Welcome once again back on the rollercoaster!
Train like we fight, fight like we train.
Defence can only achieve an intellectual edge if its members are consistently engaged and curious.
Strategic Cousins: Interoperability between Australia and CanadaBrodie NelsonAustralian Defence ForceIntroduction
Applying Wylie's Cumulative and Sequential Patterns to Air OperationsPeter Layton
Space as a Strategic Geography
Pete Wooding
Australian Defence Force
Strategist Joseph Caldwell Wylie argued that strategies were implemented through two general types of operational patterns: (1) cumulative warfare, which involves “a collection of lesser actions” where tactical actions gradually built up to have strategic impact; and (2) sequential warfare, which is “a series of discrete steps” where each lead to the next; an example being the island hopping campaign across the Pacific during World War Two.
There is a blunt but effective thought experiment for anyone in a leadership role: if you see yourself as the village hero, but everyone you lead sees you as the village idiot, you have a problem.
In Why Air Forces Fail: The Anatomy of Defeat (Higham & Harris, 2016), historians Robin Higham and Stephen Harris assemble a team of experts to investigate examples of failure and defeat in the application of air power. Overall, Why Air Forces Fail is an interesting and important book because it analyses the reasons why air forces have suffered defeat and failure. It draws some important lessons in this regard, and it provides an excellent resource for those studying air power.
