{"id":35530,"date":"2017-11-15T13:30:35","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T02:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=35530"},"modified":"2017-11-15T12:54:07","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T01:54:07","slug":"reader-response-mind-the-capability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-mind-the-capability\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader response: mind the capability"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

I started to read Andrew Harrison\u2019s recent Strategist<\/em> post, \u2018\u201cCapability\u201d saves lives<\/a>\u2019, with some interest, but that soon changed to disappointment as the narrowness of his definition of capability became clear. Like most military professionals I\u2019ve encountered, Harrison considered capability to mean simply \u2018pieces of kit\u2019. There\u2019s nothing wrong with kit, and having access to good equipment is certainly important for Australia\u2019s soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen. For example, the army\u2019s Diggerworks<\/a> program has done impressive work in improving the soldier combat system.<\/p>\n

However, I would maintain that equipment isn\u2019t the ADF\u2019s most important capability, despite the modernisation of kit receiving so much attention from the three services, the Department of Defence and industry. Instead, the nation\u2019s most important military capability is the intellect of its uniformed personnel.<\/p>\n

Military personnel know that war is waged first in the mind. It is a battle of wills. Equipment\u2019s utility is to intensify the assault on an adversary\u2019s will to carry on and to harden the resolve of one\u2019s own personnel. Without human agency, the best equipment (however that\u2019s defined) is no more useful than the worst. One need only be reminded that on the eve of World War II, the French Army possessed the best tanks in the world from a technical perspective. Yet it was the German Army that properly thought through the potential of mechanised warfare and as a result its inferior tanks ground to victory.<\/p>\n

Equipment is the sexy part of a military organisation\u2019s identity, but it is a well-trained and well-educated mind that gets the job done. I know Harrison knows this. All professional soldiers do. Still, it\u2019s disappointing when the next shiny toy invariably receives the attention while the education of our warriors continues to receive less than its due. If Australia is to prepare for its future defence challenges for real, as much debate and resources need to be given to improving the minds of those who serve as is given to buying the next generation of \u2026 whatever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I started to read Andrew Harrison\u2019s recent Strategist post, \u2018\u201cCapability\u201d saves lives\u2019, with some interest, but that soon changed to disappointment as the narrowness of his definition of capability became clear. Like most military professionals …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":35533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,33,1420],"class_list":["post-35530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-capability","tag-modernisation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReader response: mind the capability | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/reader-response-mind-the-capability\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reader response: mind the capability | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I started to read Andrew Harrison\u2019s recent Strategist post, \u2018\u201cCapability\u201d saves lives\u2019, with some interest, but that soon changed to disappointment as the narrowness of his definition of capability became clear. 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