Military Transformation and Joint Experimentation: Two Views From Above (Defense Horizons, December 2004)

摘要

Military transformation 'a process that shapes the changing nature of military competition and cooperation through new combinations of concepts, capabilities, people and organizations' is on the minds and agendas of everyone dealing with the military. Many people talk about transformation; the two authors of this Defense Horizons have done something about it. In fact, they are among the few who have been responsible for shaping and implementing the concept. To get a better idea of what goes into this process, particularly the element of joint experimentation that is helping to identify and define the nature of change, Defense Horizons presents the views of two of America's leading military officers who have been involved in the process. Admiral Harold Gehman, the commander of Atlantic Command (before it became Joint Forces Command, or JFCOM) and initiator of the Joint Experimentation Directorate, presents a framework for how experimentation can advance the goals of transformation and clarifies terms and relates them to the tasks at hand. He also considers the role of joint experimentation process, uses historical analogies to identify the prerequisites for successful transformation, and gives example of where earlier attempts have failed and why. Finally, he shows how joint experimentation can help achieve success in our current efforts by minimizing conditions that have brought about failure in the past.