War and the American Military

• The three factors that dominate war• The elements of war• Talking Paper + Briefing

Overview

Factors Dominating War

• Fog • Friction• Chance

• Difficulty to see and understand what’s happening in battle

• Can be a literal “fog” • Or figurative:

– Too much happening– Misinformation– Conflicting information

• Overwhelmed with too much infoBattle of Waterloo,

June 1815

Fog

“Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult.” ~ Clausewitz

Friction

• Murphy’s Law at its worst!– Troops are lost– Bombs miss their target– Enemies don’t act as expected

• Friction is that which seems easy in war planning, made difficult in reality!

Col Stauffenberg

Assassination attempt on Hitler

Chance

Plain dumb luck and fortune.

Elements of War

• Participants• Motives• Objectives• Scope of War• Level of Violence• Means Used• Asymmetry

Participants

• State vs. State– Iraq-Iran War

• Groups within a State– Libyan civil war

• Non-State entities– IRA, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, etc.

Motives

• Secular ideology—Communist vs. Capitalist• Ethnic/tribal hatred— Tutsis vs. Hutus• Religion—Crusade, jihad, etc.• Territory—German conquest in WWII• Economic gain—Hitler’s rise to power• Revenge—Spanish-American War• Preemptive—6-Day War of 1967

Usually a mixture of some or all the above!

Objectives

• Total: Political overthrow and/or extermination of your enemy (ethnic cleansing and/or genocide)

• Limited: Concessions

Scope of War

• Global– WWI and WWII

• Regional– Six Day War

• Local– Bosnia, Somalia,

Rwanda

Levels of Violence

• Total (Unlimited) War– Complete mobilization, both of forces

and national resources (e.g., WWII)

• Limited– Restrain forces being used

Means Employed

• Weapons of Mass Destruction– CBRNE

• Conventional• Guerilla/Urban warfare

– Irregular forces vs. Regular forces

– Urban warfare brings its own unique challenges

• Terrorism– Theme of modern warfare!

Asymmetry

• Adversaries NOT fighting the SAME war– Different motives, objectives, means, etc.

• Current war in Afghanistan exemplifies this “unevenness concept….” Consider:– Are the participants the same?– Do we employ the same means?– Are our motives the same?

Asymmetry (cont’d)

• Poses very real threat to US interests– Consider 9/11 & Al Qaeda

• Asymmetric warfare requires us to adapt our doctrine to counter this new threat– Adapt our own asymmetric capabilities– Capitalize on strengths our enemy can’t adapt to– Exploit our advantages from asymmetry

Talking Paper

• A quick reference outline on key points, facts, positions and questions to use during an oral presentation

• T+Q page 209-210– Pg 210 shows and explains exactly how format

should look, including where to double space

• ID Line – 1 inch from bottom of page

Name/AFROTC Det 220/phone#/initials/date

Talking Paper

• Tips– Don’t double space the whole thing– Indent each bullet enough so new thoughts can be

easily seen– Include enough information so your audience can

remember what you were talking about (see examples in T+Q).

• Avoid one word bullets! Not enough information!

Talking Paper

• Tips– Don’t double space the whole thing– Indent each bullet enough so new thoughts can be

easily seen– Include enough information so your audience can

remember what you were talking about (see examples in T+Q).

• Avoid one word bullets! Not enough information!

Briefings: Format (sample)

Title

Presenter

Overview

- MP1

- MP2

MP1

- Support info

- Support info

MP2

- Support info

- Support info

Summary

- MP1

- MP2

PowerPoint slides are your note cards; they help your

audience, too.

Questions?

• Slide 1– Greeting, Intro self/subject

• “Good morning/afternoon Ma’am/Sir”, “I’m C/4C Snuffy and I’m going to talk about…”

• Slide 2 – Overview

“State main points (MPs)—what’s to come”

Briefings: Introduction

Title

Presenter

Overview

- MP1

- MP2

• Present support info

– Ideas • Definitions• Examples• Comparisons• Testimony

– Visuals • Graphs• Pictures/clip art• Quotes• Props

•

Briefings: The Body (MPs)

MP2

- Support info

- Sources

MP1

- Support info

- Sources

Support Info can include: Graphs, Pictures, Quotes

• Summary– State topic and MPs– Quick summary; don’t rebrief– Don’t add new info

• Last Slide– “This concludes my briefing.” – “Are there any questions?”

Briefings: Conclusion

Summary

- MP1

- MP2

Closure Slide:

“Quote”

Any questions?

Remember: PowerPoint slides are your note cards; they help your audience, too.

• Method– Don’t read word for word, carry note cards with ideas vs full sentences

• Eye Contact– Look directly at people, it helps keep people interested and you get non-verbal

feedback• Body Movement

– Don’t lean on lectern, sway, rock or other repetitive movements• Gestures

– Gestures can reinforce what you are saying and helps keep audience focused• Voice

– Quality, articulation and variety – Avoid ‘um’, ‘uh’, ‘OK’

• Transitions– Logical flow aids in listening and the audience can follow the message

Effective Delivery

Summary

• Factors Dominating War• Elements of War• Talking Paper + Briefing