Lifting the Fog of War [Paperback]

William A. Owens (Author), Ed Offley (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2001

Is the United States an exhausted superpower? Recent military operations in Iraq, Somalia, and Kosovo have resulted in defeat or stalemate. America's key weaponry is fast becoming obsolete, and its men and women in uniform are disenchanted. Yet the U.S. remains committed to a wide variety of conflicts around the world and is increasingly confronted by threats against which traditional military power will be ineffective.

As Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Clinton administration, Admiral Bill Owens saw the challenges facing the U.S. military firsthand. In this trenchant, fascinating, and forward-looking book, Owens explains the full extent of the military crisis and proposes bold new solutions to revolutionize the armed services. Instead of spending trillions of dollars to update obsolete weapons systems, he argues, the Department of Defense should take advantage of recent advances in computing, communications, and satellite technology and bring our military into the Information Age. These changes—collectively known in defense circles as the Revolution in Military Affairs or RMA—would transform the way that America wages war, bringing about a smaller, stronger, and more flexible military better able to monitor enemy forces in real time and thereby counter the "fog of war" that has bedeviled commanders throughout history. Lifting the Fog of War offers both an insider's account of today's armed forces and a vital blueprint for a more effective and affordable military tomorrow. For the paperback edition, the author has written a new preface about the Bush administration's attitudes toward military reform.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his classic book On War, Carl von Clausewitz famously wrote: "War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty." Ever since, "the fog of war" has been a standard concept in military theory. But now, says Admiral William A. Owens, the time has come to lift that fog with technology currently in development. Such technology may soon "revolutionize the way we conduct military operations," writes the author, who is the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (America's second-highest-ranking officer) and now heads Teledesic. "In a future conflict," says Owens, "an Army corps commander in his field headquarters will have instant access to a live, three-dimensional image of the entire battlefield displayed on a computer screen, an image generated by a network of sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, reconnaissance aircraft, and special operations soldiers on the ground. The commander will know the precise location and activity of enemy units--even those attempting to cloak their movements by operating at night, in poor weather, or hiding behind mountains or under trees." Yet Lifting the Fog of War is not merely high-tech happy talk. Owens is deeply concerned about U.S. military readiness: "The military as we know it is in trouble," he writes. "The impending collapse of our military capability in the oncoming 'defense train wreck' must occupy center stage in the 2000 presidential election." This book is at once an engaging review of recent military history, a gripping vision of what may come, and a compelling call to arms. --John J. Miller --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Owens expresses a familiar complaint in asserting that the U.S. is an exhausted superpower whose armed forces are overextended, underfunded and inappropriately organized for the missions they are likely to face. Accepting that too many operations on too few funds are a given for the near future, Owens makes a case for a fundamental reconfiguration of the armed forces, a "revolution in Military Affairs" that he defines as applying information technology to warfare. He is optimistic about the prospects of eliminating "fog and friction," the inability to know what is really happening on the battlefield (a position that might arguably owe something to Owens's current position as the CEO of an information systems corporation). Many of the supporting points, expressed in jargon such as "systems of systems" and "dominant battlespace knowledge," are less convincing than his analyses of Desert Storm and Kosovo, which lead to the most important feature the book: its challenge to service parochialism. Such in-group loyalties, he argues, have ultimate consequences, including radio systems that are not interoperable and budget discussions that focus on turf battles rather than national interest. His specific suggestions for reorganization rely on a standing joint force that would train and operate together permanently. The concept, modeled to a degree on current Marine Corps practice, is open to debate. Owens's insistence that the success of his "Revolution in Military Affairs" depends on choosing synergy over specialization, however, could well serve as a focal point in future discussions of U.S. security policies.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (October 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801868416
• ISBN-13: 978-0801868412
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soaring Insight with an (unfortunate) Journalistic Tether, June 10, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lifting the Fog of War (Hardcover)

Admiral Owens' recent book, Lifting the Fog of War, is a courageous, insider's explication of what's right and what's wrong with the Pentagon, today. It is a courageous statement because it breaks with the tradition that professional, senior military leaders do not criticize their contemporary professionals. Politicians, of course, certainly the civilians who challenge "professional military judgement" as the sole guide to designing and buying future military forces -- these have always been fair targets of American military professionals who turn to literature after they retire. And the book unfortunately has a few journalistic cheap shots. But what distinguishes it from journalism -- and makes this book a serious and significant work -- is the primary author's insights to the inner world of service parochialism. (One suspects Owens' collaborator on the book -- the journalist Ed Offley -- may be responsible for the slips into administration bashing and the newsy cliches.) It is a bold assessment of the central military problem currently faced by the United States; namely, a reluctance of the professional military leadership to accelerate the American Revolution in Military Affairs. Owens' description of the promise of information technology is brilliant and wise. Here is an in-depth explication of what could be done if the Pentagon had the courage and wisdom to move more expeditiously down the path it has already chosen. But it is more than a technological tour de force. The real power of the author's insight stems from his vision of the international political leverage the United States could gain from moving faster -- and why this would be good for the world. His specific recommendations at first seem a bit esoteric. Defense wonks will know what he's talking about immediately, but maybe not everybody. But they fit with the mainstream of the argument. And if the reader can avoid the diversions into journalism, they ought to end the book convinced the recommendations are right on and hoping Owens somehow gets tapped to be the next Secretary of Defense.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking behind the green curtain?, May 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lifting the Fog of War (Hardcover)

I've done my time-18 years and two more to go. "Lifting the Fog of War" is a catalogue of all that has gone wrong militarily, compounded by "solutions" to make it all "right". It is a precise, logical, and largely accurate portrayal of "where we have been, where we are today, and where we are going"-the favorite lead-in to all military briefings.

This passes the ABC test(Accuracy, Brevity, Clarity) with flying colors. We are moving into a new sphere of capability. For good reason, not least of which is personal experience gained in eighteen years of military service, I have diminished regard for our armed forces in terms of readiness and warrior ethos-both now at a level far below Carter's "hollow military". I have far greater respect for the technology that will be critical to bridge the performance gap. The troubling issue is that these same technologies will be applied across the board.

Benjamin Franklin likened government to fire-it is always dangerous to play with fire. Once it is out of control everyone burns. The technology that is touted here as the panacea for low levels of readiness, spare parts, training, fuel and munitions, to say nothing of plummeting morale and esprit de corps, is really nothing more than a top down con job to sell us on the notion that ubiquitous government backed by an omniscient military is good.

There is danger here, danger that authors like Reg Whitaker (The End of Privacy), Jerry Furland (Transfer-the end of the beginning), Justin Raimondo, Claire Wolfe, etc. etc., have taken pains to expose. The final justification for any governmental over-reach has consistently been, quite simply, "because we can".

In closing, "Lifting the Fog of War" is a fine summary of what the military is likely to become. If you have a care for your own liberty, your right to be left alone, and your privacy, this book will inform you as to how tenuous those cherished rights are becoming. What is used in the military, without fail, migrates first to Federal law enforcement and then spreads it's tenacles to state and local LEAs. These technologies will be applied domestically for both legitimate and extra-constitutional control of the populace.

I hope many will read this work and come to understand that this is not good news for their freedom. But then, many people prefer a cage in a zoo to life in a jungle.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the Military use of Information technology, December 1, 2000

By 

Kenneth S. Smith (Goleta, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lifting the Fog of War (Hardcover)

With the fall of the Soviet Union, American military forces are currently being reduced in size and misused, and the mission of our military is in confusion. How can we overcome this decline?

Throughout history, confusion on the battlefield has always been a problem. As history has progressed, weapons and tactics have become more sophisticated and deadly, and confusion is still a major problem. The next Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) can lift the fog of battlefield confusion and make our military stronger than ever with the limited resources we have. This new RMA is Information Technology. The U.S. has the capability to finally remove the confusion of war by employing multiple sensors and computers to give battlefield commanders, as well as individual soldiers, a clear real-time picture of what the enemy is doing.

Admiral Turner states a clear case as to how to utilize this new information technology to our advantage. In the Gulf War, we saw a glimpse of what Information Technology can do, but we have a long way to go to fully take advantage of the technology available as well as emerging technologies.

A fascinating read and I highly recommend this book for our government and military leaders. We have a golden opportunity to "Lift the Fog of War" and keep our military "Second to None".