BATTLEFIELD OF THE FUTURE

BATTLEFIELD OF THE FUTURE
A number of changes must occur if the United States
military is going to compete successfully on the battlefields of
2020 . First, there must be a change in outlook-a change in
the way we think about preparing for the future . The military
must nurture an attitude that supports free thinking, that
accepts honest mistakes, that encourages experimentation, that
rewards risk takers, and that makes provisions for starting over .
As an organization, the military must break out of the box, must
consider alternative futures, must think the unthinkable, and
must let go of the conventional modes of operation .
Why are these changes so important? What may be the
consequences if we fail to change? First, failure to change will
ensure that we will not gain the most that we possibly could
from the unfolding RMA . Failure to change will make it
difficult for our military to make the best possible use of the
new emerging technologies .
Failure to think imaginatively about the future may result in
a failure to maintain the military advantages our forces so
clearly demonstrated during the Gulf War. Approaches that
are not innovative may prove adequate in the short term, but
in the long run they may squander potential advantages
needed against future competitors . We must alter our thinking
and our approaches to planning if we are to be prepared for
either the emergence of a large peer RMA competitor or the
surprise of a true niche competitor .
To be successful and lasting, the change must come from
the top-from leadership . The impetus for change must flow
through the entire organization, especially through the
education system . The required changes cannot occur without
the support and encouragement of leadership and the
enthusiasm and cooperation of the entire organization .
To be successful, we need to develop a broad strategy-a
strategy robust enough to encompass and cope with the
massive uncertainty we face . We need to be clear (if not always
explicit) about our goals, vis-a-vis our allies as well as our
competitors . We need to think through what we would like the
future to look like and develop a strategy for shaping it to that end .
None of this will be easy . But a concerted, sustained, and
focused effort by the Defense Department could pay dividends
in the decades to come in ways as yet unforeseen .
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