Command Red Team

1. Background
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMAND RED TEAM
a. After studying factors that contributed to a series of strategic miscalculations and
intelligence failures before and after 11 September 2001, Congressionally-directed
commissions (e.g., 1998 Jeremiah Panel, 1998 Rumsfeld Commission, 2004 9/11
Commission, and 2005 Weapons of Mass Destruction [WMD] Commission) and other
advisory boards (e.g., RAND Corporation, Defense Science Board, and Institute for
Defense Analysis) urged the adoption of red teams in an effort to reduce risk, avoid
surprise, spot opportunities, increase operational flexibility, broaden analysis, and
enhance decision making. Throughout this same period, professional journals explored
how red teams could help organizations adapt to change and improve military planning
and intelligence analysis by stimulating critical and creative thought. In December 2004,
the Director of National Intelligence was required by law to establish, within elements of
the intelligence community (IC), a process and responsibility for conducting alternative
analysis (commonly referred to as “red team analysis”) of the information and
conclusions in intelligence products (The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention
Act of 2004, Section 1017).
b. In 2006, the Joint Staff directed establishment of the Joint Intelligence Operations
Center (JIOC) and the routine employment of red teams (“Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint
Intelligence Operations Center [JIOC] Execute Order,” 031640Z April 2006). However,
no guidance on how to organize and integrate red teams within the joint force was
provided. Subsequent field experience indicates that consistent guidance is needed to
ensure the teams and the staffs they support share a common understanding of red team
objectives, concepts, and requirements.
2. The Command Red Team Overview
a. The command red team is a decision support element that provides an
independent capability to fully explore alternatives in plans, operations, and intelligence
analysis. Command red teams help commanders and staffs think critically and
creatively; challenge assumptions; mitigate groupthink; reduce risks by serving as a
check against complacency and surprise; and increase opportunities by helping the
staff see situations, problems, and potential solutions from alternative perspectives.
Implicit tasks are to counter the influence of institutional and individual bias and errors;
provide insight into the mindsets, perspectives, and cultural traits of adversaries and other
relevant actors; and help explore unintended consequences, follow-on effects, and unseen
opportunities and threats. Red teams reduce risk by helping organizations hedge against
uncertainty and anticipate, understand, prepare for, and adapt to change.
b. The command red team is distinguished from a non-command red team by its
place within an organization and by its scope. A command red team is positioned to
assist in all aspects of the command’s processes and activities equally, without falling
I-1