A Vision For The Army Of The Future

A Vision for the Army of the Future:With Some Lessons Learned From My Time With the US Navy"

Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D."University of Iowa College of Medicine / University of Iowa Children's Hospital"

[email protected]"

www.educationalinformatics.org"www.slideshare.net/michaeldalessandro"

Disclaimer - Why Am I Here"

"I often say that the U.S. military is the greatest single force for good that the world has ever seen. It held the line against the bad, allowing for its deconstruction, and the universalization of our economic model, to be followed, through our continued success, by the universalization of our political model.""" " " " "- Thomas P.M. Barnett"

Overview"

•  I. About Me"•  II. Army of The Future - 10 Points"

• From my time as a War Studies Professor"• Lessons Learned"

•  From my time with the US Navy as a Researcher"•  (Seconded to US Navy at 40% time over 9 years = ~ 4

year tour)"•  III. An Intellectual Toolkit for the

Multidisciplinary Study of War"•  IV. Q + A / URLs"

I. About Me"

• Honest"• Controversial "• …need to be less Italian, more English"

• My goal for this talk is to make you think!"

Virtual Naval HospitalHow A Land Locked State Contributes to Naval Power Projection"

•  How we got opportunity"•  What it is"

•  Maximize readiness: Promote wellness ~ aid disease correction"

•  Why Navy worked with us"•  Outsiders ~ Key intermediaries "•  USN is practical / results oriented"

•  Service"•  Operation Southern Watch - SW Asia Service Medal"•  Operation Allied Force - Kosovo Campaign Medal"•  Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan Campaign Medal"•  Operation Iraqi Freedom - Iraq Campaign Medal"•  Global War on Terror - Global War on Terrorism Service Medal"•  Humanitarian Operations - Humanitarian Service Medal"

•  Why it ended"•  Focused on users not BUMED"

Operationally Responsive"

Naval Open Source Intelligence - NOSI"

•  OSI - information individually in public domain but organization + synthesis of it increases value greatly"

•  Originally intended to track ship movements"•  Evolved into operational naval news ~ Source of PME"

•  Unstructured curriculum that unfolds in practice"•  Organized into War Studies Primer"

II. Army Of The Future"•  Smaller"•  Lighter"•  Expeditionary"•  Humanitarian"•  Intelligent"•  Invincible"•  Unconventional"•  Vulnerable"•  Inspirational"•  Victorious"•  (Knowledgeable => Part III.)"

Smaller"

•  Footprint "•  "Less is more" - Mies van der Rohe"

•  Leads to more creativity "• Doing more with less ~ Thinking outside the box"

• Models - Afghanistan 2001, Libya 2011"

Lesson - Inter Service Rivalry (ISR)"•  Why does the Army have a Navy?"

•  Answer is ISR"•  ISR in WWII in Pacific - US + Japan"•  Latest biggest ISR is over UAVs"

•  Army leadership attitude towards VNH = NIH"•  Army rank + file attitude towards VNH

- loved it"•  Services are more similar than

they think"•  Given current + future budget

environment, have to get past ISR"•  Air Sea Battle is Intra Service

Cooperation"•  Antecedent is Air Land Battle"•  What is Army's role in this?"

Lesson - Military Medicine Preventive Medicine Is A Force Multiplier"

• What you learned are most common injuries at sea + on land"

• Use WSP slides from mil med lecture"•  Talk about you residents who were your

residents who taught you"• Bottom line - listen to docs to prevent

physical medical casualties before + during deployment"

•  Talk about invisible psychic wounds of PTSD and use slides from WSP of how to mitigate it - it is all about leadership"

Lesson - Preventive Medicine Is A Force Multiplier"•  Lt Jeff H., M.D. - Battalion Surgeon for US

Marines"•  Story"

• Deployed to Somalia for 6 months in 1993, in Mogadishu and in the bush in Bardera"

• Primary mission to keep battalion healthy + ready for battle"

• Spent huge amount of time on preventive medicine"

• Reported to battalion CO who listened to him"•  One battalion CO who did not listen to his battalion

surgeon in Somalia lost 1/3 of their unit to sleeping sickness or malaria for failure to take precautions against them"

Lesson - Afghanistan"•  Soviet Union occupation ~ 1980's"

• Soviets practiced poor personal hygiene, poor nutrition, and poor pest control"

• Result was that 67% of those who served in Afghanistan were hospitalized for diseases. "•  There were 115,000 cases of hepatitis, 31,000 cases

of typhoid fever, and 234,000 cases split between plague, malaria, cholera, diphtheria, meningitis, heart disease, shigellosis, amoebic dysentery, rheumatism, heat stroke, pneumonia, typhus-paratyphus"

- Grau LW, Jorgensen WA. Medical Support in a Counter-Guerrilla War: Epidemiologic Lessons Learned in the Soviet - Afghan War. US Army Medical Department Journal; May-June 1995."

Lesson - Preventing Psychological Injury"• Keep members of unit together, give them

good leaders, put them through intense realistic training"• Cohesion, leadership, training "• Each is a protective factor against

psychological injury"•  Together their synergism is enormous"

• Cohesion is about mutual trust; trust lubricates the friction of warfare"

- Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character / Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming"-  Thomas Ricks, Modern Soldiers from Ancient Texts,

Washington Post, September 17, 2004"

Lighter"

•  Your work is nomadic in nature"“Backpacking is the paradigm of the future: an

elegant, minimalist, and mobile solution” " - CDR Shaun Jones, MC, USN"

•  Except for batteries and body armor…"

Expeditionary"

•  "In my opinion, any future Defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined" - SecDef Robert Gates"

•  Like Marines ~ Learn to swim (Pacific)"•  Regional orientation / mini Foreign Area Officers"

•  Cultural Awareness is key to success"•  Cultural training, sensitivity, language acquisition"

•  Extreme study abroad"•  Kibera or Cairo rather than Copenhagen"

Lesson - The FAO is the Army of One"•  FAO = Foreign Area Officer"

•  Specializes in a region, knows its language, culture, politics, military, history"•  But these skills not regarded as warfighting skills + not valued"

•  "David""•  Area of expertise = Yemen ~ TDY to Mosul, Iraq"•  Jobs"

•  Education of Americans, choosing translators"•  Learned how radical Islamists were using traditional smuggling

routes to smuggle people, guns, money by talking to local tribesmen"

•  Support for assault on Tal Afar"•  Placated Turks ~ Befriended Tal Afar's mayor"

"He is like Lawrence of Arabia" - Mayor of Tal Afar"•  Rewarded for his efforts by being returned to Yemen"

- Greg Jaffe, In Iraq One Officer Uses Cultural Skills to Fight Insurgents, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 15, 2005"

Lesson - Embrace Cultural Diversity Your Allies Think Differently Than You"

•  Radiology boards adventure - medical Samauri!"•  Major, Japanese Ground Self Defense Force"•  Served in Iraq with Japan Self-Defense Forces Iraq

Reconstruction and Support Group "•  In Oahu, walking hallowed ground"•  Then visit Punch Bowl - sacred ground"•  1 month later visited Yushukan War Museum -

what they believe is different than you"

Lesson - When the Losers Write the History "•  Yushukan War Museum - it's view of history"

•  In 19th century, the West colonizes Asia"•  Japan is first Asian country to successfully fight back against West

(Russia) in 1905"•  Denies atrocities committed in China and World War II"•  Greater East Asian War is Japan's struggle to liberate Asia from

Western colonization"•  Surrender in 1945 a temporary setback, Japan eventually prevails,

ridding Asia of Western colonization"

•  Privately funded ~ Perfectly translated"•  Centerpiece is Suicide Gallery - Kamikaze + Yamato"•  Statues to Kamikaze ~ military horse ~ widowed mothers + families"•  "Fanatic nationalists" <-> Unrepentant nationalists"

•  Contrasting bookends"•  Pearl Harbor / Punchbowl in May 2008 ~ Yushukan in June 2008"

Lesson - Unrepentant Nationalists?"•  2008 competition for the best essay to deny Japanʼs wartime

role as an aggressor and sponsor of atrocities"•  Winner was General Toshio Tamogami, Chief of Staff of

Japanese Air Self Defense Force"•  Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a "trap" set by U.S.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tamogami claimed in his essay, which also argued "that many Asian countries take a positive view" of Japan's role in the war."

•  He wrote, too, that the war was good for international race relations: "If Japan had not fought the Great East Asia War at that time, it might have taken another 100 or 200 years before we could have experienced the world of racial equality that we have today.""

•  The essay concluded that "it is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation.""

•  He was fired because his views were not the views of the government…but 78 of 230 entrants in essay contest were Air Force officers"

- Blain Harden, WWII Apologists Persist Despite Japanese Policy, Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2008"- The Ghost of Wartimes Past, Economist, Nov 6, 2008"

Humanitarian"•  Why - This is a key way to build goodwill"

•  Notes to Joppolo From Joppolo"•  Don't make yourself cheap"•  Always be accessible to the public"•  Don't play favorites"•  Speak Italian whenever possible"•  Don't lose your temper"•  When plans fall down, improvise"•  Be careful about accepting invitations"- John Hersey, A Bell for Adano, p. 14"(Modeled after Major Frank E. Toscani, military governor of Licata)"

"So how should we operate on a tactical level to manage an unruly world? What are the rules and what are the tools?""•  Rule #1 - Produce More Joppolos"-  Robert D. Kaplan, Supremacy by Stealth, The Atlantic, July / August 2003"

(See also General Zinnia's Lessons for Operations Other Than War)"

Lesson - Asian Tsunami December 26, 2004"• Expeditionary Strike Group 5 - USS Bonhomme

Richard"•  Start planning before formal order "•  Improvise supplies / proceed at best speed"•  No boots on ground due to active insurgency, desire

to not appear to need foreign help, Muslim population"

•  "The heroes are the logisticians" "•  "Go slow" / Use 4 words - "How Can We Help?""•  "…biggest challenge is figuring out how to be useful

in a way that doesn't, in the long term, alienate people." ""

- Dan Baum, Mission to Sumatra, New Yorker Feb. 7, 2005"

Intelligent"

•  ISR to the max"•  RPAs / UAVs"

•  Long time in coming to air"•  Rapidly coming to ground as well - this is your future"

•  Connected / Network-centric (picture-centric)"•  Consequences of this new standoff battlefield"

•  Wars will become easier to start"•  Keegan's "impersonalization of battle" - soldier moved

even further from foes physically + psychologically"

Invincible"

•  Unbeatable in standup battle"•  1991 - Battle of 73 Easting - 1 US vs. 6 Iraqi battalions "•  2003 - 3 US divisions vs. Iraqi Army"•  Thunder Run - 3rd ID vs. most of Iraqi Army"

•  BCT is smaller maneuver unit but can call in massive fires on anyone"•  RMA promises to use new technology to make

everything targetable ~ reduces war to putting fires on target - William Lind"

•  So no one wants to fight us straight on"

Unconventional Enemies"

•  Non-state actors"•  COIN - goal is to outgovern"•  The more you use massive fires the more you lose"

•  State actors""The Chinese way of war is indirect. In most cases that

means China will engage us with 'soft power' as she is already doing on multiple fronts."- William Lind"

Lesson - Cyberwarfare"•  1988 - Robert Morris Internet worm - I was there - first

cyber attack - but it really wasn't "•  1982 - First cyber attack against Soviet pipeline programmable logic

controllers"•  1991 - First cyber attack in war against Iraqi command + control by

Robert Morris' father at NSA"•  2009 - Stuxnet attack against Iran's centrifuge's programmable logic

controllers"•  1999 - VNH Social Engineering attack sends CD to Chair of

Dept. of Military Medicine at PLA medical school"•  2000 - Virtual Hospital DDOS attack"•  2002 - VNH copied by robot from Chinese publisher and

later appears on Chinese Med School Web site"•  Get copy before it disappears from Web before Iraq invasion?"

Vulnerable"

•  Too armored personally + vehicle wise for hearts and minds"

•  To satellites"•  To cyberwar"•  To luxuries of life (antithesis of small + light)"

•  Costs $140K / year to field soldier in Afg"•  To bureaucracy"•  To openness / honesty"

Lesson: One Professor's Contracting Odyssey"

•  Virtual Naval Hospital (www.vnh.org)"•  Digital library to promote wellness in Sailors + Marines

and aid disease correction by health care providers"•  Budget creep while doing the same job the whole time"

•  FY 1996 - $180,000 ~ 10 page contract ~ I understood 50% of it"•  FY 2005 - $360,000 ~ 20 page contract ~ I understood 5% of it"•  Funding agencies: SPAWAR->NMIMC->Navy Medical Logistics

Command"•  Success"

•  User-centric, well received, tri-service, international, military + civil usage, cost-effective"

•  …so naturally it was canceled because it made the Navy look bad…"

"You should get it funded through an earmark, it would be an earmark we would actually use for once" - SOCOM operator"

Lesson - Operational Security"

•  Facebook *really* can kill you…"

Inspirational"

• Battle for world's hearts + minds"•  4 Freedoms (US) vs. Communism (China) vs.

fundamentalist Islam"• We should have the best story"• We should be the best symbol"• But what do we stand for anymore?"

Victorious"

•  Why do they hate us"•  Support for dictators + Israel"

•  Growing realization we are less the problem and more the solution"•  Model for Arab Spring is democracy not fundamentalism"•  How we can win the long war"

•  The strategic corporal - it starts with you"•  Civilians regarded GIs as liberators - Stephen Ambrose"

III. An intellectual toolkit for the multi-disciplinary study of war"

• …that will allow you to embark upon a course of lifelong learning regarding war and its role in society"• Daily / weekly basis"•  In small increments"• Multimedia"• …ultimately a curriculum unfolding in practice"

Zinni on the Profession of Arms"

"I am a Catholic. In my faith, we think of the priesthood as a calling - a 'vocation' - requiring total dedication. I looked at the 'call to arms' the same way. The warrior profession is a calling and requires the same kind of dedication the priesthood does."" - Anthony Zinni, Battle Ready, p. 52"

Why Learn More""Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to

repeat it" - George Santayana"•  Your focus is on being the best tactical platoon leader you

can be and I applaud that"•  But I challenge you to look up several levels + broaden

your world view, become a student of war studies"•  War studies is not just military history"

•  Is multi-disciplinary study of war encompassing the artistic, diplomatic, economic, ethical, historical, legal, logistical, philosophical, political, psychological and sociological dimensions of war"

•  War Studies encompasses why wars start, how they are conducted, how they end and how they can be prevented"

"Everyone gets it wrong at the beginning of a war…so the important thing to do is develop the intellectual capacity in officers to adjust faster than the other side." - Sir Michael Howard"

Focused Case Study - Iraq 1943"•  Instructions For American Servicemen in Iraq During

World War II"•  44 page guide to Iraqi culture, language, and practical

advice written in 1943 to aid US soldiers going to Iraq to make sure it did not fall under German influence"

•  Purpose was to teach Americans on how to deal with Iraqis, foster good will with them, and avoid pitfalls"

"Talk Arabic if you can to the people. No matter how badly you do it, they will like it.""

"Treat an Iraqi and his family with honor and respect, and you will have a strong ally, treat him with disrespect and you will create an unyielding enemy.""

"That tall man in the flowing robe you are going to see soon, with the whiskers and the long hair, is a first-class fighting man, highly skilled in guerilla warfare. Few fighters in any country, in fact, excel him in that kind of situation. If he is your friend, he can be a staunch and valuable ally. If he should happen to be your enemy - watch out!""

•  Why wasn't this dusted off and passed out in 2003?"- Scott Horton, Instructions for Servicemen in Iraq, Harpers, Aug 2007"- Lester W. Grau, Book Review, US Army Foreign Military Studies Office"

Focused Case Study: Open Source Intelligence - The Threat"

•  Background"•  Cold War military intelligence depicts Soviet military personnel +

equipment as 10 feet tall"•  Technique"

•  Find Soviet Jewish émigrés to USA who served in Soviet military"•  Interview them, ask them "What's it really like?""

•  Findings"•  Revealed paper tiger"

•  Personnel - alcoholism, hazing, ethnic issues, unloyalty to party"•  Equipment - brittle"

•  Results"•  Too fantastical to believe - but did get it right"

•  Lesson "•  Good journalist / foreign correspondent is ultimate intelligence

person on the ground ~ like a Foreign Area Officer"- Andrew Cockburn, The Threat: Inside the Soviet Military Machine, 1983"

To Learn More www.warstudiesprimer.org"

No one is an island"

platoonleader.army.mil cc.army.mil"

Conclusion"•  This is a perilous time"

• But with great challenges come great opportunities - making this an exciting time"

•  The best way to predict the future is to invent it"

• My challenge to you is to invent the future"

"The best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.""" " " "- President Theodore Roosevelt"

IV. Q & A"

•  Feel free to ask any questions"

• URLs"• Talk - www.slideshare.net/michaeldalessandro/ "• To learn more - www.warstudiesprimer.org"• NOSI - www.nosi.org " - www.facebook.com/nosint"