Announcement of Revision of the Concept for Distributed Operations

1. A CONCEPT FOR DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS WAS PUBLISHED IN 
APRIL 2005 IN ORDER TO PROMOTE DISCUSSION AND GENERATE IDEAS FOR SPECIFIC 
COMBAT DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES. THE IDEAS PRESENTED IN THAT FIRST EDITION 
HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF MUCH DISCUSSION, DEBATE, AND EXPERIMENTATION. 
THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN TESTED BY THE CRUCIBLE OF COMBAT AS WELL AS BY THE 
DIVERSE CHALLENGES OF THE CURRENT SECURITY ENVIRONMENT.
2. A REVISED EDITION OF DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS HAS BEEN APPROVED. 
THIS DOCUMENT INCORPORATES LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE EXPERIENCE TO DATE WITH 
DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS AND INCLUDES AN EXPANDED DISCUSSION OF THE NEED FOR 
FORCES CAPABLE OF SELECTIVELY CONDUCTING EITHER DISTRIBUTED OR AGGREGATED 
OPERATIONS AT THE STRATEGIC, OPERATIONAL, OR TACTICAL LEVELS OF WAR AS 
MISSION NEEDS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM OF CONFLICT DICTATE. THE ATTEMPT WITH 
THIS REVISION IS TO PROVIDE GREATER CLARITY TO THE DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS 
CONCEPT, INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT CONSTITUTES DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS 
AND WHAT DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS CAN PROVIDE FOR THE MARINE CORPS.
3. THE REVISION TO THE DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS CONCEPT IS TITLED: 
MARINE CORPS OPERATIONS IN COMPLEX AND DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENTS AND CAN BE
VIEWED AT WWW.MCWL.USMC.MIL.
4. THE TRANSITION TASK FORCE CHAIR WITHIN MCCDC FOR DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS 
IS COL R.T. DURKIN DSN: 278-4699 OR COML: 
(703) 784-5710