Application of Systems Engineering to Understand and Replicate Interagency Coordination in Support of Combatant Commands

Abstract

This thesis analyzes interagency coordination from a functional and physical architectural perspective utilizing the Systems Engineering process outlined by Dennis Buede in The Engineering Design of Systems Models and Methods (2nd ed.) (2009). The process of interagency coordination is not fully understood and has proven difficult for various U.S. government agencies to replicate. Two examples of successful interagency coordination are used in this analysis the Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South) and Special Operations Forces (SOF) high-value target teams. These two organizations are individually decomposed into their top-level functions and organized by their major physical components. The results of this analysis are applied in the creation of a notional functional and physical architecture for the U.S. European Commands new Joint Interagency Counter-Trafficking Center (JICTC).