Sir Earnest Dunlop Swinton’s 1904 short book, The Defence of Duffer’s Drift, remains to be an invaluable resource for both civilian and military students. Since it was published, there has been a significant change in how the modern war has transformed. Swinton’s book is an imaginative and enduring classic about small unit tactics. It is a fictional account that follows a young and inexperienced British officer, Backsight Forethought, who is required to decide how he would use a fifty-man platoon to defend a shallow river crossing against a larger, more powerful, and fast-moving guerrilla platoon. In every dream, if the six that Captain Swinton had, catastrophic mistakes that are detrimental to the lives of the platoon are overlooked. However, the lieutenant learns his errors from every dream. What is more threatening is the war’s nature, which is all front war. The lieutenant’s initial failure as he had no experience and how he later overcomes and conquers a large and powerful force is entertaining and displays how small unit tactics worked. The 22 lessons that he learns from the dreams are pivotal towards the victory in the end. Swinton’s book remains relevant today and is invaluable for the American Army and Marine corps as it deals with vital principles that can be embraced to overcome an enemy.
What are Critical Vulnerabilities, according to MCDP 1-3?
According to MCDP 1-3, generating superior combat power is not sufficient when it comes to battlefield success. Focusing that combat power is paramount, and one should concentrate their efforts on a critical vulnerability. MCDP 12-3 defines critical vulnerability as the vulnerability permitting people to destroy the enemy’s capability, which, when deprived, it is impossible for the enemy to function effectively. It is vital to seek the vulnerabilities of the enemy, which means striking the enemy’s weakness with one’s strength. Besides, this should be done when the enemy does not expect it, as this is when the greatest damage can be caused at the lowest cost. This means avoiding the enemy’s front as this is where the enemy’s attention will be focused. Instead, one should strike the enemy’s rear and flanks, which is the point an enemy expects least. A target being vulnerable should never mean that it should not be attacked. One should direct their resources and strike their enemy’s critical capabilities that will ruin their ability to function. They should focus all their efforts on these vulnerabilities that will make the enemy bend to their will most quickly. However, the problem is that there every situation is different, and no formula can be used to determine critical vulnerabilities. Since critical vulnerabilities are not always obvious, it makes it hard to master the tactics. However, it is vital to identify critical vulnerabilities before making any decision.
What is the difference between Critical Vulnerabilities and weaknesses?
From MCDP 1-3, it is easy to identify and differentiate between a weakness and a vulnerability. There is a thin line between these two terms, which is the main reason most people have confused them. Vulnerability can be defined as susceptibility to injure or attack. It is a condition or state of being poorly defended or weak. For instance, when snipers are in a perched position, they have limited mobility, which makes and can be said to vulnerable. On the other hand, a weakness is a state of being weak. This means that one can easily be conquered when they are weak, especially when they cannot match their enemies’ power.
What were the Critical Vulnerabilities and weaknesses for the British in the first five dreams?
In Swinton’s book, the British portrayed some critical vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the first five dreams. One major flaw is that they lacked experience. It was the first time for the young and inexperienced Backsight Forethought to lead, which means that he lacked essential skills that an experienced leader could possess. They did not portray intelligence in the way they handled things, which is mainly because they never received any proper training. Another problem is that they lacked defensive measurements, which could help to protect their platoon. Also, the British did not arrange to safeguard against spies who would expose their plan to their enemies and would have them prepared for every move they made. All the vulnerabilities and weaknesses they faced was because they lacked adequate preparation that could help them execute their plans. Their weaknesses and vulnerabilities played a critical factor in their learning, which made them successful in the end. However, there is a lot to learn from the weaknesses and the vulnerabilities displayed in all dreams. From the dreams, it is clear that it is vital to include information operation in the plan. Also, it is essential if one plans for the enemy’s propaganda and friendly force mistakes that, if not well addressed, may weaken the opponent. An information operation is also part of the plan. In addition, one should take care of how they communicate as the enemy can use this information on their advantage.
In the second dream, ensuring all information, related capability operators understand that every plan is deconflicted at a minimum and knows the information operation plans is crucial. It is evident that information-related capabilities, especially those not considered as part of the information operation, can still be active. Also, preparing information operation branches as well as sequels is crucial as sometimes events may not unfold as planned. This is another weakness that the British failed to recognize. Also, from the second dream, there is a possibility of information-related capabilities to take s much time before they are executed nor even show results. On the other hand, the weaknesses and vulnerabilities from the third dream show that there is a high probability one could be shooting in the dark mainly when the efforts planned and coordinated by the information operation are not assessed or monitored. Also, information operation objectives are required to be
One also gets to learn a lot from the fourth dream, as indicated in the book. One is that one should never assume that behaviors can change when the attitude changes. Also, the population’s perspective is essential when considering the information environment. Also, sometimes things do not happen for the reasons one could be thinking. This is especially when culture, cognition, perceptions, and behaviors are involved. In addition, it is crucial that one learns to try, monitor results, and adjust efforts as well as assumptions accordingly quickly. On the other hand, every operation should be treated as an information operation according to the fifth dream. Also, from the fifth dream, it is clear that information operation may have effects on commanders, enemy forces, and civilian populations as well. Building credibility also may take years while tearing it down can only take just a few minutes. From this fifth dream, the most essential moral, mental, informational, and cognitive effect sometimes is likely to be the one that one avoids. Also, there is a high probability of information-related capabilities to be overwhelmed, especially when they are not integrated with operations well.
What were they for the Boers in the last dream?
In the Boer’s dream, which is the last dream, inadequate and bad communication as well as weak defensive measures proved to be costly. However, in this dream, most aspects were already learned, and the assessment efforts were all as should be. Besides, the information related capability efforts were all well integrated and supported.
Here’s the hard question–what were the Critical Vulnerabilities and weaknesses for the British in the last dream that the Boers might have exploited but did not?
The critical vulnerability and weakness portrayed by the British that the Boers could exploit as an advantage but failed to involve putting their strength against the weakness of the enemy when they least expected it, which would cause the most damage to the enemy and least harm them. Earnest Swinton, who served as the British Major General, understood that it was not a good tactical move to place his army on the front. All he needed was to put his platoon in a strategic position where they could see their enemies approaching, which could give them an advantage over their enemy. They also used ditches to distract their enemies and scattered the soldiers to confuse them. Using the enemy’s point of view as well as attacking the opponents when they don’t expect it is one of the significant aspects that contribute to victory over a large, powerful, and fast coming enemy.