The manner in which societies organize for warfare has always been dependent on a number of interrelated factors.
Technology is an important factor but there are many instances where societies that are behind in the technology of warfare or even behind in industrial strength and other economic factors have been able to become better organized than their opponents.
Japan, for example, created the first successful carrier groups and managed to do this virtually overnight in the years before Pearl Harbor.
Prior to Midway, the U.S. Navy looked like it would never be able to meet the overwhelming force presented by Japan’s carrier groups.
Theorists like Liddell Hart advocated during the years just prior to WW II in favor of integrating fast moving armored vehicles with smaller infantry units and air cover. The only authorities listening that were in a position to follow Hart's innovative doctrine were memebers of the German High Command. The Germans' execution of the lightning-fast tactics that the world came to know as Blitzkrieg overran France's "state of the art" defenses in a matter of a few days with a loss of German lives that was almost nil!
The ability of the U.S. to mobilize and organize a civilian industrial base in order to convert to the building of carriers and planes and other military armament was one important factor that turned the tables on the Japanese.
Our ally, Stalin's, ability to absorb brutal punishment and keep pouring men and machines into the German war machine's killing fields finally enveloped the German Sixth Army only because of Hitler's seriously flawed military logic in overriding the advice of his generals and consigning Gen. Paulus' Sixth Army to utter destruction.
Over time, battlefields, as the world has perceived battlefields to exist, have become almost a thing of the past. During the Napoleonic Wars, hundreds of thousands of men were formed into masses ranks which presented solid boxes at which their opponents would fire. Soldiers on both sides were ordered to fire into massed ranks of the enemy often without taking aim. The field of battle was filled with black powder smoke and cannon balls would skipping across the open ground would often remove heads and arms and legs as they bounded through rows of soldiers lined up like bowling pins.
The American Civil War and WW I caused great loss of life because both sides had such accurate rifles, machine guns and artillery that the men were pinned down in deadly trench warfare. The certainty of death by exposing men to such accurate long range fire initiated a search for new battlefield doctrine that would avoid the drawn out carnage and attrition of the trenches.
By WW II, the German High Command's innovative mix of tanks, armored vehicles and planes dictated a new kind of warfare that depended on speed and initiative rather than masses of men. The other great powers had greater resources in terms of weapons and by almost every other manner of reckoning. The Germans, nevertheless, had developed a process of planning, innovating and testing various plans and tactics involving new technologies that other leaders only vaguely understood until the German onslaught demonstrated to the world what the English historian, Basil Liddell Hart, had been talking about for so many years.
By the time of the first Gulf War, the U.S. was able to detect and destroy Iraqi armor so effectively that enemy troops just gave up and walked into the desert. At the present time, there is no enemy in the world that can challenge the U.S. on the high seas, in the air or on land. Our forces are trained, organized and equipped in ways that no other nation can match. Thus, it is as if the U.S. holds the power of a magistrate; i.e., we are literally the policeman of the world.
This situation prevails as a result of GPS, satellite, network and other technogies that make it possible for planners located anywhere in the world to view every inch of a battlefield environment and communicate instructions or reach out and touch personnel and equipment via real time while committing few, if any, troops to the battlefield arena. This is because of robot technology and surveillance systems that make death almost certain for any personnel that expose themselves to the systems our planners and scientists have developed.
According to Max Boot in “War Made New”, however, every victor runs the risk of becoming complacent and relying on the technological and military prowess that provided the last victory. While the U.S. was basking in the benefits of the “peace dividend” our enemies were exploring our weaknesses. The fact that no army will expose itself to the bewildering networks of weaponry deployed by our armed forces creates a new medium of battle. The only way for an enemy to attack is to infiltrate our society with networks that operate with the kind of decentralized structure by which our own special forces deploy.
Each new innovation can only be integrated into a battle system by gradual experimentation and tactical experience. Thus, older technology is always preserved alongside state of the art developments. This fact brings us to an interesting thesis. Once our society is infiltrated, it will only be a matter of time before WMDs can be deployed (no one is sure how close we may be to such a day). Suit-case nukes, biological weapons and chemical warfare are all available to terrorists and criminals. The argument that nuclear weapons are too high-tech for terrorists is more a kind of denial than a reassurance to any thinking person. Those who really study such subjects at the highest levels state that is not a matter of if but when the enemy will unleash such weaponry. Many small arms, including AK-47s are pouring over the U.S.-Mexican border. The fact that much of the contraband and personnel crossing the border is going to gangs goes hand in hand with credible intelligence that Middle Eastern personnel are also coming in and receiving many kinds of weapons other than just small arms.
It will not take a WMD event to paralyze our economy. Even temporary economic and social disruption could make our armed forces vulnerable if various synchronized forces and events converge in other parts of the world. Cyber-warfare and political confusion can amount to chaos in the midst of profound despair and recriminations. Think about the questions that existed (and still exist) after the WTC attacks and the invasion of Iraq. The fact that some people still question whether Al Qaeda was really behind the attacks, raises the issue of whether other unrecognized enemies can wreak havoc in a manner that disguises the identity of that very same enemy power initiating an attack via tactical teams utilizing small arms, WMDs or industrial-financial sabotage by computer-hacking or some other electronic attack. For example, DARPA was able to create microwave technology at a relatively local cost with generally available electronic components that could disarm many high tech weapons systems.
The best way to deal with roving bands of killers is on their own terms. The low-tech swarming concept developed by terrorists is also one of the evolving doctrines of our own special forces. A unit or individual blends into the social environment and, by means of cheap handheld GPS units (available at any electronics shop or outdoor store), cell phone and laptop, units come together as opportunities are presented. When a team comes together the units “swarm” their enemy like wolf packs or sharks. The best weapons against such forces are forces of citizens that are armed and trained to detect patterns, react and respond until the police and/or military take over.
The social organization that most characterized the Twentieth Century is the same principle upon which 19th Century factories and armies were organized; the military-industrial complex organized itself as a massive hierarchy of professionals, bureaucrats, and engineers; i.e., as cog-like components in a huge machine. The concept of a citizen militia seemed outmoded by the 1950s. A conventional comment is that, “The professional soldiers can provide for our defense.” The idea of a citizen armed with a deer rifle standing up to Blitzkrieg-style storm troopers seems laughable. The U.S. homeland, however, is unlikely to sustain a conventional attack on our homeland, unless our society is already decimated by the networks of terror cells that may already be waiting for the “perfect storm” to arrive.
The fact that so many naysayers deny that we are embroiled in real warfare is because the nature of the new warfare is such that there is normally not a conventional battlefield space. The real space where the battle occurs is in hearts and minds of citizens' and the outcome is determined by how we prepare and then react for sudden manifestations of violence in malls, streets or workplaces.
Our enemies will exploit any dissension (especially partisan gamesmanship) and attempt to break down our trust by creating horrific fear at the same time as the true aims and source of the terrorist acts become more difficult to identify. One source of such “plausible deniability” may result due to more than one set of actors with conflicting ideological and national loyalties getting involved, perhaps in joint operations.
There are no means by which enough police can be deployed to guard all our schools. Think of all the workplaces, intersections, overpasses, malls, churches and other facilities where a few homicide teams, bent on destruction and suicide, can systematically murder many innocent Americans. The best defense will be men and women, armed with hand guns and proper training. The government will not take the initiative to train you because “thinking outside the box” is the province of a few individuals- individuals that may lack the patience to wade through the bureaucratic gauntlets. Military officers normally listen to credible military leaders, usually from within their own command.
Even a President or Secretary of Defense has a very difficult time changing the military culture and landscape, littered as it is with turf wars.
It took years to unify the various armed forces into an integrated structure where each branch coordinates with the other. A few citizens armed with pistols and spare magazines probably cannot stop a WMD. But think of what happens after a WMD event. If a suit case bomb explodes do you think the carnage will just stop there?
There are some quiet discussions going on among our political leaders about the possibility of arming some of the staff in our schools. There may be a need to change some state and laws. Federal law already permits carrying weapons in public schools wihere authorization has been provided by the school district for security purposes. At least one school district in Texas is already allowing for armed volunteer teachers and staff to protect the school campuses.
Every war takes a different kind of thinking than the last war. The concept that may be foremost in the present day battlefield is “swarming”. No one quite knows quite how it works. All the military experts recognize the viability of the concept. The swarming tactic does not require advanced technology. Just as happens on any other battlefield, technology plays its part and we need the professionals. The contributions of many human resources and various perspectives from inside and outside the ranks of the security professionals is indispensible. Intelligence and sophisticated communications, bomb squads and medical/rescue teams have been augmented with billions in federal and state funds. Nevertheless, you can get to your neighbor's home in an emergency faster than any other "first responder".
You don’t have to be covered with body armor or trained as a SWAT operator or to operate radar to get a concealed carry license, take some defensive shooting classes and think tactically.
The government has also spent billions to inform citizens about the importance of vigilance and getting ready for emergencies. There is a great deal of training being provided by local governments but, at least for now, the tactical training is something that you will have to develop without government assistance, unless you work for the government. Think about the nature of modern warfare and why individually armed men and women may become more important to our national security than ever before. Our biggest vulnerability is also our greatest strength- the mindset of the average American citizen.
