Required Reading 3, Continued
Chapter 5 Exercise Solutions, Continued
Item 5 The content is located on page 5-24.
Liddell Hart wrote that the most effective approach “is one that lures or startles the opposition into a false move – so that, as in jujitsu, his own effort is turned into the lever of his own overthrow.” Movement, or any action not focused on the enemy, is not Maneuver; it is simply wasted energy.
Therefore, an outward or enemy orientation is integral to Maneuver. This mean far more than simply aiming at enemy forces rather than terrain objectives. It means understanding the enemy – his doctrine, tactics, and techniques; his organization; his aims; and his motives.
Item 6 The content is located page on 5-26.
Focus is the convergence effort in some way – in space, in time, in intent – so as to create a unified effect. It is possible to be physically dispersed and yet remain focused on a common objective.
Item 7 The content is located on page 5-29.
The final key component of Maneuver is speed. To create advantage and exploit potential advantage, we must be able to act faster than the enemy can react. Because we now appreciate Maneuver not only in the spatial
dimension, we should not think of speed only in terms of the ability to move fast, but also in terms of the tempo – the ability to think, decide, act and react quickly.
Item 8 The content is located on page 5-36.
Maneuver warfare has applications across the spectrum of war from air to surface, from tactics to strategy, from operations to logistics.
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Chapter 5 Exercise Solutions,
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Item 9 The content is located on page 5-38and 37.
We want our Marines to understand what their commanders are trying to accomplish on the battlefield. Knowledge of the commander’s intent is an absolute requirement, if the subordinate is going to be given the freedom of action that is implicit in mission-type orders and recon-pull tactics. We insist that every Marine know the mission and the intent of the commander two echelons above his own.
Item 10 The content is located on page 5-40.
It means that the commander must focus upon and give his first priority to the accomplishment of the combat mission, and the philosophy – that is, the commander’ must be mentally in concert with his units in contact at the front edge of his operating area. Physically, he may be sitting in a bunker or flying overhead in a helicopter, but psychologically he must be with his forward units. I like Sir John Hackett’s phrase about the “smell of the battlefield”
when describing the commander’s appreciation for operations within the combat arena.
Item 11 The content is located on page 5-40.
We want out commanders to think. Go ahead and make mistakes, but do the innovative, get inside the enemy’s mind, think about what his intentions are, how he is going to react and outsmart him with your initiative in the absence of orders from a senior command. We are serious about being committed to giving our Marines the freedom to make mistakes. It is difficult to overcome some fundamental inhibitions we have in this respect, but it is one of our priority concerns.
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Item 12 The content is located on page 5-50.
It also represents, in graphic detail, the enormous responsibilities and pressures which will be placed on our young Marine leaders. The rapid diffusion of technology, the growth of a multitude of transnational factors, and the consequences of increasing globalization and economic
interdependence, have coalesced to create national security challenges remarkable for their complexity.
Item 13 The content is located on page 5-51.
The Corps has described such amorphous conflicts as -- the three block war -- contingencies in which Marines may be confronted by the entire spectrum of tactical challenges in the span of a few hours and within the space of three contiguous city blocks.
Item 14 The content is located on page 5-53.
The common thread uniting all training activities is an emphasis on the growth of integrity, courage, initiative, decisiveness, mental agility, and personal accountability. These qualities and attributes are fundamental and must be aggressively cultivated within all Marines from the first day of their enlistment to the last. Leadership, of course, remains the hard currency of the Corps, and its development and sustainment is the third and final step in the creation of the Strategic Corporal.
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Item 15 The content is located on page 5-51.
Success or failure will rest, increasingly, with the rifleman and with his ability to make the right decision at the right time at the point of contact. As with Corporal Hernandez at CP Charlie, today's Marines will often operate far
"from the flagpole" without the direct supervision of senior leadership. And, like Corporal Hernandez, they will be asked to deal with a bewildering array of challenges and threats. In order to succeed under such demanding
conditions they will require unwavering maturity, judgment, and strength of character. Most importantly, these missions will require them to confidently make well-reasoned and independent decisions under extreme stress -- decisions that will likely be subject to the harsh scrutiny of both the media and the court of public opinion.
Item 16 The content is located on page 5-53.
The remaining vestiges of the "zero defects mentality" must be exchanged for an environment in which all Marines are afforded the "freedom to fail" and with it, the opportunity to succeed. Micro-management must become a thing of the past and supervision -- that double-edged sword -- must be
complemented by proactive mentoring. Most importantly, we must aggressively empower our NCO's, hold them strictly accountable for their actions, and allow the leadership potential within each of them to flourish.
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MCI Course 8014A A-1 Appendix A