Principles of War

There are some things that aren't done.  One of those things is add or subtract from the Principles of War.  I remember when Major Dick Frishkorn recast Air Force Manual One Dash One, Air Force Basic Doctrine, back in 1984.  We added a principle of war, which upset the leadership down at Tactical Air Command (now Air Combat Command) no end.  The cynical comment was that it was just a dumb idea cooked up by a couple of Majors talking around the drinking fountain.  Frankly, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now comes USMC Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hoffman, head of National Defense University Press, writing in Armed Forces Journal, with a proposed new Principle of War, Understanding.

Strategist Bernard Brodie once observed that “good strategy presumes good anthropology and good sociology.”  Fundamentally, war involves an iterative competition between peoples whose behavior patterns will be a result of a complex combination of factors.  Our national security community has experts who monitor and study the strategic and military culture of adversarial states and assess an opponent’s military capabilities. During the Cold War, we created a cadre of experts in Russian history, language and culture.  After the Cold War, we lost that expertise.

From the United Kingdom we have this explanation:

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit; understanding is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Understanding.

The source was Joint Defense Publication 04, Chapter 2, Page 2-1.

For me the Principles of War is not a list to be memorized, but rather a set of terms to use for a series of discussions about what they mean at this time and place and in possible future conflicts.

Regards  —  Cliff