Sound Military Decision Part 8

After the suitability of a physical objective has been established, as well as the feasibility of the contemplated action with relation thereto, such action is next considered from the standpoint of acceptability with reference to the consequences as to costs. The specific factors involved in acceptability as to consequences have previously been mentioned (page 31).

When the requirements of suitability, feasibility, and acceptability have been satisfied, the locality, the opposing force, or other subject of consideration may be regarded as a correct physical objective.

When more than one correct physical objective has been determined and a choice is indicated, such selection will also be founded on the foregoing requirements.

No doctrine, no advance instructions, can replace the responsible judgment of a commander as to his correct physical objectives. On occasion, higher authority may request recommendations (see page 42, as to opinions) with respect to such objectives. The duty of a commander to depart from his instructions under certain conditions, and the grave responsibility which he thereby a.s.sumes, have also been referred to (page 16).

Relative Positions

Fundamental Considerations. The relative positions occupied or susceptible of occupancy by armed forces are matters which demand constant and intelligent attention before and during hostilities.

Being fruitful sources of advantage or disadvantage, such relative positions a.s.sume primary importance where enemy forces are concerned, and are scarcely of less importance from the standpoint of the correct apportionment of the subdivisions of one's own forces, and from the viewpoint of their freedom of action.

During periods of actual tactical contact, the successful delivery of the decisive thrust against selected physical objectives is greatly furthered by the occupancy and maintenance of advantageous relative positions.

The fundamental significance of relative position lies in the fact that position is the basis of movement, for movement is merely a change of position. Speed is the rate at which movement takes place.

The particular factors to be reckoned with are, therefore, time and s.p.a.ce. In skillful utilization of these elements lies the successful employment of relative position in the creation or maintenance of a favorable military situation, whether the movement be by land, sea, or air (page 46).

The necessity for movement may be an important consideration in determining possible or likely theaters of operations. Where transportation between two or more positions within a certain area is essential to the successful conduct of a war, the area which includes the routes between these positions, or a portion of such routes, becomes at once a possible or likely theater. Such an area may be normally within the control of one or the other of the belligerents, or the control may be in dispute. Certain of the positions themselves may belong to neither of the belligerents. The area itself may be a land area, or a sea area, or a combination of the two. It may be an area which borders upon the sea, or an island area. In any case, the air is a common characteristic.

The movement of a force is properly regarded, not as an even flow, but as a series of steps from one position to another. The movement may or may not be continuous. Pauses are usual, their occurrence and duration being a matter dependent upon circ.u.mstances and calling for the exercise of sound professional judgment. Intermediate positions may be utilized, successively, so as to facilitate occupancy of the final position which is the goal of that phase of operations (page 56). This procedure often effects an ultimate saving of time. In many cases, other advantages also may accrue.

The foregoing considerations are applicable to changes of position whether in the direction of the enemy, toward a flank, or to the rear.

Flanking maneuvers and retrograde movements, both sometimes profitably employed to decoy the enemy, may frequently be utilized to gain advantageous relative position. The proper objective of each is the maintenance of a favorable situation, or the alteration of an unfavorable one, either locally or with reference to the larger phases of operations, through measures involving apportionment of fighting strength, or obtaining advantages of position, or retaining or gaining freedom of action. Combinations of forward, flanking, or retrograde movements are frequent in war, the skillful combination of the offensive and the defensive (see page 75) being no less applicable to the problem of relative position than to the other elements of a favorable military operation.

Procedure for Determination and Selection of Advantageous Relative Positions. Since the various positions to be occupied become physical objectives for the time being, their proper determination and selection are governed by the same considerations which apply to physical objectives (see page 55 and following).

Thus, it becomes necessary to consider, first, as to suitability, whether the position, once gained, will permit the attainment of the appropriate effect desired.

Secondly, consideration is required as to feasibility. Are the available means adequate to gain or to maintain such position? In answering this question, due regard is paid to opposing means and to the characteristics of the theater.

Finally, there is to be considered, as to acceptability, whether the consequences as to costs, in terms of relative fighting strength, will be such, if the position is gained or maintained, as to permit the attainment of the objective. The possible effect of these consequences on future action, whether the attempt succeeds or fails, may be vitally significant.

With regard to suitability, the factor of the appropriate effect desired calls for special consideration of the requirements with a view to future action. This is true because of the relationship which naturally exists between successive positions (page 60) if changes of location from one to another are to be integrated into movement calculated to accomplish the effect desired. Each position, itself for the time being a physical objective, offers certain advantages or involves certain disadvantages with relation to a further physical objective. The position of the latter, in turn, presents possibilities (or denies them) with respect to future movement. The influence of considerations with respect to time (in addition to those noted above with regard to s.p.a.ce) is also a factor whose importance increases when urgency is a matter of immediate concern.

With regard to feasibility, the technical capabilities and limitations of the armed forces (page 67) are, of course, among the princ.i.p.al factors. These capabilities and limitations are respectively promoted and imposed primarily by considerations peculiar to the particular medium of movement involved.

With specific regard to the areas within which military operations may suitably be undertaken, the fundamental distinctions created by recognized political sovereignty require attention. That part of the surface of the earth which comprises its land area is recognized as the property or the charge of one or another of the sovereign states, although in certain cases the t.i.tle may be in dispute. The air above a nation's territorial domain is generally understood to be part of that domain. The point to be observed is that there are no land areas which belong equally to all nations. Accordingly; because of the factor of neutral sovereignty, both land and air forces of belligerent States may be under the necessity of following indirect routes to their physical objectives.

In the case of the sea, however, all those portions of the earth's surface which are covered by water (exclusive only of the recognized territorial waters of the several nations), i.e., the high seas, are presumably common property. The same applies to the air above the sea.

These considerations, and the fact that the surface of the sea is a broad plane, permit open sea areas to be traversed by a variety of routes to an extent not applicable in the case of land areas and the air above them. In addition, the fact that technological developments have been such as to permit movement, not only on the surface of the sea and through the air above but also beneath the surface, gives distinctive characteristics to the sea when considered as a theater of operations.

The surface of the sea has, from the earliest days to the present, provided roads over which human beings in greatest numbers and the resources of the world in greatest weight and volume can be transported in single carriers. From the standpoint of any belligerent it is imperative that, during war, these roads be kept open to the extent demanded by the needs of the State. It is equally imperative that an enemy be deprived of the advantage which their use might otherwise afford. In both cases localized (even though temporary) control, not only of the surface but of the water beneath and the air above, may be essential. It is pertinent, also, to note at this point the interest of neutrals, or of unneutral nonbelligerent Powers, in keeping open the trade routes via the high seas. Such interest may const.i.tute an important factor in the calculations of a belligerent State.

Considerations of maximum capacity for speed represent the utmost possibilities with respect to movements (i.e., change of positions) (page 60) in a given medium within a given time limit. A knowledge of maximum speed potentialities, one's own and those of the enemy, is required if changes in position are intelligently to be made. A knowledge of the variety of conditions, controllable and otherwise, which affect or preclude the employment of maximum speed, is likewise a requisite. Poor material condition, inadequate training, and incorrect methods of operation are preventable or correctable. The limitations on speed which are imposed by logistics, and by natural obstacles such as the hydrography, the climate, the wind, the weather, and the state of the sea, are susceptible of greatest possible adjustment to circ.u.mstances only by the exercise of foresight and judgment. All these conditions indicate the close relationship that exists between relative position and freedom of action (page 70).

The same observations apply to considerations of maximum capacity for endurance, the ability to operate without necessity for replenishment from an outside source. Radius of action is decreased or increased accordingly with resultant restrictions, or otherwise, on freedom of action.

With respect to the freedom of action of armed forces, also a consideration in relation to feasibility, the logistics of a military operation, of whatever scope, const.i.tutes a problem which begins when the plan is in process of formulation. This problem ends only when the necessity for sustaining the movement, and for retaining the position gained, no longer exists.

Ships and other means of conveyance, surface, subsurface, and air, are incapable of providing the necessities of life and the implements of warfare beyond the capacity built into them. Operations which extend beyond the limits of such capacity must cease unless replenishment and support, possible only from other sources, are provided. The logistics problem may be so difficult as to cause rejection of a course of action involving distant operations. From the standpoint of supply, military movements by land, sea, and air are, therefore, vitally a.s.sociated with positions on land and with their relation to the area of operations (see also page 58).

The same observations apply in larger scope to the State itself, which, because of economic vulnerability with respect to certain essential raw materials, may be compelled to seek support from outside sources lest supplies on hand become exhausted. In all cases, great importance attaches to the geographical location of sources of supply in their relation to a required point of delivery and to the routes which lie between.

It follows that enemy sources of supply may be suitable physical objectives (see page 56). Their destruction or capture, or the severance of the enemy's lines of communication with them, may seriously restrict his freedom of action.

From the standpoint of the relative position of its features, and apart from their inherent military value, the characteristics of the theater of military operations may exert an important influence upon the shaping of events. Each characteristic merits consideration as a potential means of facilitating or obstructing movement. Some localities may have been developed as repair, supply, or air bases.

Others may be sources of essential raw materials. Certain points may be heavily fortified. Island formations may be valuable to either opponent, or to both, because of the capacity and security of their harbors, the character of their terrain, or their positions relative to each other. The inherent military value of the several features of the theater may be enhanced or vitiated by the relative position which each occupies with respect to other features, and with reference to the location of the armed forces involved.

So-called "strategic points", historically significant in connection with military operations, derive their importance by reason of their relative position with reference to routes of movement.

The possibilities of utilizing or of changing the characteristics of a theater of operations, to a.s.sist, hamper, or deny movement, are governed by considerations previously discussed (see the Principle of the Proper Physical Conditions to be established in the Field of Action--page 34).

In planning the creation or maintenance of a favorable military situation from the standpoint of relative position, there may, therefore, profitably be included an examination into:

(a) The relation which may exist between the geographical location of the subdivisions of one's own forces and

(1) Those of the enemy,

(2) Geographical areas under one's own control, and positions within those areas,

(3) Geographical areas not under one's own control, and positions within those areas,

(4) Areas coveted or in dispute,

(5) Fixed actual and potential repair and operating bases and sources of supply and replenishment, own and enemy, controlled or otherwise.

(b) The relation existing among the geographical locations listed immediately above, including the effect of possible changes in control.

(c) The bearing of the sun and moon, and the direction of the wind and sea.

(d) The length and vulnerability of possible lines of communication.

(e) The time and distance, and resulting relative speeds, involved in movements necessary to change or to maintain an existing relation.

(f) The measures incident to adequate freedom of action.

A more detailed a.n.a.lysis of the factors influencing relative position is made in Section I-B of the Estimate Form (Chapter VI).