Mass at the point of decision
Submitted by littlejus on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 20:16.
I'm really interested in this concept touched on briefly by Mark this week.
Anyone know where I can find out more...?
Thanks!
I'm really interested in this concept touched on briefly by Mark this week.
Anyone know where I can find out more...?
Thanks!
Book to consider
The book, _33 Strategies of War_, has several mentions of Napoleonic strategy in offensive campaigns. Others with formal military science training may have a better suggestions.
Force Concentration
Google "Force Concentration".
It was applied first to land combat forces, and also applies to joint operations. There are serious limits to concentration in air operations, but air and artillery allow you to concentrate combat power far beyond what infantry and armor can do. Naval power is also different, in part because naval force is somewhat quantized - it comes in ships, and if you lose ships you lose combat power in big chunks.
The US, and to a lesser extent the Soviet Union, looked for ways to disrupt the effectiveness of force concentration, and arguably had some important successes in strategic warfare. The most controversial tactic was the proposed "dense pack" of Peacekeeper missiles -- a doctrine that relied on "fratricide" of attacking nuclear weapons to assure that at least some of the launch vehicles survived a Soviet first strike. Fortunately, the doctrine was never tested.
I think Mark's point was probably that you concentrate your resources on what matters. Don't put your time and energy into less-important objectives when The Big Problem needs to be addressed. Attack the most important problem with your own best efforts, and with the best efforts of your best people. This is most important when solving the existential problems. Don't redesign the TPS report cover page when what you really need to do is find some cost cutting measures, because if you don't cut costs you're out of business. Do the things that matter to success.
md-144