Getting prototypes of new weapon systems into the hands of operators quickly is key to turning the U.S. military into a more efficient and effective fighting force, says retired Navy Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski, the Pentagon's new director of force transformation.
As new capabilities emerge, they should be field tested rapidly and, if found effective, begin to reshape doctrine and military organizations, Admiral Cebrowski explained at his first press conference as transformation chief. Aggressive "operational prototyping" as an approach to weapon development is superior to trying "to forecast a need 15 to 25 years hence, freeze a design, and then make it fit into the reality that emerges.
"What you want to do is put a capability in the hands of people as soon as you possibly can, and then have the ability to issue the next item, then the next item, constantly growing and changing," he said.
And "transformation," as sought by the Bush administration, should be aimed not at some future generation of warriors but at Americans now fighting in Afghanistan, and at those preparing for the broader war on terrorism. "It's about the present as much as it is the future," noted Admiral Cebrowski. "If [it is] a good way to think in 2015, well, then why shouldn't we be thinking that way today?"
The war against terrorism has given the administration's call to transform the military new urgency, the admiral suggested. Though the world might see outgunned terrorists getting pounded in Afghanistan, he sees U.S. forces that need to be even more agile, and to have broader capabilities "to limit the way a potential enemy can maneuver into a space we create ... by our allocation decisions."
In other words, the military must spend more wisely against 21st-century threats. A higher proportion of defense dollars, for example, should go to sophisticated information systems that—in the information age—translate into power, Admiral Cebrowski said. The importance of information is clear in Afghanistan, he added.
Though it might appear U.S. forces are relying on conventional tactics and weapons—aircraft, bombs, and missiles—the present war in Central Asia is different from the war fought against Iraq a decade ago.
"Who is that naval aviator talking to, to deliver that ordnance? What kind of team is doing that? What's the communication medium for that? Is the doctrine exactly as it says in a glossy pub, or is it somehow different?"
Admiral Cebrowski expects interesting lessons to emerge from operations in Afghanistan. "I don't think very many people would have predicted exactly those kinds of forces would come together in this way for that kind of battle," he said.
Admiral Cebrowski, 59, spent the final tour of his 37-year naval career as president of the Naval War College. He retired on 1 October 2001, and became the first director of force transformation on 29 October. Previous assignments as a naval aviator included combat tours in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf and command of an air wing, an assault ship, and a carrier, and as a carrier group commander. As a flag officer, he became a policy expert on the Joint Staff and an expert on command, control, communications, and computers.
The admiral now is Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "advocate, focal point, and catalyst for transformation," according to a Pentagon statement.
Military transformation means creating and deploying combat capabilities that provide revolutionary advantages over adversaries. Proponents say it should not be confused with modernization, which usually means upgrading existing inventories of aircraft, ships, armor, guns, weapons, and communications. Real transformation, the admiral said, "creates new sources of power and yields profound increases in competitive advantage."
Transformation can happen relatively quickly, he said, citing the decision in 1956 to install nuclear missiles in submarines. Four years after that, the George Washington (SSBN-598) went to sea with nuclear missiles and changed the strategic equation with the Soviet Union. Other transformations that changed not just the military "but the world," said Admiral Cebrowski, were the decisions to communicate and navigate from space and the decision to give U.S. ground forces the ability to "own the night" by investing in night-vision technology.
"The trouble with many of these things is we see them retrospectively," said Admiral Cebrowski. "And part of the great challenge is to adopt a more forward-looking view and ... [foster] the kind of environment [that] can produce those kinds of changes."
The Department of Defense has set up an information gateway for transformation at www.defenselink..mispecials/transform/.