4 Th Iccrts: C2 and Agility " Mission Assurance in a Distributed Environment " Topic 7: C2 Assessment Tools and Metrics Mission Assurance in a Distributed Environment

The increased use of machine assistance has opened new doors for adversaries to thwart coalition planning processes and systems using the next generation of sophisticated cyber exploits. These new attack vectors, aimed directly at our core mission-essential systems, will not close during normal operations and will require Command and Control (C2) planners to operate in contested environments regardless of contingencies. Operating in this increasingly hostile environment requires confidence in our infrastructure beyond what traditional information assurance addresses we require the wherewithal to sustain sufficient planning capability to fulfill vital objectives in the face of adversity. This mission assurance concept will allow the critical components of the planning process to be sustained instead of degrading so severely that machine assistance is fully lost. The groundwork for achieving mission assurance will be discussed in this paper and we will examine a distributed planning program in detail as an initial exemplar for applying a new breed of mission assurance techniques.