Joint Operations in Focus – The Significance of C2 Agility

Jonas Juhlin

doi:10.2478/jms-2025-0014

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Joint Operations in Focus – The Significance of C2 Agility

Journal of Military Studies

AHEAD OF PRINT

By: Jonas Juhlin

Open Access

|May 2026

Abstract

What makes a successful military operation? For military planners, this question has been, and still is, one of the most perplexing problems a military organisation can be confronted with. The scientific research groups in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have attempted to construct a model on how to adopt the most optimal approach to command and control in military operations regardless of force composition and mission type. The concept is called Command and Control Agility or C2 Agility for short. The purpose is by using best practices to design a universal effective concept for C2 in military operations. This paper will use 43 case studies from World War II (WWII) selected from a set of criteria that will ensure homogenous case selection, and investigate the significance of C2 Agility for a successful outcome using statistical analysis. WWII is relevant because during the current Russo-Ukrainian war the question of C2 approach in a high-intensity warfare scenario against a near-peer opponent has again become highly relevant for the militaries of NATO.

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