Warfighting panel discusses merits of 'hybrid' armed forces

VIRGINIA BEACH

What issues are relevant to the future of a military force that draws from all the service branches? How might such a joint force operate?

And, perhaps most important, how can it battle the unconventional adversaries rising to challenge it?

"They're more like an amoeba," said Marine Col. Steven M. Zotti. "How do you break the backbone of an amoeba?"

On Wednesday morning, these and other questions confronted a panel of military leaders titled "What Challenges Does the Future Joint Force Face?"

The panel is part of the 2008 Joint Warfighting Conference, which runs through today at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The conference, in its second year, gathers military, government and industry leaders to discuss defense issues. This year, it has drawn more than 150 exhibitors and about 6,000 attendees.

Wednesday's panel was moderated by retired Marine Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper, former commander of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

Zotti, of Quantico's strategic division group, said the first step to an effective joint force is recognizing "that each service brings unique capabilities."

"How we combine them is the art," he said.

The panelists said future wars will be "hybrid" ones, in which the armed services "can't fall on the comfort of categories," said Army Maj. Gen. David A. Fastabend, who directs strategy, plans and policy.

"It's tempting to parse reality into categories of which you have a solution to each," he said. "We'd love to decide the type of war we're in - insurgency, conventional - get the enemies to agree, and have a solution."

This situation will only get worse, Zotti added, because these individuals and nonstate actors are becoming more technologically savvy and better networked. This will lead to "more lethal and unpredictable combat."

To understand this type of warfare, the panelists said, it is as important to look backward as it is to look forward.

"We try and take an evidence-based approach," said Navy Rear Adm. John Richardson of U.S. Joint Forces Command. "History provides some great lessons and parallels. It's very rare that we're on a completely new thing."

As a result, collection teams are combing Iraq for information to help inform future strategy and, if needed, design focused experiments and war games to solve specific problems, he said.

The panelists agreed that no solutions are universal or permanent.

"The thing about irregular warfare is that it's irregular," Fastabend said. "Plans and requirements keep changing quickly. You have to keep adjusting."

For example, he said, the Army is concerned with how thinly it's stretched on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is exacerbated by the role its military police play in guarding detainees.

But instead of suddenly redesigning its military police structure to address current needs, only to have to do so again during the next operation, the Army is leaning on the other services to fill in gaps, Fastabend said.

"It's a necessary and unfortunate situation," he said.

"It fundamentally goes back down to the people," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Roy M. Worden, vice commander of Air Combat Command. "Those corporals and sergeants in the field, through the persistent high moral ground they have, they are our hope and they are our strategy.

"War is about people, not about technology," he said. "The key to the future is our people, not our machines."

Matthew Jones, (757) 477-5536, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com