DEFENSE HEALTH HEADQUARTERS, FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA -- Gen. David Perkins, Commander of the Training and Doctrine Command, met with senior leaders of Army Medicine on Jan. 10 and discussed a range of topics from the role of TRADOC to the multi-domain battlefield to the value of Army Medicine.
"TRADOC," said Perkins, "is the architect of the future" for the Army.
When we are talking about the future, he said, the Army is concept-based and doctrine-driven.
Doctrine, Perkins said, describes how the Army is run. Concepts are used to change the Army for tomorrow, sometimes dramatically. TRADOC, he explained, does not run the Army; its role is to change the army.
Doctrine and concepts together help to keep military forces of more than 1 million individuals going in the same direction and do it on a large scale, Perkins said.
For an example of scale, Perkins used recruiting. The Recruiting Command is a subordinate command to TRADOC and last year recruited or "hired" 134,000 new Soldiers, about 11,000 per month.
Basic training for the recruits, he said, is in only four locations, another example of scale. At one location alone, 60,000 recruits went through training, a number greater than the entire British Army.
Including all command and staff colleges, more than 500,000 Soldiers and civilians were trained last year, Perkins said. The hard part is not the quantity but the quality. Quality despite the large scale is expected, he said.
The chief focus of the general's discussion was the multi-domain battlefield.
Perkins has been one of Army's leaders in promoting the Multi-Domain Battle concept--that future wars will involve land, air, maritime, space and cyberspace domains.
Success in the multi-domain battlefield requires achieving cross-domain synergy, he said. Perkins made the following points:
-- Positions of advantage need to be achieved in all domains.
-- To be successful in the multi-domain battlefield, the Army had to integrate joint, inter-organizational and multinational capabilities to create domain superiority.
-- Domain superiority achieved physical, temporal, positional and psychological advantage.
No longer can we rely on just land or air for superiority, we have to be prepared for superiority in all domains, he said.
To succeed in the multi-domain battlefield, we must think, act, and decide better and faster than anybody, Perkins said. The advantage goes to he who can maneuver better. Take the advantage, he said, and make it relevant.
Perkins emphasized how difficult it is to "win in a complex world" that is unknown, unknowable, and constantly changing.
He also discussed command--to issue guidance--and control--to ensure compliance.
As a commander and a leader, don't focus on controlling the organization, he said, focus on empowering initiative.
Perkins explained why this is important. Things change so fast that we will have a dispersed battlefield. To maintain control, you need to empower initiative. "If you're in charge of an organization, we're asking you to figure out how to empower initiative so people act within the commander's intent."
Why? Because we are always trying to out maneuver people, he said, and get to a position of advantage.
The advantage may be needed to help deliver medical supplies in response to humanitarian support such as after Hurricane Sandy, or if you're in Africa fighting Ebola. You always need to be moving assets in time and space to gain an advantage, he said.
Harness all of your capabilities through all domains and do that through empowerment, not control.
How? Do three things, Perkins said. First, understand the problem, the variables and all the players. Understand everything that is going on. Based on your understanding of the problem and your resources, you need to visualize how you can arrange your capabilities. Describe to your subordinates and superiors your visualization of how you want this to occur to reach a common understanding.
Second, he said, develop teams within and outside the organization.
Third, inform and influence audiences--"the best way to influence people is to create the visualization that leads to a common understanding," Perkins said. "At TRADOC, we want to own the ideas that influence the process rather than to control the process."
In the multi-domain battle, how do you de-conflict all that is going on in each domain? It's a challenge, he said.
"Army Medicine may have to change the concepts used for medical support, using telemedicine for instance," he said. "You may have to sustain the injured for a much longer period of time until they can be evacuated."
Perkins related the story from when he was a brigade commander taking Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first unit he sent across the Euphrates, he said, was an infantry battalion but the second was an unarmored forward surgical team. The surgical team was ahead of tanks, more infantry, and most other fighting units.
But, Perkins said, if the forward surgical team wasn't second, then he didn't believe he could get his casualties back across the river. For a while, the first surgical team was the only surgical team and every casualty came to them for care. There was no other option, Perkins said, even some of his staff argued differently.
The battlefield of the future, he said, will be very different and this is how concepts drive change.
"You can't be constrained by the old ways of thinking," the general said.
"Medical squads who are out there in the future will have access to exceptional capability," he said. They will have to be a gateway for broader medical capability through cyber connectivity. The question to be answered is how do we get the medical capability from a medical center to the battlefield.
These changes are evolutionary, not revolutionary, he added.
Perkins encouraged the MEDCOM to make sure any lack of perceptions or incorrect perceptions be set right.
Generate ideas that drive change, he said. "You have to change and adapt."
Perkins concluded by thanking the leaders of Army Medicine for forging the sacred bond between medics and soldiers.
"The Army Medical System is the crown jewel of the Army," he said. "I have never seen an enemy Soldier being treated by their Army. That we would provide care for enemy soldiers speaks to the humanity of the American Soldier, and to the care and dedication of our medical system. It is important for our Soldiers that they know, if there is any way possible, they will get medical care. We will provide the best medical care anywhere in the world."
"When Soldiers know that, they know they will be OK. How many tank battalions is that worth?" Perkins asked.
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