Battlefield Management
Most of you would have heard of Battle Management System, it's what looks like a computer mounted in the centre console of a Humvee looks a lot like a Television.
Well, that's that, but that console is just a small part of what War Science called "Battlefield Management" skill that utilize by commander to effectively command troop and achieve their objective.
And in this article, I hope to explain to you the basic concept of Battlefield Management.
What is Battlefield Management?
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Just like in a company, an officer lead troop much like a manager manage his/her workers. While military officer command a battle, it means that the officer in field are responsible for managing the battle itself, as well as all available resources that officer get to accomplish his or her objective.
Battlefield Management is a subset studies of Battle Command (Abbr. BC) which basically is a mix of Business Management and Battlefield Command Structure.
There are 3 fields in Battlefield Management
1.) Strategic Asset Management
2.) Tactical Asset Management
3.) Unit Management
For example, the TV look alike I mention at the beginning of the article is an example for unit management.
Objective of Battlefield Management.
The goal, or objective for battlefield management is to provide the commander tools to accomplish his/her objective in an effective manner. Each commander in different level (Company, Field, Staff and General) have a different subset and a different requirement he or she have to learn to manage a battle.
It should be understand that the objective of battlefield management is not just focus on the outcome of a single battle. What good does it do if you win this battle but losing 90% of your force in the process?
Battlefield Management is there to prevent situation just like that.
Battlefield Management provided the commander on field or in control a step in the decision making, better the battlefield being managed, the better the decision making process, hence a better battle outcome.
However, it should be noted that Battlefield Management is not just solely engage in the real time or strategic decision making process, it also focus on communication, intelligence, unit coherence and situational awareness.
Hand-on and Hand-off Management Style
Contrary to common belief, all 3 stages utilise both Hand-on and Hand-off style management, problem with command structure is that no commander in a single system can control all variable at the same time, but also on the other hand, on hand management provide commander first hand view of the process of battle.
While most unit level management can be manhandled by the commander itself, but with Hand on management, commander would risk "Tunnel Vision" on the commands. Where commander would generally focus on the immediate picture of the battle, but cannot see the whole picture of the battlefield.
Hand-off style would usually feed the commander real time picture of the overall battle, but the disadvantage is that hand-off mean the overall command have to assert certain power to the subordinate and expect them to perform their task at time, which could be a flaw as the overall command can lose overall tactical control and it would take time to reassert tactical control and affect the whole battlefield progress.
A good battlefield manage at any level should consider both system as to how a commander manage a battle. At some element, hand-on control must be assert, for example, core objective, but secondary objective or other objective that does not deemed important enough should be delegated by the subordinate.
Common Ground
Although there are 3 different systems on Battlefield Management, there are common ground on each different system, the common denominator for all battlefield management are the picture, it does not matter if they are big or small, you need to get the picture, and to have it, you need to have a C4ISTAR system
C4ISTAR stands for Command, Control, Communication, Computing, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance
C4ISTAR is the way for any commander needed to construct a full picture of the battlefield. It's important for the commander to understand the battlefield as a whole before any decision can be made. And a good C4ISTAR system would mean the commander would process more knowledge on the battlefield, real time information across the battlefield and the constant update, on the other hand, a bad C4ISTAR system or practices would result in the commander making judgment based on incomplete information.
Unit Management
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In brief, Unit Management is to micromanage each unit operate under the commander command within your AO.
While unit management focus on the inter-unit communication, the real time co-relation between the unit under your command, to satisfy this, the need for a command and reporting system are important. To do that, commander are help with the Battlefield Management System.
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Battlefield Management System such as FBCB2 are used to report and locate both friends and enemy unit to increase the commander's situational awareness so to give the commander a well present information for decision making process.
However, the tool to make the right decision does not just rest on modern equipment, it also depend on the military human resource management skill.
Being a whole different subject altogether. I am not going to go deep into the skill with Military Human Resource Management (AR-600-8) but I will try to briefly define the core concept of MHRM is that you treat unit in your command as a commodity and what you, as a commander have to do is to try to find out a way you use those commodity (Soldier) to exchange for advantages in order to complete your mission.
It may sound cold as hell, but as a commander, you have to look at each of your soldier an asset, when you objectify your soldier, you can put them into a calculation in order for you to complete your mission. Decision like how much this high ground worth to your men, and should we complete the mission economically if we do not take this enemy bunker? You basically use your soldier to "buy" advantage in order for you to complete your mission.
Tactical Asset Management
Now, look at a bigger picture, some time there are some element that is out of your control that is important for fighting your battle. Those usually are supporting element such as naval or air support.
While usually those asset were not controlled by the on site commander, they would cross path with the operation and probably be allocated to the commander disposal.
Now, much like the commercial side, the Tactical Asset Management are divided into 2 different category, they are discretionary and systematic.
While discretionary management provided the commander manage the tactical asset based on the battlefield order, the general situation of battlefield. Manage the battlefield tactical asset by preference and prioritise the battlefield asset according to their strength and number. Oppose to the battlefield need.
Systematic management on the other hand focus on the inequality of the equation, basically to predict what kind of tactical asset is lacking and prioritize the asset according to the battlefield need, oppose to the battlefield order.
Strategic Asset Management
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The final chapter of battlefield management would be strategic asset management. As the name suggested, it is an overall strategic management, also known as the big picture
The goal for a commander is to provide an initial plan for all asset class, setting the overall objective and adjust all the asset from their deviation to maintain the overall objective. In term of military command, there are an old saying that "Plans never survive the first contact with the enemy" by balancing unit in an overall strategic level, the commander have to be able to react to real time change to the battlefield and provide a useful arrangement to bring the objective back in line.
Strategic Asset Management focus on changes according to time, which may develop due to several factors (Risks, Force balance, Intelligence to Unforeseeable Circumstance) The overall objective, basically is to set a goal and stick by it, as usual, this is a lot easier to say than actually do it.
For example, if an commander have an overall command of 10 infantry division and 5 armoured division, the commander may set an arbitrary goal say to drive the enemy out of a single phase line.
The commander can tackle the approach by either reducing risk, by diverging the unit, but he or she can also focus on time efficiency factor by concentrating the whole lot into smashing into the enemy. (Less time = Less risk)
And the commander's duty will then be try to balance the overall factor of the battlefield to achieve his/her goal (in this case, drive the enemy out of the phase line)
That's all the basic for battlefield management, I hope you enjoy reading it, as usual, I will try to answer any question you may have. thank for your time and see you later
