Additionally, this core team provides continuity to the OPSTSR program by supportingdeployed teams in the field and conducting analysis in those areas requiring ongoing support.Two prime elements are the ‘Operational Reachback’ and ‘Operational Data Exploitation’(ODE) cells.SupportOperationsOperationalScienceCOIN StudiesandOperationalInsightsOperationalDataExploitationTechnologyDOSCOperationalReachbackOPSTSRCoordinationDeployedOA teamsS&TFly-AwayTeamsSupportRequestsCommunityFigure 1. Schematic of the framework for DSTO support to operations(the section in the middle indicates the functions of the DOSC)59