Sound Military Decision Part 4

The Fundamental Principle for the Attainment of an End. Here, then, are the broad fundamental considerations which affect the solution of every human problem. In a narrower field, the considerations may fall within more specific limits, but a principle sufficiently broad to be applicable to all cases appears to comprehend those inclusive factors mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

A review of these paragraphs will disclose that the factors pertaining to the several requirements may be so grouped as to const.i.tute a single fundamental principle governing the attainment of an end in human affairs,--as follows:

In any human activity, the attainment of a correct end in view depends on fulfillment of the requirements of

Suitability of the end in view, as determined by the factor of the appropriate effect desired,

Feasibility of the effort required, on the basis of comparative resources, as determined by the means available and opposed, influenced by the factor of the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action, and

Acceptability of the results of the effort involved, as determined by the factor of the consequences as to costs,

which factors are in turn dependent on each other.

The Interdependency of the Factors. As previously observed (page 28), the factors cited in the foregoing principle are themselves interdependent. This fact results from working of natural law (page 22), for it is a recognized phenomenon that every effect is the result of certain causes, and that every effect is itself, in turn, the cause of further effects (page 19).

Accordingly, when the evaluation of any factor is under consideration, its value as an unknown quant.i.ty can be determined to the extent that the values of the other pertinent factors are known. (See page 23, as to the discussion of the quant.i.ties in an equation.) The significance of each, in any situation, is therefore determined by the influence of the other factors. The relations.h.i.+ps existing among them can best be expressed in the terms of four corollary principles (page 27), next to be discussed.

For example, questions frequently arise as to what is the appropriate effect to be desired in a particular situation. Whether a desired effect is feasible of attainment, and whether certain consequences, though undesirable, will be acceptable, in view of the gains, can be determined by evaluation of the means available and opposed, influenced by the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action, and of the consequences as to costs. If a desired effect is thereby found to be not feasible of attainment, or to be unacceptable as to consequences, deferment of such effort is indicated. A proper solution in such case would adopt some lesser effect, in conformity with the further aim, feasible of accomplishment, and acceptable as to its consequences.

If (with respect to the further aim, mentioned above) the person concerned is acting under the instructions of another, there will frequently be injected into the equation, in addition to the factors already noted, a further effect desired, indicated by higher authority. Such an indication will often operate to narrow the limits of the problem. This is true even if the person concerned is acting wholly on his own initiative and responsibility (pages 29-30).

These considerations lead to the formulation of what may be called the corollary principle for determination of the appropriate effect to be desired in human affairs,--as follows:

In any human activity, the appropriate effect to be desired (i.e., an end in view, a result to be accomplished) depends on fulfillment of the requirements of

Suitability of the end in view, as determined by the factor of the further effect desired (if such further effect is indicated),

Feasibility of the effort to attain the end in view, on the basis of comparative resources, as determined by the factors of the means available and opposed, influenced by the factor of the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action, and

Acceptability of the results of the effort involved, as determined by the factor of the consequences as to costs.

If, to take a further example, the known factors include the appropriate effect desired, the means opposed, the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action, and the consequences as to costs, the only unknown remains the means available. The question then is, what means need be made available for the accomplishment of the contemplated effort? The answer to this question may be found in the application of what may be called the principle for the determination of the proper means to be made available in human affairs,--as follows:

In any human activity, the proper means to be made available depend on fulfillment of the requirements of

Suitability of the means (in kind and amount) to accomplish the end in view, as determined by the factor of the appropriate effect desired,

Feasibility of the effort to make such means available on the basis of comparative resources as determined by the factor of the means opposed, influenced by the factor of the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action, and

Acceptability of the results of the effort involved, as determined by the factor of the consequences as to costs.

The influence of physical conditions in the field of action may be ill.u.s.trated by any case where ends otherwise feasible of attainment cannot be achieved without effecting changes in such conditions. The resolution of the uncertainty then requires study to determine what suitable changes can be made. Changes for such a purpose may take various forms, such as the construction of physical features in the area involved, or the destruction of such features already existing; or, again, both methods may be employed. Examples of such changes have existed and still exist in profusion, some of them, military and non-military, being on such a scale as radically to alter the previous status with respect to entire nations. The question as to what changes ought to be effected in the prevailing physical conditions, in order to attain a certain objective, can be answered by the application of what may be called the principle for the determination of the proper physical conditions to be established in the field of action,--as follows:

In any human activity, the proper physical conditions to be established in the field of action depend on fulfillment of the requirements of

Suitability of such conditions to the end in view, as determined by the factor of the appropriate effect desired,

Feasibility of effort to establish such conditions, on the basis of comparative resources, as determined by the factors of the means available and opposed, influenced by the factor of the physical conditions existing in the field of action, and

Acceptability of the results of the effort involved, as determined by the factor of the consequences as to costs.

The factor of consequences as to costs also calls for special notice.

The influence of this factor frequently justifies abandonment of suitable ends in view, even though their attainment has been determined to be feasible, because the loss involved would out-weigh the gain. Immediate success may be attained at such cost as to prevent the attainment of larger ends (see the discussion, pages 9 and 10, of the relations.h.i.+p of strategy and tactics).

On the other hand, the circ.u.mstances of the case may well justify loss, however great, because the alternative is unacceptable, even though the consequences involve complete destruction. Moreover, the need for swift and aggressive action in many activities (notably in war), for resolute prosecution of the plan, for timely seizure of opportunity, and for acceptance of justified risks, requires that consideration of consequences as to costs never be emphasized beyond its proper weight. To determine such proper weight calls, frequently, for judgment of the highest order, and is, in the military profession, a direct responsibility of command. This responsibility can be discharged by the application of what may be called the corollary principle for the determination of acceptable consequences as to costs,--as follows:

In any human activity, the acceptable consequences as to costs depend on fulfillment of the requirements of

Suitability of the end in view, as determined by the factor of the appropriate effect desired, and

Feasibility of the effort to attain the end in view, on the basis of comparative resources, as determined by the factors of the means available and opposed, influenced by the factor of the physical conditions prevailing in the field of action.

Special Nature of War as a Human Activity. A principle found, by careful a.n.a.lysis, to be governing as to human activities of any nature, is also applicable to the problems of war. This is true because war is a human activity, differing from other human activities only in the specialized character of the factors that enter.

The effect desired in war has a character distinctly military and, ultimately, through the reestablishment of a favorable peace, a political character (see pages 7-9).

The means available (or opposed) in war are the human and material components of fighting strength (page 8). The physical conditions prevailing in the field of action are, in war, the characteristics of the theater of operations. Fighting strength is thus derived from the means available (or opposed) in war, as influenced by the characteristics of the theater. Relative fighting strength (comparative resources in war) involves a comparison of means available with means opposed, due account being taken of the influence exerted on both by the characteristics of the theater. In war, relatively large ma.s.ses of human beings oppose each other with hostile intent, while the means available and opposed, and the physical conditions established by the operations of war in the theater of action, tend more and more to acquire a highly specialized character.

The consequences as to costs, in war, also a.s.sume a special significance, inasmuch as they may materially influence the development of entire nations or of the world situation.

Factors as Universal Determinants in War. Tabulated for convenient reference and expressed in terms in general use in the military profession, the factors governing the attainment of an end in war are therefore:

(a) The Nature of the appropriate Effect Desired, (b) The Means Available and Opposed, (c) The Characteristics of the Theater of Operations, and (d) The Consequences as to Costs.

These factors, thus expressed in abstract form, are the universal determinants of the nature of the objective and of the character of the action to attain it. Their further resolution into factors of more concrete form is indicated hereinafter (see Chapter VI, in the discussion of Section II of the Estimate Form).

The Objective in War. The objective (page 3), a term long in use in the military profession in connection with the "objective point", has acquired by extension the significance of something more than the physical object of action. The latter, as explained later (page 37), is properly denominated the "physical objective".

In the abstract, an "objective", in present general usage as well as in the military vocabulary, is an end toward which action is being directed, or is to be directed; in brief, an end in view, a result to be attained, an effect desired (pages 19 and 30). An objective is an effect to be produced for the attainment of a further objective, itself a further effect. As already demonstrated (page 30 and following), the attainment of an end, in any human activity, requires action to maintain the existing situation or to create a new one.

Therefore, in war, a special form of human activity, the attainment of an objective requires that action be actual imposition of an outside agency. The attainment of a correct military objective (discussed in detail in Chapter IV) requires, accordingly, the creation or maintenance of a favorable military situation.

An objective, in the sense of an end in view, a result to be accomplished, is manifestly an objective in mind. As already indicated (page 36), however, military usage also a.s.signs to the term "objective" an additional meaning, a meaning exclusively concrete.

Results in war are attained through the actual or threatened use of physical force (pages 8 and 9) directed with relation to something tangible, such as, for example, some physical element of the enemy's strength.

Action as to this tangible feature (e.g., if it is destroyed, occupied, neutralized, or otherwise dealt with) will result in, or further the attainment of, an effect desired. Thus the physical objective occupies a sharply defined position in warfare, in that it establishes the physical basis of the objective and indicates the geographical direction of the effort. Since the physical objective is always an object--be it only a geographical point--, it is more than a mental concept; it is an objective in s.p.a.ce.

For example, the objective being "the destruction of the enemy battles.h.i.+p", the physical objective is the enemy battles.h.i.+p.

As used herein the expression "the objective" or "the military objective" (page 55), when unqualified, ordinarily indicates the mental objective. The term is properly applicable to a physical objective when the context makes the meaning clear. Ordinarily, and always when clarity demands, a tangible focus of effort is herein denoted a "physical objective".

Military Operations. Appropriate action to create or maintain a situation will take the form of a military operation. An operation, in the basic sense, is merely an act, or a series of acts. The word is derived from the Latin opus, meaning "work". A military operation is therefore an act, or a series of included acts (i.e., work), of a military character. A military operation may consist of an entire campaign, or even of several such, const.i.tuting a clearly defined major stage in a war; or such an operation may consist of portions thereof. The term is also applied, properly, to entire series of acts on the part of successive commands, from the higher to the lower echelons, to and including distinctive military actions which relate to the merest routine.