Military Incompetence Revisited
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Assessing the Transmission of Commanders Intent
12th ICCRTS I-038-DraftB Assessing the transmission of Command Intent Geoffrey Hone Ian R Whitworth Andy Farmilo Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA UK Abstract A key requirement for success in any military operation is that the Intentions of the Officer in Command be accurately transmitted down through the command hierarchy. It is these intentions that should convey the commander’s requirements for the proposed operation, and should include a statement both of the purpose, and of the required outcome, of the operation about to be undertaken. Without the accurate transmission of intent, the desired effect may well not be achieved. This paper will discuss a two-stage process directed at assessing the transmission of Commander’s Intent, and which also has potential as a tool for de-risking a proposed operation. There is a further potential for use in the training of junior officers and cadets. INTRODUCTION The passage of orders down through any command structure, has been described by Bateman (1998) as the RUDE Cycle (Receive, Understand, Disseminate, Execute), with the same RUDE process occurring at each stage down the hierarchy. It follows from RUDE that at each level below the top command level, a subordinate commander must carry out the first three components and then prepare for the fourth. Thus, if a Commander carries out an assessment of the orders handed down by his direct subordinates to their subordinates – that is to say: at two levels down from his own – then the Reception, Understanding and Dissemination components can form the basis of a framework for that assessment. -
Transforming the Structure of the Military
Transforming the Structure of the Military Combat Decisions—Rank, Responsibility, or Frontline Position? Case Studies in National Security Transformation Number 4 Bing West December 2006 Sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Forces Transformation and Resources Prepared by the Center for Technology and National Security Policy The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. All information and sources for this paper were drawn from unclassified materials. Bing West served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton Universities, he served in Marine infantry in Vietnam. His books have won the Marine Corps Heritage Prize and the Colby Award for Military History and have appeared on the Commandant's Reading List. West appears frequently on The News Hour and Fox News. He is a member of St. Crispin's Order of the Infantry and the Council on Foreign Relations. He lives in Newport, RI. ii Introduction This case raises the questions of whether, in this day of advanced information networks, field grade military officers should be present at the scene of complex tactical battles and whether net-centric operations allow commanders to operate effectively from the front lines. Many have assumed that new information technologies lift the fog of war and therefore allow commanders to operate with clear vision from rear positions. This case examines the opposite postulate—that net-centric capabilities allow a commander to control operations and his own rear-based command staff from a forward-based position that enables him to watch the battle unfold firsthand. -
Congressional Record-· Senate
2188 CONGRESSIONA. L RECORD- SENATE . FEBRUARY 19, SENATE. H. R. 1062. An acf granting an increase of pension to Cha1:les C. WeaTer; WEDNESDAY, February 19, 1908. H. R. 1063. An act granting an increase of pension to Nich Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. EDWARD E . HALE. olas S. Chrisman ; The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of yesterday's H. R. 1215. An act granting an increase of pension to Phebe proceedings, when, on request of Mr. GALLINGER, and by unani A. Bar·tea u.x ; mous consent, the further reading was dispensed with. H. R. 1484. An act granting an increase of penaion to Marshall The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Journal stands approved. W. Rogers; H . R. 1496. An act granting an increase of pension to Elbert READING OF WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. M . Watts; The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Chair announces the appoint H . R. 1508. An act granting an increase of pension to William ment of the junior Senator from North Dakota [Mr. McCuM 1\I. Jordan; BER] to read Washington's Farewell Address on the 22d instant, H. R. loGO. An act granting an increase of pension to Nelson pursuant to the order of the Senate of January 24, 1901. Wolfley; TRADE CONDITIONS IN ECUADOR. H. R. 1673. An act granting an increase of pension to George The VICE-PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a communica Athey; tion from the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, transmitting H . R. 19Dl. An act granting an increase of pension to Jerry pursuant to law, the report of Special Agent Charles M. -
RAND Study of Reserve Xxii Realigning the Stars
Realigning the Stars A Methodology for Reviewing Active Component General and Flag Officer Requirements RAND National Defense Research Institute C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2384 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0070-3 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2018 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover design by Eileen Delson La Russo; image by almagami/Getty Images. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Realigning the Stars Study Team Principal Investigator Lisa M. Harrington Structure and Organization Position-by-Position Position Pyramid Health Analysis Analysis Analysis Igor Mikolic-Torreira, Paul Mayberry, team lead Katharina Ley Best, team lead Sean Mann team lead Kimberly Jackson Joslyn Fleming Peter Schirmer Lisa Davis Alexander D. -
A Framework for Success: an Analysis of the Cf Command and Control Operating Concept
A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CF COMMAND AND CONTROL OPERATING CONCEPT Lieutenant-Commander M.W. Stefanson JCSP 39 PCEMI 39 Master of Defence Studies Maîtrise en études de la défense Disclaimer Avertissement Opinions expressed remain those of the author and do Les opinons exprimées n’engagent que leurs auteurs et not represent Department of National Defence or ne reflètent aucunement des politiques du Ministère de Canadian Forces policy. This paper may not be used la Défense nationale ou des Forces canadiennes. Ce without written permission. papier ne peut être reproduit sans autorisation écrite. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the © Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, représentée par le Minister of National Defence, 2013 ministre de la Défense nationale, 2013. CANADIAN FORCES COLLEGE – COLLÈGE DES FORCES CANADIENNES JCSP 39 – PCEMI 39 2012 – 2013 MASTER OF DEFENCE STUDIES – MAÎTRISE EN ÉTUDES DE LA DÉFENSE A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CF COMMAND AND CONTROL OPERATING CONCEPT By Lieutenant-Commander M.W. Stefanson Par le capitaine de corvette M.W. Stefanson “This paper was written by a student “La présente étude a été rédigée par attending the Canadian Forces College un stagiaire du Collège des Forces in fulfilment of one of the requirements canadiennes pour satisfaire à l'une des of the Course of Studies. The paper is exigences du cours. L'étude est un a scholastic document, and thus document qui se rapporte au cours et contains facts and opinions, which the contient donc des faits et des opinions author alone considered appropriate que seul l'auteur considère appropriés and correct for the subject. -
All but War Is Simulation: the Military Entertainment Complex
1 THEATERS OF WAR: THE MILITARY-ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX Tim Lenoir and Henry Lowood Stanford University To appear in Jan Lazardzig, Helmar Schramm, Ludger Schwarte, eds., Kunstkammer, Laboratorium, Bühne--Schauplätze des Wissens im 17. Jahrhundert/ Collection, Laboratory, Theater, Berlin; Walter de Gruyter Publishers, 2003 in both German and in English War games are simulations combining game, experiment and performance. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been the primary proponent of war game design since the 1950s. Yet, commercial game designers produced many of the ideas shaping the design of military simulations, both before and after the advent of computer-based games. By the 1980s, the seeds of a deeper collaboration among military, commercial designers, the entertainment industry, and academic researchers in the development of high-end computer simulations for military training had been planted. They built “distributed interactive simulations” (DIS) such as SIMNET that created virtual theaters of war by linking participants interacting with distributed software or hardware simulators in real time. The simulators themselves presented synthetic environments—virtual worlds—by utilizing advances in computer graphics and virtual reality research. With the rapid development of DIS technology during the 1990s, content and compelling story development became increasingly important. The necessity of realistic scenarios and backstory in military simulations led designers to build databases of historical, geographic and physical data, reconsider the role of synthetic agents in their simulations and consult with game design and entertainment talents for the latest word on narrative and performance. Even when this has not been the intention of their designers and sponsors, military simulations have been deeply embedded in commercial forms of entertainment, for example, by providing content and technology deployed in computer and video games. -
The Warrior and the State in Precolonial Africa Comparative Perspectives
The Warrior and the State in Precolonial Africa Comparative Perspectives G. N. UZOIGWE The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, U.S.A. Introduction PREPARING this chapter was at once intimidating and challenging -in- timidating because I have no models to draw from; and challenging because it needed to be done. More significantly, it needed to be done by an Africanist historian. For the days, alas, are gone when such subjects were comfortably left to the nutty anthropologists while historians in their lonely and crusty arro- gance, exuded effortless superiority in dusty libraries and archives in a vain attempt to discover the &dquo;truth&dquo; about the past. &dquo;Hard history,&dquo; difficult enough as it is, is a much more straightforward and simpler affair than the &dquo;new history&dquo;. As our mentors were taught so did they teach us. The result is that most histori- ans of our generation are not properly equipped with the disciplines of anthro- pology and sociology as well as the other relevant social sciences which are crucial to African historical reconstruction. For a good Africanist, in whatever field, must be a jack-of-all-trades and master of one. The truth is perhaps that few of us are really master of anything at all - whatever we may claim. It is possible that I am really describing myself and no one else. Whatever is the case, I must begin this chapter with an apology relative to whatever weaknesses it may have. At a recent international conference on the military in Africa held in Accra, Ghana,’ a pet idea of mine received unsolicited support, namely, that a military interpretation of African history ought, at least, to be as rewarding as the economic or any other interpretation for that matter. -
Police Militarization in the United States: Reform Traditions and the Fallacy of Expertise
Police Militarization in the United States: reform traditions and the fallacy of expertise Benjamin Krupicka Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science University of California at Berkeley Prepared for: Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting April 2-4, 2015 Any use, reprint or reproduction without the author’s consent is prohibited. Abstract This paper examines the rise of state and local police militarization in American policing through the lens of police reform traditions and their interaction with local police cultures. What an investigation of the progressive, neoliberal and community-oriented reform traditions demonstrate is the gradual, piecemeal embrace of militarized policing approaches, often driven by the top-down implementation of national initiatives targeting drugs trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. Attempts at demilitarization must also reckon with the fallacy of expertise, eschewing reform programs overly reliant on the authority of political and administrative elites in favor of initiatives with street-level support from officers and police organizations. Introduction I suspect that my initial reactions to the events unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri after the tragic shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson last August, were not unique. Like many who observed from afar I was both deeply unsettled by the heavy-handed police response to peaceful public demonstrations in Ferguson, and perhaps because I did not come of age during the civil rights protests, marches and accompanying police brutality of the 1950s and 1960s, I made immediate comparisons to the images of allied forces broadcast by embedded reporters during the American-led invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Observers, whether they received their information via traditional media outlets, social media platforms, or digital livestreams – were shown images of police officers wearing black tactical gear, wielding assault rifles and launching tear gas canisters at crowds, a vision of American policing that seems out of place in most American communities. -
*-*».*.Ue .Nubmal JANUARY 1949 NAVY CONTENTS the UNITED SHIP SERVICES Vol
_^_ i t ~m— / ' -:--•'•--.- ,':.;.-: •'•-!>{,] •' ••:• ;--;V'.';v- ' *-*».*.ue .nuBMAL_ JANUARY 1949 NAVY CONTENTS THE UNITED SHIP SERVICES Vol. 12 JANUARY. 1949 PTY. LTD. EDITORIAL Page Utl.,,.. to the Ed 5 ARTICLES Editorial 10 Sculling Around "G.B." 12 Landfall! Reuben Ranzo 17 PERSONALITIES Roar-Admiral C. T. M. Piiey, C.B.. D.S.O. Cov«t; H.M.S. "Glory" and units of Exerciae Squadron, photographed from H.M.S. 'Ttttttut" entering Sydney Harbour. OVERSEAS NEWS. ALL GLASSES OF SHIP REPAIRS AND FITTINGS "S.M. Herald" Photo. Maritime News of the World M New, of the World'i Navle, UNDERTAKEN Editor: G. H. GILL, 88-102 NORMANBY RD., STH. MELBOURNE. VIC. SPECIAL FEATURES Telephones: MX 5251 (6 lines). Associate Editor: Nautical Question Boi Captain R. C. C. Dunn 22 Captain Seat, Ship, and Sailors Norton 23 W. G. LAWRENCE,. MJ.E. Managing Editor: NAVAL OCCASIONS BARRY E. KEEN. What the Navy is Doing at Sea and Ashore — WEIR Incorporating the "Navy League Jour Squadron Dispositions 34 nal," Official Organ of (he Navy League General 35 of Australia, and "Trie Merchant Navy," Personal Journal of the Merchant Service Guild 37 of Australasia. MAKIM: AI XILIAHIES FICTION for Circulating through the Royal Austra A Memory H.G. 28 lian and New Zealand Navies, the Mer STEAMSHIPS and MOTOItSHIPS chant Service and to the general public. BOOK REVIEWS Published by The Navy League, Royal Exchange Building, 54a Pitt Street, Syd "A Shipbuilder's Yarn" 30 ney, N.S.W. Telephone: BU 5808. "Last Viceroy" Feed Pumps. Feed Heaters. Air Pumps, Cil Fuel Pumps. -
The Professional and Cultural Memory of Horatio Nelson During Britain's
“TRAFALGAR REFOUGHT”: THE PROFESSIONAL AND CULTURAL MEMORY OF HORATIO NELSON DURING BRITAIN’S NAVALIST ERA, 1880-1914 A Thesis by BRADLEY M. CESARIO Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS December 2011 Major Subject: History “TRAFALGAR REFOUGHT”: THE PROFESSIONAL AND CULTURAL MEMORY OF HORATIO NELSON DURING BRITAIN’S NAVALIST ERA, 1880-1914 A Thesis By BRADLEY M. CESARIO Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved by: Chair of Committee, R.J.Q. Adams Committee Members, Adam Seipp James Hannah Head of Department, David Vaught December 2011 Major Subject: History iii ABSTRACT “Trafalgar Refought”: The Professional and Cultural Memory of Horatio Nelson During Britain’s Navalist Era, 1880-1914. (December 2011) Bradley M. Cesario, B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. R.J.Q. Adams Horatio Lord Nelson, Britain’s most famous naval figure, revolutionized what victory meant to the British Royal Navy and the British populace at the turn of the nineteenth century. But his legacy continued after his death in 1805, and a century after his untimely passing Nelson meant as much or more to Britain than he did during his lifetime. This thesis utilizes primary sources from the British Royal Navy and the general British public to explore what the cultural memory of Horatio Nelson’s life and achievements meant to Britain throughout the Edwardian era and to the dawn of the First World War. -
No Secret for Victoria!
wreck rap No Secret for Victoria! What does a fish exporter from Norway, a Chief Information Officer and diving instructor living in the Netherlands, a renowned lawyer based in Cyprus, a Project Manager working in Sweden, and an expat French Technical Diving Instructor have in common? By Cedric Verdier HMS Victoria was one of Apparently nothing—except their Circuit Rebreathers and diving two Victoria-class battle- love for underwater wrecks and according to the principles set ships of the Royal Navy. their desire to explore some of forth in the DIRrebreather diving On 22 June 1893 she collid- the most famous ones all over the standards. By: Cedric Verdier ed with HMS Camperdown world. Spyrou and Verdier had been near Tripoli, Lebanon A few months ago, Per Bjorn discussing diving the HMS Victoria during manoeuvres and quickly sank, taking 358 Rakvag, Pim van der Horst, Spyros since the summer of 2007. The crew with her, including Spyrou, Henrik Enckell and Cedric impressive wreck is quite unusual the commander of the Verdier decided to go on a wreck in the sense that it stands up verti- British Mediterranean Fleet, expedition to Lebanon. The pur- cally rising up from 140m to 77m Vice-Admiral Sir George pose was to explore the HMS with her bow deeply embedded Tryon. She was the first Victoria, a British battleship that in the thick layer of sediment. battleship to be propelled went down in 1893 and now lies Spyrou contacted ambassadors by triple expansion steam a few miles off Tripoli, between and officials from Cyprus and engines and also the first Beirut and the Syrian border, rest- Lebanon to obtain all the neces- Royal Navy ship to be ing at 140m (460ft). -
Statement of Interest: an Abstraction Hierarchy of Battlefield Agents
From: AAAI Technical Report WS-97-08. Compilation copyright © 1997, AAAI (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. An Abstraction Hierarchyof Battlefield Agents J. W. Baxter and R. T. Hepplewhite Defence Evaluation and Research Agency St. AndrewsRoad, Malvern, Worcestershire. WR143PS United Kingdom 0baxter,rth)@signal.dra.hmg.gb Abstract The CommandStructure Weare workingon agents for use within land battlefield simulations to provide automated opposing force for The commandhierarchy used by the agents is shown in trainees. Our systemincorporates a commandhierarchy of Figure 1 and is based upon the military commandstructure. agentswhich make decisions at varyinglevels of abstraction. It serves three main purposes, first by organising agents Weare interested in investigating abstractions of the into groups along the same lines as the military formations decision space for these agents to produce plausible behaviouroperating in real time. they are trying to emulate the chance of getting plausible group behaviour is increased, second it provides a framework to guide the communicationbetween agents and Introduction third it allows the planning of complexgroup orders to be divided up into several smaller problems. To reduce the manpower needed to operate large and complexsimulations there is a need for intelligent agents to populate the simulated battlefield with realistic opposing Military CommandHierarchy and supporting forces. Considerable work has been done on Hish~T Objective Semi-Automatedforces but to produce agents capable of operating unsupervised for long periods of time more flexible approaches to automation are needed. Comnmndm~l Ccmrol Planning within the battlefield domain is an extremely complextask. Most of the variables which characterise the ImeUigence problem (position, time, speed etc.) are continuous and highly dynamic.