The art of the non-decision
Although it’s a truism, it’s none-the-less worthy of emphasizing: defending a land mass the size of Australia, means defending a huge area with very few troops. As night follows day … this means that a mobile defence is needed.
Mobile defence is based on presenting the enemy with constantly changing circumstances, ones which confront the enemy with the unexpected; confusing and disrupting him.
The very small armoured force that Australia has available, must not be farmed out in ‘penny-packets’. A commander must be prepared to commit a squadron of tanks at the critical time and place. Not before. Surprise is the key, together with good morale.
Sadly, the Australian Army suffers from a pervasive ignorance as to how to deploy mechanised forces. This is coupled with a reluctance to be innovative and is fuelled by a bureaucratic system which fosters careerism, rather than professionalism.
Careerism involves the zero-error command technique, in which the fear of making a mistake and being reprimanded, results in initiative being stifled and replaced by ideas which are ‘safe and staid’. This is the basis of the art of the non-decision.
Deception and innovative tactics can turn a battle. Deceive the enemy, lure him into an attempt to penetrate, then attack his flank! If possible, concentrate mobile forces and strike the enemy’s rear echelons!
A counterstroke mentality must be at the forefront of a commander’s thinking; he must be capable of quickly identifying opportunities for strategic counterattacks and exploiting them.
If our very limited armoured forces are to be used effectively to fight a manoeuvre battle and achieve maximum impact, our Army’s thinking must change; and change drastically. The methodical pedestrian approach to everything must be ditched, and mediocrity in our tactical thinking consigned to the past. Our small armoured force must not be restrained by customary caution.
What is absolutely essential for a successful defence of our Nation, are bold commanders with imagination and initiative; men and women who can out-think the enemy and stay ahead of him.
There is a German word ‘fingerspitzengefuehl’, literally ‘finger-tip feeling’. It refers to an intuitive flair, or sure instinct. This is what our Army commanders must possess.
The challenge, of course, is how to identify leaders of this calibre?
The Task Gets Harder.
Conducting mobile defence became much harder when the former Chief of Army scrapped Australia’s only tank regiment and made it an experimentation unit. Instead of a unit focussed on developing the skills needed for mobile warfare, tank numbers were axed by a third.
Instead of a regiment commanded by a battle-group headquarters and having three tank squadrons … only two remain on the ORBAT. Furthermore, these AFVs are commanded by a unit having incompatible dual roles of reconnaissance and close fire support.
There is an overwhelming and urgent need for these roles to be separated and commanded by individual battle-group headquarters.
The Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC) has undoubtedly been decimated. It may never recover.
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Ret’d)
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