Can the U.S. Regain Battlefield Superiority Against China? Applying New Metrics to Build an Adaptable and Resilient Military
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By Bryan Clark, Dan Patt & Timothy A. Walton
January 14, 2022
Organizational behavior is driven by metrics and measurements, which can compel change more effectively than a flurry of management directives from the C-suite. With Pentagon leaders calling for new ways of building and fighting the force, the time has come to re-examine some of the U.S. military’s fundamental metrics and assess how they could better incentivize the characteristics needed for future combat.
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The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has undergone near-constant reform since its founding in the wake of World War II. Frustrated by the department’s fragmented decision-making, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara restructured Pentagon processes during the 1960s to implement the same analytic and data-driven industrial approach he previously applied at Ford Motor Company. Additional changes ensued over the following decades: During the 1970s, the failures of Vietnam spurred the establishment of independent intelligence and assessment organizations; during the 1980s, the Goldwater-Nichols Act reorganized acquisition and operational relationships to promote inter-service integration; and, during the 1990s, decreased defense spending prompted efforts to wring greater efficiencies from the defense enterprise. The pace of change only accelerated over the last two decades as defense leaders sought to produce a sophisticated, networked military by creating additional paths to speed acquisition and standing up more than a dozen new support agencies and combatant commands to address emerging missions.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/01/14/can_the_us_regain_battlefield_superiority_against_china_applying_new_metrics_to_build_an_adaptable_and_resilient_military_811963.html
