Human Interoperability Through Professional Military Education: Standardised Mental Models as Enablers for Data-Centric Warfighting
Volume 11, Issue 2 (2025), pp. 79–123
Pub. online: 30 December 2025
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
10 October 2025
10 October 2025
Accepted
9 November 2025
9 November 2025
Published
30 December 2025
30 December 2025
Abstract
This article examines how Professional Military Education (PME) can strengthen human interoperability as NATO transitions toward data-centric warfighting. While artificial intelligence and data integration drive technological transformation, their effectiveness depends on officers’ ability to cooperate across national and institutional boundaries. The central claim of this article is that standardised heuristics – conceptual models taught in PME – function as critical cognitive tools enabling such interoperability. Using a qualitative, conceptual design, this study assesses established frameworks such as Ends-Ways-Means, fighting power, and the interoperability schema. The analysis suggests that these heuristics stabilise cognition, foster shared understanding, and anchor NATO’s digital transformation in human coherence.
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