Welcome back! In the previous posts we’ve discussed the types of warfare, our thought process, and some of the planning factors for maneuver warfare. Now it’s time to discuss how we execute maneuver warfare. There are two main areas of focus, the decision making process during execution and the concept of initiative. Onward!
The obligatory recap
Attrition Warfare - Kill the other guy
Maneuver Warfare - Make the other guy stop fighting
OODA Loop - The decision making process consisting of four steps: Observation, Orientation, Decision, and Action
CG - Opposition source of strength and will to fight
CV - How you affect the opposition CG
Main / Supporting Effort - The forces that will affect the CG / everyone else
Surfaces and Gaps - Opposition strengths and weaknesses
OMPCOA / OMDCOA - The most probable and most dangerous oppositoin actions
And now… the hard part
The commanders have identified the CGs that need to be neutralized, the CVs they will use to affect those CGs, the main effort and supporting efforts that will allow the exploitation of the CVs, and the surfaces and gaps in the opposition defense that they wish to attack. The plan is in place and it’s time to give the order.
What now, lieutenant?
That question is how nearly every exercise at The Basic School, first stop in a Marine officer’s education, begins. A simple “attack!” doesn’t really cut it. We have a plan, but we’re going to eventually have contact with the opposition and the opposition has a way of disrupting plans. Chaos and confusion, two elements of the “fog of war,” are constants in warfare. As a result the plan will need constant adjustment if a force is to be successful.
OODA Loops and their effects
There are three attributes of every OODA Loop: accuracy, speed, and tempo. Accuracy refers to the quality of the decision making steps in the process. In the observation phase the decision maker must take in all the information they need. Orientation requires them to see not only where they are in the battle space, but also where the opposition is and what the observations tell about the environment. Decision is obvious, figure out what the next step is. Action is equally apparent. Any one of these factors being done poorly will affect the decision is a negative way.
Speed refers to the time it takes to run through an individual cycle of the OODA Loop. Given two people starting a cycle at the same time and concocting the same plan, the one who can enact the plan first has a much greater chance of success because they will be forcing their plan onto the opposition.
Tempo is the rate that someone goes through OODA Loops over time. A combination of high speed and tempo will allow the decision maker to force his plan upon the opposition and, equally important, to quickly adjust their plan when things don’t go perfectly according to plan. Speed and tempo go hand in hand to create another important concept, initiative.
These three concepts will define anyone's OODA Loop and therefore their decision making abilities. At every level quality OODA Loops will enhance the odds of success and poor OODA Loops will increase the likelihood of failure. In Part III I mentioned that time may be a luxury present for early stage OODA Loops. In the execution phase, not so much.
The accuracy, speed, and tempo of an OODA Loop will show an immediate effect on the battlefield. As the opponents must constantly go through successive OODA Loops a single poor cycle could yield an advantage to the opposition. Good planning will enhance all three assets, potentially allowing a decision maker to bypass a step on the OODA Loop.
As an example, in Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! the second boxer, Von Kaiser, will flutter his eyebrows before throwing a jab.
OODA #1 - Ooda "Oh look, he's raising his eyebrows" oOda "Crap, he just jabbed me" ooDa "I gotta block next time" oodA "I will adjust my strategy"
OODA #2 - Ooda "Oh look, he's raising his eyebrows" oOda "He's about to jab me" ooDa "I should block" oodA - "I'll push down now"
OODA #3 - Ooda "Oh look, he's raising his eyebrows" oOda "He's going to jab, but if I punch right now I'll get a star" ooDa "I'm punching" oodA "Yeah, already there"
OODA #3 seems to be the most advantageous, because he did his planning. The big difference, though, is he's made the decision in advance. He knows that when he sees the eyebrows raise he should punch, and can therefore skip the Orientation and Decision phases. His planning has increased his accuracy, speed, and (most likely) tempo for that particular decision. This is what good planning does, it sets up a decision maker to act immediately after an observation.
Initiative and Success
Initiative is, the state where you implement your plan and force the opposition to react to it. Maintaining the initiative is the desired steady state of maneuver warfare. There will be periods of offensive fighting and periods of defensive fighting, but in warfare those labels are based on tasking. Whether the fighting is offensive or defensive the side that makes the other side react is in control.
Initiative can change quickly and can be held by either the offense or the defense. Sports commentators will often use terms like "off balance" or "on their heels" to describe a side that has lost the initiative. A boxer with a counter-punching style will attempt to goad his opponent into throwing certain punches to gain the initiative, as will an NFL defense using extra coverage or extra blitzers to disrupt the offense. With chess, the player who can think farther ahead will typically be able to implement a longer term plain and force their opponent to react, thus gaining the initiative. In our own US Senate the constant reality of GOP fillibusters transformed a outnumbered minority into a controlling force.
One Sentence Wrap Up
Maneuver warfare seeks to seek and maintain the initiative by harnessing the accuracy, speed, and tempo of a decision maker using the OODA loop to counter OMPCOAs and OMDCOAs by lining up friendly surfaces with opposition gaps so that supporting efforts can shape the battle space allowing the main effort to exploit a critical vulnerability to affect a center of gravity in order to force the opposition to do what we want.
Got all that? Awesome. That’s a basic primer to maneuver warfare. We’ve talked about why we fight, how we think, how we plan for the fight, and how we execute that plan. There’s one post left, and it deals with how this applies to us when we’re not busy trying to poke holes in each other at a distance. See you in the final post!
Glossary
OODA Loop - The decision making process consisting of four steps: Observation, Orientation, Decision, and Action
Center of Gravity (CG) - That which gives the opposition strength and the will or ability to fight
Critical Vulnerability (CV) - A weakness in the opposition that can be exploited to influence a Center of Gravity
Main Effort (ME) - The friendly force that has the best chance or the assigned task of directly influencing an opposition Center of Gravity
Supporting Effort (SE) - Any friendly force that is not the Main Effort. All Supporting Effort forces accomplish tasks that directly or indirectly aid the Main Effort's task.
Surface - An enemy strength or strongpoint pertaining to the fight
Gap - An enemy weakness pertaining to the fight
Opposition's Most Probable Course Of Action (OMPCOA) - The opposition strategy and tactics most likely to be used
Opposition's Most Dangerous Course Of Action (OMDCOA) - The opposition strattegy and tactics that would cause the most damage to friendly forces
Speed - The time it takes to complete a single OODA Loop cycle
Tempo - The rate at which multiple OODA Loop cycles are completed
Initiative - The state of forcing the opposition to react to your plan rather than reacting to the opposition's plan