ISSUE 127 MARCH 2008 Sun Tzu’s ‘TheArt of War’: Its Relevance to Contemporary Maritime Strategy ADM Raymond Spruance, USN & his Leadership Skills during the Pacific War Whales & Active Sonar – Challenges & Opportunities Images from Euripides JOURNAL OF THE Welcome to the future of naval maintenance Photos courtesy KBR's capabilities include ILS planning at of Defence the conceptual stage of a project Applying commercial best practice to sustain complex maritime platforms and systems Jointly providing integrated materiel services to the RAN’s amphibious and afloat support ships Contact Email: [email protected] Phone: 1800 194 866 K0709 09/07 Welcome to the future of naval maintenance Photos courtesy KBR's capabilities include ILS planning at of Defence the conceptual stage of a project Applying commercial best practice to sustain complex maritime platforms and systems Jointly providing integrated materiel services to the RAN’s amphibious and afloat support ships Contact Email: [email protected] Phone: 1800 194 866 K0709 09/07 3 President’s Message Contents y first purpose is to extend an Headmark, our office costs, staging the annual Minvitation to attend the Australian Vernon Parker Oration and so on. Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’: 4 Naval Institute’s Annual General Meeting in We also have agreed that the ‘reserve’ of Its Relevance to Contemporary the Military Theatre of the Australian Defence equity of the Institute should, as a principle, Maritime Strategy Force Academy at 1730 on Thursday 13 equate to two years’ expenditure and that, as Front page March. we increase our activities, we should do so in photograph: Only partly as an inducement for you such a way that our new calls on resources Admiral Raymond Spruance, 10 The crew of Collins to join us, the meeting will be followed, by do not prevent the accompanying increase USN and his Leadership Skills Class Submarine, kind permission of the Commandant and in equity. The Council is of the view that during the Pacific War HMAS Collins the President of the Mess Committee, by an this principle should prevent a return to our conduct abandon ANI Reception at the ADFA Officers’ Mess parlous financial situation of 2000-2001. I ship drills alongside at 1830. Apart from allowing members to should add that, at our current – but only our President’s Message Continued… 13 Fleet Base West. socialise, we also intend this as a recruiting current – activity level, we are very close to measure – please feel free to bring a potential achieving a two year reserve. ANI member as a guest. PLEASE PUT THIS The second requirement is therefore that The Ship’s Command Team 15 IN YOUR DIARY NOW!! the membership fees need to be increased to & Network Centric Warfare If you are able to join us for the AGM and/ achieve the appropriate balance. I attach a table or the start of year Reception, I would be very of proposed fees. Several points may be made. grateful if you could let my office know, via The first is that this is the first increase in fees Royal Australian Navy Pilot Training 23 Lieutenant Commander Aaron Nye or Cynthia in seven years and will move the individual & Aerial Hydrographic Surveying Kelly, on (02) 6275 6191, email Cynthia.Kelly@ membership fee from $45 to $60. The second, in the 1920s customs.gov.au and this is associated with our next area for The AGM will have some important improvement, is that we are providing for decisions to make and I think it vital that you a junior membership fee, not only for full Whales and Active Sonar 28 have the opportunity to consider their rationale time students, but for persons of the rank – Challenges & Opportunities before we bring any proposal to the floor. of Lieutenant or below, of $40 (less than the The ANI Council have had the opportunity current individual fee). We are also providing to consider our progress in relation to the for a reduced fee to members who are fully Images from Euripides 32 Strategic Plan which we adopted in 2005. I can retired from the work force. I should add that report that we believe that we have achieved we are providing for multi-year membership RADM Bill Dovers Obituary 36 some success, but that we think we need to do for both categories and will have no concerns much better in three key areas, closely related. if a member should change status during The first, while we have considerably that period. On the other hand, we will be Australia’s Secret War 38 improved our equity very largely due to a happy to consider a return of fees if a member – Ship Repairs generous program of sponsorship, is that the retires while holding a standard multi-year long term well being of the ANI demands a membership. better balance between the financial support These fee increases will not themselves be Visions from the Vault 43 provided by our membership and that enough to support our equity requirements. provided by our sponsorship program. The For its own sake, also, our third area of Council have adopted as a principle that the development needs to be an increase in Book Reviews 44 membership fees should be able to cover the individual membership. It stands currently basic annual commitments of the Institute at just over 300. The Council has set a target which we do not regard as discretionary and of 200 additional members over the next five Style Notes for Headmark 47 which we regard as central to its continued years – requiring a net increase of 40 members existence. This would include, for example, a year. ANI Events Program 48 the production and distribution costs of President’s Message continued on page 13> Issue Number 127 ANI Online Guide 49 Printed by Everbest JACOBS AUSTRALIA Printing Company ATI KBR AUSTAL LOPAC Australian Naval Institute Info 50 ISSN 1833-6531 AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE CREDIT UNION P & O BOOZ ALLEN & HAMILTON FRIEND RAYTHEON AUSTRALIA Design & DTP: ANI Membership Application Form 51 Diane Bricknell EDS SAAB [email protected] Journal of the Australian Naval Institute 4 Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’: Its Relevance to Contemporary Maritime Strategy BC Y OMMANDER M A RAZZAK Sun Tzu (535 BC), a General under the experience relevant to contemporary objectives with the means to achieve Emperor He Lu of Wu State in China, maritime strategy, let alone naval such objectives in peace and in war.”5 wrote The Art of War in 490 BC. This strategy? A sceptical view tends to According to the Dictionary of Military legendary work first became known to simmer as little reference of Sun Tzu and Associated Terms (US Department the Western part of the world through is found in the studies of maritime of Defense 1987) strategy is “the art its translation into French in 1782 AD. strategy. In fact, Clausewitz is much and science of developing and using Since then, The Art of War has been in referred in analysing the views of political, economic, psychological, and print in different languages around the maritime strategists. For example, military forces as necessary during world and studied beyond militaries to while evaluating Mahan’s maritime peace and war, to afford the maximum the political, diplomatic, business and strategic thoughts, Geoffrey Till wrote, support to policies, in order to increase intellectual circles. Sun Tzu’s views are “Essentially, Mahan built strategically the probabilities and favourable debated, researched and applied in war. on existing ideas about maritime consequences of victory and to lessen “There is a legend that this little book activities, which were, as we have seen, the chances of defeat.”6 Liddell Hart was Napoleon’s key to success and his largely tactical in their approach, and defines strategy “as the art of allocating secret weapon …. Certainly Napoleon made some attempt to situate naval and employing military means in used all of Sun Tzu to his own thinking in broader context of the such a way that the ends of policy are advantage to conquer most of Europe. strategic thinking represented by the achieved.”7 According to Encyclopaedia It was only when he failed to follow likes of Clausewtiz and Jomini.”4 Any Britannica, “Strategy, in warfare, the Sun Tzu’s rules that he was defeated.”1 way, examinations of strategic visions science or art of employing all the James Clavell was moved so much by and historical events in light of Sun military, economic, political and other the inner thoughts of the book that Tzu’s philosophy keeping in mind the resources of a nation to achieve the he stated, “I truly believe that if our thoughts of maritime strategists can objects of war.”8 military and political leaders in recent help to find an answer to the question. Warfare, Sun Tzu described as ‘art’. times had studied this work of genius, With this short introduction this Clausewitz described, “… the art Vietnam could not have happened as essay aims to examine the relevance of war is the art of using the given it happened; we would not have lost of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to means in combat; there is no better the war in Korea (we lost because we contemporary maritime strategy. The term for it than the conduct of war.”9 did not achieve victory); …. and, in all effort begins with attempts to develop “The art is applied drawing on probability, World Wars I and II would a relational concept between strategy science, which is to say drawing on have been avoided – certainly they and philosophy. Then it ascertains knowledge.”10 Knowledge increases would not have been waged as they relational dynamism between the through education.