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4 April 2015

Tom wants to talk about future structure? Ok, how about networked infantry units?

BY THOMAS E. RICKS
MARCH 25, 2015

What does the future of war look like? It looks fast. Today information travels literally at the speed of light, and technology has democratized that ability. The winners of future wars will be the ones who can react most quickly and decisively based on the flow of information. Our infantry forces need to be structured as networks that can move and react as quickly as information does.

To determine how infantry units currently organize themselves, look past what they express in doctrine, and instead look at what they incentivize. Tactical infantry doctrine describes structures that are flexible, networked, and decentralized, allowing subordinates to operate with degrees of independence, as long as they accomplish the tactical task and commander’s intent, or purpose. But actual conduct of infantry operations, in training and combat, still incentivizes a hierarchy system, the legacy of a time when information traveled very differently. The values expressed by doctrine are correct, but the structure of the infantry is still very much hierarchical.

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