This must have been a great event and it is very open an honest for NATO to share their issues with terminology and definitions; I salute your endeavour, especially when he complexities of NATO agreement is thrown in to a complex issue. 

I would, however point out that MDO as defined in the report will limit NATO's ability to perform integrated operations.  Joint operations are the joints action of services (actors) whereas 'Multi-Domain' are the multiple critical manoeuvre spaces in which one performs. (layered Operational Environment).  However, the report goes not o identify that the difficulty in understanding C2 in MDO usually arises in identifying the boundaries of a domain like space and cyberspace and the inherent authority given to a mission commander. 

Surely in a true MDO, where integrated effects are levered to overwhelm an opponent then the Mission commander will have command over all MDO assets assigned to him/her.  If you have domain commanders contributing to a MDO, you have invented nothing and repackage components as domains.  The MD Mission Commander will be a generalist warfighter, and integrated warfighter not a domain specialist.  This means a new organisation and new training.

This problem stems from the definition of the 5 domains.  They are nothing more than the 5 components or commands.  If a domain is, as Jeffrey Reilly defines, a ‘Critical macro manoeuvre space whose access or control is vital to the freedom of action and superiority required by the mission.’ Surely we need to think beyond the legacy of components and commands and embrace information as a critical manoeuvre space and, importantly the cognitive domain.  It is this domain that is the ultimate goal of conflict: to change the will and/or perception of the adversary.  We cannot do that without cognitive domain understanding.

The other glaring omission is the need for MD Understanding (MDU), without this you cannot have MDC2 nor MDO.   I can offer concrete solutions: The ISR community such as the NATO ISRD at Ramstein practices MDO every day.  ISR is inherently joint, collection requirement s will be services by the Air Command on behalf the maritime or land; ISR will answer strategic questions at the same time as tactical; ISR is not limited to the J1-J9 divisions... Isr is pan division.  Therefore you already have a blueprint for MDO... the ISRD.  Being an ex staff officer, I know the value of borrowing from previous good ideas... perhaps the MDC2 community should visit and talk to the ISRD.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.