Military Change & Transformation

By Professor Kristan J. Wheaton, Professor Bert Tussing, Dr. George Schwartz, Mr. Brian Foster, Patricia Hayes, Mr. Chad Jagmin; Collins Center Update by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership; The Collins Center Update is a quarterly summary of programs and activities at the Center for Strategic Leader (CSL) at the U.S. Army War College (USAWC). This issue features articles on the Innovation Champions Course by Prof. Kristian Wheaton; The Homeland Defense Symposium by Professor Bert Tussing and Dr. George Schwartz; The National Security Simulation Exercise of Competition, Crisis, and Conflict by Mr. Brian Foster; The Valley Forge Military College National Security Symposium by Dr. George Schwartz; The USAWC Fellows Focus by Ms. Patricia Hayes; and The From Data to Decision in Warfighting Course by Mr. Chad Jagmin.

How Will the Structure of Military Organizations Evolve as Artificial Intelligence Becomes More Sophisticated? Professor Kristan Wheaton Issue Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Deploying AI on the battlefield will force militaries to reimagine how they organize and operate. The Industrial Age principles of structure, authority, and control heavily influence modern military units. In the Industrial Age, factories needed managers to coordinate production and workers to perform individual tasks. But in the fast-paced, dynamic world of twenty-first-century warfare, commanders need soldiers who can think on their feet, team with machines, and adapt their tactics accordingly. A study by Deloitte found AI has the potential to reshape every business process within an enterprise. As a result of this transformation, AI will probably also have a transformative impact on the military."

by COL Johnny Casiano , Mrs. Jo Dempsey, Mr. Gregory Lynch, LTC Andy Pannier, and COL William Snook; Publication from the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership; In “The Convergence of ‘Exciting’ Technology Between 2030 and 2040,” the Concept Squad, a small team of U.S. Army War College students, examines 17 transformative technologies poised to reshape military capabilities and national security strategies within the next two decades. Highlighting innovations such as optogenetics, neural lace, and quantum radars, the publication underscores the critical need for the U.S. military to adapt to these advancements in the face of increasing competition from near-peer adversities.

Maintaining Information Dominance in Complex Environments Dr John A S. Ardis, Dr Shima D Keene Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Army is committed to a high state of resilience and readiness. The problem is that for complex environments, the U.S. Army cannot afford simply to be very effective in a known set of circumstances and unprepared for others, and neither can it afford to be no more than moderately capable in the broadest possible range of circumstances. The U.S. Army has to be effective across the board, and that places extraordinary demands on its Soldiers during all phases of preparation for and engagement in conflict."

Closer Than You Think: The Implications of the Third Offset Strategy for the U.S. Army Mr Samuel R White Jr Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is moving forward with a broad set of innovation initiatives designed to effectively posture the U.S. military for the coming decades. One sub-set of initiatives, the Third Offset, is focused on leap-ahead technologies and capabilities that may offset competitor parity in critical domains."

Rethinking Sovereignty in the Context of Cyberspace: The Cyber Sovereignty Workshop Series Cynthia E. Ayers "Recent successful "hacks," allegedly carried out by professionals acting on behalf of, or in concert with nation-states have heightened concerns about cyber warfare and sovereignty in the context of cyberspace. To maintain the integrity of U.S. and allied sovereign borders, it is imperative that security measures and defenses are coordinated and choreographed at the policy, strategy, and operational levels in the cyber domain, as well as in the physical world..."

Confidence Building in Cyberspace: A Comparison of Territorial and Weapons-Based Regimes Dr Mary Manjikian Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "This monograph examines two historic examples of the development of confidence-building measures (CBMs) so as to make recommendations regarding the development of CBMs for cyberspace. The first study looks at CBMs aimed at preventing the escalation of conflict in contested territories such as the Indo-Pakistan border. The second study looks at the development of a chemical weapons ban following World War I and the establishment of reporting and monitoring procedures to stem the proliferation of chemical weapons. Both cases offer lessons for cyber-based CBMs: One can borrow from territorial CBMs to establish a secure environment, or one can borrow from weapons-based CBMs to shape the development of new cyber technologies and prevent their proliferation."

Strategic Insights: The Landpower Robot Revolution Is Coming Steven Metz Article by US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College Press "Military technical revolutions have a distinct pattern. When new technology becomes available, it initially is used to augment existing operational methods and tactics. In Europe, for instance, the first firearms were used to give formations of pikemen more punch. On the battlefields of World War I, tanks were moveable pill boxes supporting slogging infantry attacks. Airplanes were used like old-fashioned cavalry, scouting for the infantry and artillery. Later, they supplemented infantry and artillery by strafing and bombing. Even the first atomic weapons were simply a very effective way to do the work of traditional 500 pound bombs and incendiaries..."

Futures Seminar: The United States Army in 2025 and Beyond Mr Samuel R White Jr Paper by the US Army War College, Center for Strategic Leadership "Academic Year 2014 (AY14) marks the inaugural year for the Futures Seminar – an elective course offered to resident students during the Term II elective period (Feb-Mar 2014) at the U.S. Army War College (USAWC). Created through a shared vision between the USAWC and the Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC), the Futures Seminar is loosely modeled on the Army After Next Project (AANP), conducted at the USAWC in the late 1990s. Through the AANP, the USAWC hoped to leverage research and writing on strategic trends, the security environment, technology and other factors which would impact the Army in 10 to 25 years."