from Strategy Page, EFL
. . . [Iraq] was a battalion commanders war. The only valuable things the combat battalion commanders wanted from their superiors were ammo and fuel, and information. The "intelligence" (information), as usual, didn’t get down to the battalion commanders fast enough to be useful. But the battalion commanders had "Blue Force Tracker," a laptop based computer program that showed them on the screen where all friendly troops were (via a transmitter all small units had, that sent info to a satellite, and then down to the Blue Force Tracker equipped laptops.) This gave the battalion commanders important information on where friendly troops were, and using instant messaging build into Blue Force Tracker, they could quickly exchange information on the enemy with nearby friendly units. Thus the battalion commanders didn’t have to rely on intelligence from above. So the battalion commanders just fought their way forward. The only orders they got from above were what general direction to go in and where they could find the fuel and ammo trucks they needed resupply from in order to keep moving and fighting. The brigade and division commanders were smart enough to see what worked, and pretty much left the battalion commanders to take care of the war.
The next war will be a little different. The army is installing the other components of the "battlefield Internet" that Blue Force Tracker was only a part of. The complete system will enable a senior commander to instantly see where all his people are and reports showing the latest information on enemy troops (red icons on the same screen, along with all the blue "friendly" ones). No one yet knows how senior commanders will deal with that degree of control. The information on enemy troop locations will probably be pretty accurate, because battalions and companies will have their own mini-UAVs, which will provide more information on what’s in front of friendly battalions. In the past, the senior commanders would have everyone halt while information on enemy and friendly positions was examined and a plan prepared. But the 2003 campaign showed that you can make more progress if you just let the battalion commanders size up the situation in front of them and act immediately.
The good news is that in 2003, the brigade and division commanders trusted their battalion commanders and let them fight the battle as they saw fit. But that was because the battalion commanders had better information, thanks to Blue Force Tracker, than ever before. Will the senior brass trust the battalion commanders again? Probably. But that could change. Some senior commanders are tempted by this unprecedented amount of information, and every division commander is tempted to run the battalions again. The battlefield Internet system, in theory, allows them to do that. We won’t know how this will play out until the next major campaign comes along. |