Still think peeling paint and a lawnmower parked in a front yard are
issues endlessly contemplated by your council? Think again.
Please read at your leisure then tell me what you think!
http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/MayJun07/Hammes.pdf =
Thanks! -Sharon
-----Original Message-----
From: sballer03@sprintpcs.com [mailto:sballer03@sprintpcs.com] On Behalf Of Sharon R. Baller
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:38 AM
To: sballer@vil.stockbridge.mi.us
Subject: FW: Evolution and format of modern warfare.
In readying my mind for a large-scale proposal effort, I am gathering information that could be important in crafting a winning proposal. One of my best friends and respected colleagues is Mr. Raul Diaz, also titled Lt. Col. Raul Diaz (Ret.) U.S. ARMY. He and I have like minds and very similar interests and tastes in many ways. I find his thinking to be on par with none I've met to date except perhaps my favorite uncle, Dr. William Brown, who worked most of his life in the support of a strong national defense.
This article forwarded by Raul contains the seed of a very important learning for anyone wishing to address the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with a proposal idea on the scale we will bring to them. It's called "Fourth Generation Warfare Evolves, FIFTH EMERGES," by Colonel T. X. Hammes, USMC, Retired, a well-known writer and commentator on military affairs. His credentials are impressive. His message even more so and should evoke in the reader a new appreciation for why "SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL BUT CAN ALSO BE DANGEROUS." You won't understand why that is until you've read to the end of his article to a section "Fifth Generation Warfare." [5GW]
In my preparation for any number of possible futures, I have been casually following military strategic direction since 1987. The future scenarios discussed in the 5GW could happen right up or down the road from us. Let me offer a few excerpts for thought:
"Politically, there have been major changes in who fights wars. The trend has been and continues to be downward from nation-states using huge, uniformed armies to small groups of like-minded people with no formal organization who simply choose to fight. We have slid so far away from national armies that often it is impossible to tell 4GW fighters from simple criminal elements. Many of the former are, in fact, criminal elements -- either they use crime to support their cause or they use their cause to legitimize their crime. . . .
"Economically we have seen the steady increase in the power of information Insurgent groups have seized on the improving information grid to execute the strategic communications campaigns that are central to their victories. . . . Insurgents have been quick to exploit such powerful communications tools as the cell phone and the Internet for recruiting, training, communicating, educating, and controlling the new members. They have shifted from mass mobilization to targeted individual mobilization.
"Today's key businesses are becoming ever more productive because of their access to or manipulation of information. One result has been a proliferation of small companies that have created great wealth, a phenomenon in accordance with the long-term trend of power devolving downward to smaller entities -- whether they are business or military. The epitome of this tendency is that just two guys essentially created Google. . . .
". . . In many ways, military and business problems are merging as the world becomes more interconnected and power is driven downward. . . . The interconnected world is highly vulnerable to disruptions in key commodities, and business issues can very rapidly become matters of serious international security. . . . Today, very small armed groups can impact the entire world's economy immediately and dramatically.
"Socially, we have seen a major shift in how communities are formed. People are changing allegiance from nations to causes, a trend dramatically accelerated by Internet connectivity. In fact, many people are more engaged in their online causes than in their real-world communities. Of particular concern are members of groups who are willing to go to extremes to advance their causes . . .
". . . The anthrax attack provided stark evidence that today a single individual can attack a nation-state. Over time, the combination of political motivation, social organization, and economic development has given greater and greater destructive capability to smaller and smaller groups. . .
". . . Fifth-generation warfare will result from the continued shift of political and social loyalties to causes rather than nations. It will be marked by the increasing power of smaller and smaller entities and the explosion of biotechnology. 5GW will truly be a nets -and-jets war: networks will distribute the key information, provide a source for the necessary equipment and material, and constitute a field from which to recruit volunteers; the jets will provide the worldwide, inexpensive, effective dissemination of the weapons.. . .
". . . Clearly, we as a Nation, and particularly our military, are not ready to counter the coming attacks. It's time to start thinking about how we might deal with this next step in warfare."
That, my friends, is why I am interested in the topic. What's more, you heard what the good man said: "Today, very small groups can impact an entire world's economy immediately and dramatically." I read this an an opportunity and hope for a small group such as ourselves who are unified by a cause to protect and safe keep our way of life in the small towns roundabout. We have brought together the kernel of a group which could write new history in the learnings about how to do that. If the bad guys are coalescing behind unsavory agendas, why not the good guys uniting behind efforts to thwart the bad guys? Give this synopsis some thought and then, if interested, read the entire .pdf attached. If this gives you ideas, please share them with the group.
Many hands make labor light. -Sharon
From: Horseppl@aol.com [mailto:Horseppl@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 7:13 PM
To: sballer@lobatek.com
Subject: Fwd: Evolution and format of modern warfare.
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