March 23, 2003 in Iraq War

Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance

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Looks like “shock and awe” was put forth initially by Hitler’s army. You can buy the book discussing the principles of this type of warfare at amazon, or you can go here to read in full.

Four general categories of core characteristics and capabilities have been identified that Rapid Dominance-configured mission capability packages must embrace.
First, Rapid Dominance seeks to maximize knowledge of the environment, of the adversary, and of our own forces on political, strategic, economic, and military/operational levels. On one hand, we want to get into the minds of the adversary far more deeply than we have in the past. Beyond operational intelligence required for battlefield awareness, Rapid Dominance means cultural understanding of the adversary in ways that will affect both ours and their planning and the outcome of the operation at all appropriate tactical and strategic levels.
Second, Rapid Dominance must achieve rapidity in the sense of timeliness. Rapid Dominance must have capabilities that can be applied swiftly and relatively faster than an adversary’s.
Third, Rapid Dominance seeks to achieve total control of the environment from complete “signature management” of both our and the adversary’s information and intelligence to more discrete means to deceive, disguise, and misinform.
Fourth, Rapid Dominance aims to achieve new levels of operational competence that can virtually institutionalize “brilliance.” In some cases, this may mean changing the longstanding principle of military centralization and empowering individual soldiers, sailors, and airmen to be crucial components in applying and directing the application of force.




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