Sound Military Decision Part 2

The effective conduct of war thus requires that understanding exist (see pages 9 and 10) between the civil representatives of the State and the leaders of the armed forces in the coordination of policy with the preparation and the use of power to enforce it. Of the leaders of the armed forces, as a whole or in combinations, such conduct of war demands the expression of the highest of human qualities, coupled with intimate knowledge of fundamentals, an appreciation of the capacities and limitations of the technique, and the ability to fit the practical details into the general plan in their true relation thereto.

The need for these qualities is manifestly not restricted to the hour of supreme test, when the weapon of the State, the armed forces, is wielded with hostile purpose. The forging of the weapon, and its adequate preparation for use, are not matters susceptible of deferment until the crucial hour. The exacting requirements of war are essentially such as to preclude the readiness of the requisite intricate instrument and its skillful use without previous studied effort during peace.

It follows that where the peacetime effort of the armed forces is directed toward the attainment of a war time objective of a specific, rather than of a vaguely general character, and the necessary components of fighting strength are provided accordingly, the readiness of the instrument is more likely to be adequate, and the application of power more likely to be successful. History records, as facts, that certain States have given their armed forces great stimulus by early clear definition of policy while, in other cases, failures and disappointments have resulted from a lack thereof.

Military problems are not confined to those presented after war is begun.

Mental power (see pages 8 and 9), which includes the ability to solve military problems in peace and in war and to arrive at sound decisions, is a recognized essential component of fighting strength because it is the source of professional judgment. The development of such ability in those who may be charged with the successful conduct of war (page 4) may not safely be postponed.

CHAPTER II

MENTAL PROCESSES AND HUMAN TENDENCIES

The discussion in Chapter II deals, first, with the natural mental processes employed by the normal mature human being before taking deliberate action.

With the necessity for logical thought thus established, there arises a need for valid statements of cause and effect, i.e., of relationships resulting from the operation of natural laws, for use as reliable rules of action. The discussion of this subject explains the dangers inherent in the use of faulty rules, emphasizes the role played by the various factors applicable in particular cases, and describes the method of formulating reliable rules, i.e., principles.

All living beings and their surroundings are understood, on the basis of informed authority, to be governed in their characteristic activities by natural law (page 11). The natural forces inherent in living things and in their environment are continually reacting upon each other, either maintaining the existing condition or creating a new one, each of which is a situation or state of affairs. There is thus always a relationship (page 3) existing between such natural forces and the resultant condition which they produce. The natural forces are causes; the resultant conditions are effects.

It is a recognized natural phenomenon that every effect is the result of a certain cause, or of a combination of causes, and that each effect is itself, in turn, the cause of additional effects. Action and reaction are the basis of natural law. Cause and effect, the latter being the cause of further effects, follow each other in ceaseless succession in the world of human affairs.

Except by putting proper natural causes into action, it is impossible to produce the effect desired. It follows that specific knowledge of causes is necessary for the planned production of specific effects.

Toward the acc.u.mulation of such knowledge the methods of science (pages 1 and 2) are constantly directed.

The uncertainties of war are largely the outgrowth of the fact that the minds of men are pitted against one other. Because of this, a knowledge of the manner in which the human mind seeks its way out of difficulties is a great military a.s.set. Consideration is next given, therefore, to the natural mental processes employed (page 11) and to certain human tendencies which have been known to militate against their successful employment.

The mental processes employed by the normal mature human being before taking deliberate action, or in making studied provision for possible future action, are natural procedures, in that they employ the intellectual powers bestowed by nature, without artificial modification or embellishment.

When the individual concerned has a background of adequate knowledge and experience, his ability to solve problems is limited only by his native intellectual endowment. That he falls short does not necessarily indicate, however, that the limit of native endowment has been reached. It happens frequently that latent powers have not been cultivated, or have not been utilized.

A problem is, by definition, a perplexing question. In any human activity, a problem appears when a perplexity arises as to a way out of a difficulty inherent in a situation. The question involved then is, what is a way, more especially the best way, out of the seeming difficulty?

To determine the best way out of the difficulty, i.e., the best solution of the problem, involves:

(1) The establishment of the proper basis for the solution of the problem,

(2) The actual solution of the problem through the employment of the reasoning power in the consideration of various possible solutions and the selection of the best solution, and

(3) The conclusion, i.e., the decision, embodying the best solution.

Considered in greater detail, the process has its inception in a combination of circ.u.mstances, existent or a.s.sumed, which, const.i.tutes a situation. No problem will result however, unless the situation involves an apparent difficulty. Even in such a case, a problem will result only if such involvement exists and gives rise to a perplexity as to a way, more especially as to the best way, out of the seeming difficulty.

The problem will require solution only when accompanied by an incentive which demands a changed situation or resistance against a threatened change. A recognition of the incentive thus necessarily involves realization of a desire or need to maintain the existing situation or to change it into a new one.

Such realization may come on the initiative of the person confronted with the situation, or because he has received instructions from someone in authority. In either case, the effect so indicated is the outcome of a desire for change or for resisting change, and may therefore be regarded properly as an effect desired (page 19).

As so far outlined, therefore, the establishment of the correct basis for the solution of the problem involves (1) a grasp of the salient features of the situation, (2) a recognition of the incentive, and (3) an appreciation of the effect desired.

The "appropriate" effect desired will necessarily be suitable to the further effects (page 19) which are inherent in the situation. An effect to be attained is accepted as appropriate when, after due examination, its relationship with the further effects involved, in all their pertinent implications, has been found to be in accordance with the dictates of sound judgment.

The establishment of the basis for the solution of the problem will also require an understanding of the resources involved, as influenced by the conditions obtaining, for the maintenance of the existing situation or for the creation of a new one.

The resources available, as influenced by the conditions obtaining, are correctly considered on a relative basis as compared to those of any persons who may oppose the effort.

With the basis for the solution of the problem established in this manner, the actual solution involves the consideration of one or more plans, i.e., proposed methods of procedure, and the selection of the one considered to be the best.

The person concerned, taking cognizance of the present condition, i.e., the existing situation, first considers whether this situation, if maintained, will be suitable to the appropriate effect desired.

Then, unless satisfied that he desires no change, he creates one or more images of future conditions, i.e., mental pictures of new situations, which will also be suitable to this end. The maintenance of the existing situation, or the creation of a new one, will in each case involve a plan.

Necessarily, each such plan includes provision for (1) an effect to be produced by the person solving the problem, which effect will be the maintenance of the existing situation or the creation of a new one as visualized by himself, and (2) the action required to produce this effect and so to attain the appropriate effect desired, already established as an essential part of the basis of his problem.

After systematic examination of such plans, those retained for further consideration can be subjected to a comparison as to their relative merits.

The best plan, selected accordingly, is then incorporated into a decision as to the procedure to be adopted.

This decision is then available as a general plan, or may be developed into one, to serve as a basis if necessary for a more detailed plan for the attainment of the appropriate effect desired.

Later development, herein, of the details of this procedure will disclose many ramifications. The treatment, so far, points to the fact that the best method of reaching sound decision is through systematic thought which employs logic, i.e., sound reasoning, as its machinery.

The Necessity for Logical Thought. Logical thought separates the rational from the irrational. Its use avoids the wastefulness of the trial-and-error method. By its insistent employment, dormant powers of reasoning are awakened, and the danger that attends instinctive, spontaneous, impulsive, or emotional acceptance of conclusions (page 9) is lessened. The evil effects of an inclination to dodge the issue or of a disinclination to face the facts are thus also avoided. The fallacy of employing the reasoning power to justify conclusions already reached, whether on the basis of tradition or habit, or because of the bias or bent of a school of thought, or because of the tendency of human nature to accept plausible suggestions, is also made apparent. Through the deliberate practice of testing and weighing, the faculty of arriving swiftly at accurate decisions is strengthened and is brought more quickly into play when time is a matter of immediate concern.

Principles in their Relation to Logical Thought. Because of the necessity for the exercise of judgment (page 3) in the systematic arrangement of thought, the relationship between cause and effect, as expressed in principles, is of great a.s.sistance in applying logical processes to the problems of human life.

A principle establishes a correct relation between cause and effect.

The word, derived from the Latin "principium", meaning a foundation, beginning, source, origin, or cause, has, because a cause implies an effect, acquired in correct usage the significance of a true statement of relationship between cause and effect. A principle, so formulated, is a natural law (page 19) because it expresses a fact of nature; it thus becomes a reliable rule of action and may be confidently adopted as a governing law of conduct. If basic in its field, such a rule or law becomes a general or fundamental principle with respect thereto; each such basic truth may be the basis for the determination of many corollary or subordinate principles dealing with the details of the particular subject.

The formulation of a principle, therefore, requires the determination of the causes that generate a particular effect (or effects), and the accurate expression of the resultant relationship. Such expression frequently takes the form of a proportion. In the mathematical sciences the proportion may represent a precise balance; its statement may be an exact formula. In other sciences, a definite relationship between cause and effect has likewise been established in many cases, though not always with mathematical precision. Comparable exact.i.tude has not been attained, in some cases, because the field has not been so thoroughly explored; moreover, greater difficulty is experienced, at times, in isolating the cause, or causes. The balance represented by such equations, therefore, is based on quant.i.ties whose weights vary within wide ranges. (See page 3.)

Human conduct does not lend itself to a.n.a.lysis as readily as do mathematical and physical phenomena. The advance in the psychological and sociological sciences is not so marked as in the physical, and the actions and reactions of the mind of man have not yet proved to be susceptible of reduction to exact formulae. Nevertheless, man, in his intuitive search for valid guides for his own action, has been able, with the advance of time, greatly to improve his own lot through the medium of the scientific approach to human problems.

The insistent search of the human mind for reliable rules of action is a recognized natural phenomenon. As understood on the basis of expert investigation of the subject, this trait results from the recognition, conscious or otherwise, by countless generations of mankind, of the relationships between cause and effect as evidenced in the workings of the laws of nature (page 22). A logical outcome, therefore, of experience, this instinctive demand of the mind const.i.tutes a force which defies opposition. Properly utilized, this force affords a powerful and natural aid in the solution of problems.

Inasmuch as a valid rule, or principle, is of great a.s.sistance in arriving at sound decisions and in formulating effective plans (see page 22), this demand for reliable guides is logical, as well as natural. In any event, the demand for such guidance, if not met by provision for reliable rules of action, may result in the adoption of faulty rules, with frequent unfortunate consequences.

The formulation of principles, already referred to in this connection, const.i.tutes in itself a recognized problem (see also page 27) of great difficulty; for it is a human failing to avoid the mental effort involved in thinking through such a problem, and to rely on rules whose plausibility and seeming simplicity are frequently a measure of their incompleteness and inaccuracy.

Since the earliest days, man has attempted to formulate the relationships between causes and effects without, however, always possessing the specific knowledge essential to accuracy. Pithy statements have always had great appeal to man, as evidenced by the existence of proverbs, maxims, and adages preserved from times of great antiquity. Frequently, however, such statements are not expressive of the truth. Sometimes, again, they state facts, without, nevertheless, expressing the whole truth.

Only when the relationship between cause and effect has been demonstrated to be always true can the trained, inquiring mind receive its statement as a valid guide, acceptable as a principle in the light of the knowledge of the day.

To rely upon rules of action which do not express the whole truth is to court the danger of encountering exceptions which may entail serious consequences. The value of those rules known to be inexpressive of the whole truth lies in the fact that they may invite attention to circ.u.mstances which are sometimes encountered, or may suggest methods of action which are sometimes appropriate. Danger lies in the fact that such rules may fail to give proper emphasis to other circ.u.mstances or other methods which are encountered or are more appropriate in other cases.

Such a rule may fail to consider the entire problem. Its use, therefore, implies the necessity of recognizing cases to which it is not applicable. This may frequently be difficult in the active operations of war, when nervous strain and the urgency of events are handicaps to quick and accurate thinking (see page 22).

To express the whole truth, a rule of action calls to attention all circ.u.mstances, or causes, which may ever influence the result. The saying that "the exception proves the rule" is properly interpreted only in the older sense that an exception "tests" the rule, indicating by the mere fact of exception that the rule is to such extent incomplete.