The American military stands at a watershed, facing massive, unfamiliar change — with tools designed for an earlier age.
In the past when society experienced turbulence of this magnitude, the resulting shifts affected all areas of life. So it will be again. Our armed forces, one of society’s most conservative institutions, must be transformed. Enormous changes are pushing for dramatic alterations in their composition, the context in which they operate, and their role in our society.
We are living at the beginning of a technology explosion. Extraordinary technological advances are being made in a variety of disciplines, some of which did not even exist ten years ago. Many are affecting our national security.
The most significant advance is in information technology. Not only is this extraordinary technology proliferating, it is also increasing in its capability. Just eight years ago, PCs made available large-scale, cheap, fast repetitive iteration, opening up whole areas of dynamic systems analysis. Now virtual reality and its ultimate derivative, full-color holographic projection, are making it possible to move information rather than people. Warfare, for example, has always involved moving men — and tanks, aircraft, rifles, and so on — to a specific location to fight. Even staff support operations like the targeting and scheduling of aircraft sorties required large numbers of people to be in the vicinity of the conflict. In Desert Shield/Desert Storm,... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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