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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define War |
A violent struggle between two independent, hostile, and irreconcilable wills each trying to impose itself on the other. |
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Describe the types of friction and their collective impact on the battlefield |
Mental, physical, external, self-induced. Impossible to remove completely. Always has physical and psychological impacts on belligerents. |
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Describe the relationship between uncertainty and risk in war. |
Uncertainty involves the estimation and acceptance of risk. Risk may be related to gain. Weighting a main effort involves accepting prudent risk elsewhere. |
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Describe how chance can be viewed as both a threat and opportunity |
Universal characteristic and source of continuous friction. Chance consists of turns of events that cannot be reasonable foreseen and over which neither side has control. Impartial so can be threat and opportunity. |
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Describe the relationship between complexity/disorder and control |
Disorder and complexity are inherent it all aspects of war. Entropy and the combination of numerous individual parts in a system cause single minded control to be impossible. A commander exerts his will by imposing a general framework and influence flow rather than control. Use disorder as a weapon. Seek to generate it for opponent |
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Describe the dominance of the human dimension in war |
Will never be removed even with tech. B/c war is shaped by human emotions. Human will instilled by leadership is the driving force behind all action in war |
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How is war both timeless and ever changing |
Basic nature is constant. Ways and means are ever evolving. Technology is a main driver of change |
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How must war serve policy |
The means of waging war must be consistent with the ends of policy that conflict seeks to impose. Two methods: Strategy of annihilation or strategy of incapacitation |
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Describe the spectrum of conflict |
Reflects magnitude of violence. Selective: MOOTW, Judicious: General war. Conflicts intensity levels may change over time. |
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Describe the relationship between the three levels of war |
Strategic: Direct focus on policy objectives. National Strategy utilizes all elements of national power. Military strategy focuses on just military means. Operational: Use of tactical results to retain strategic objectives. When, where, under what conditions to engage/not engage. Winning campaigns. Tactical: Concepts to accomplish a specific mission in combat or other mil operation. Art and science of winning battles. Typically not clear delineation between levels |
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Differentiate between attrition and maneuver and describe their relationship |
Attrition: Victory through the cumulative destruction of enemy material assets by superior firepower. Highly technical and focused on proficiency in weapons employment over cunning and creativity. Results proportionate to efforts. More resources more kills. Maneuver: Seeks to circumvent problems and attack from positions of advantage. Attack the system to incapacitate the enemy systemically. Pit strength against weakness. Relies on speed and surprise. Success often disproportionate to effort. All warfare involves a blend of both styles
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Describe how speed, focus, surprise, and boldness contribute to combat power |
Combat power: total destructive force we can bring to bear at a given time. The following factors generate CP. Speed: Rapidity of action. In time (tempo) and space (ability to move rapidly). Speed is a weapon and relative to the enemy. Allows you to dictate the terms of action. Requires a rhythm. Can’t stay fast forever. Focus: Convergence if effects in time and space on some objective. Requires weighting a main effort. Boldness: The characteristic of unhesitatingly exploiting the natural uncertainty of war in pursuit of major not marginal goals. Based on strong SA. Boldness without judgement is recklessness Surprise: A state of disorientation resulting from an unexpected event that degraded the ability to resist. Temporary. Can be achieved by three means: deception, ambiguity, stealth. |
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Define Center of Gravity and Critical Vulnerability and describe their relationship |
CG: Factors critical to the enemy, he cannot do without, if eliminated will bend him to our will. CV: That if exploited will do the most significant damage to the enemy and his ability to resist us. Both exist in systemic terms. CVs are always viewed as a means to attack CGs and defeat the enemy systems ability to resist |
