Conservatism by choice (stability) – a necessary complement to innovation and adaptation in force design

ABSTRACT

Military innovation and adaptation are regarded as essential attributes of modern military organizations, while conservatism is condemned. Here I define and exemplify a new kind of conservatism – by choice, according to which military organizations deliberately choose not to change. The argument is twofold. First, a combination of conservatism by choice, innovation, and adaptation will lead to a more balanced and agile force than the current trend that over-emphasizes innovation. Second, conservatism by choice of professional military education, unit organization, and command philosophy will enable better utilization of innovations in the fields of weapon systems and tactical doctrine.

KEYWORDS:

• Force design
• conservatism by choice
• innovation
• adaptation

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was prepared for a workshop on Strategic Uncertainty in National Security conducted on 26 June 2018 in Samuel Neaman Institute, Technion. I wish to thank the organizers of the workshop, Professor Yakov Ben-Haim and Professor Eitan Shamir, for their excellent comments and advice. Many thanks to Col (Ret.) Clint Ancker, the former Director of the US Army’s Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, for his suggestions. I wish to thank Dado Center researchers Shmuel Shmuel and Lazar Berman for their aid.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. See for example the white shark, believed to be derived from an ancestor which lived 6–8 million years ago (Mya) and the ancient giant shark Carcharocles Megalodon – a cosmopolitan species that lived from ~15.9 Mya to ~2.6 Mya.

2. Cogan et al. (2005, p. 41): Automated Deep Operations Coordination System (ADOCS) Command and control personal computer (C2PC) Maneuver Control System Light (MCS-L) Remote work station (RWS) All Source Analysis System Light (ASAS-L) Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) Effects Management Tool (EMT) Joint Early Warning System (JWARN) Force XXI Brigade and Below C2 System (FBCB2) Terrabase/SPEED (Terrain Analysis and Profiling Systems) Microsoft Internet Explorer for access to 3 ID TACWEB Microsoft Outlook Mail to transmit FRAGOs.

Additional information

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Meir Finkel

Brigadier General (Res.) Dr. Meir Finkel was the Director of the Dado Center for Interdisciplinary Military Studies/IDF-J3 until June 2019 and currently serves as Dado Center’s head of research. For the first 20 years of his military career he held command positions in the IDF Armored Corps, including the command of the 847th Armored Brigade during the Second Lebanon War (2006). Between 2007–2013 he served as the head of the Ground Forces Doctrine and Concept Development Department. Since 2014 he has directed the Dado Center (as a BG and from 2015 as a civilian). His academic education includes an MA in Neurobiology and a PhD in Evolutionary Biology; an MA and PhD in Political Science, with his dissertation published under the title: On Flexibility: Recovery from Technological and Doctrinal Surprise on the Battlefield, by Stanford University Press (2011). Finkel recently received his third PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology. His book IDF Chief of staff – A Comparative Analysis was published in Hebrew in summer 2018 and is currently being translated to English.