January 28, 2022
Colloquium Topic: Mars Adapting: Military Change During War
POSTPONED - NEW DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED
As Clausewitz observed, “In war more than anywhere else, things do not turn out as we expect.” The essence of war is a competitive reciprocal relationship with an adversary. Commanders and institutional leaders must recognize shortfalls and resolve gaps rapidly in the middle of the fog of war. The side that reacts best (and absorbs faster) increases its chances of winning.
Mars Adapting examines what makes some military organizations better at this contest than others. It explores the institutional characteristics or attributes at play in learning quickly. Adaptation requires a dynamic process of acquiring knowledge, the utilization of that knowledge to alter a unit’s skills, and the sharing of that learning to other units to integrate and institutionalize better operational practice. Mars Adapting explores the internal institutional factors that promote and enable military adaptation. It employs four cases, drawing upon one from each of the U.S. armed services. Each case was an extensive campaign, with several cycles of action/counteraction. In each case the military institution entered the war with an existing mental model of the war they expected to fight. For example, the U.S. Navy prepared for decades to defeat the Japanese Imperial Navy and had developed carried-based aviation. Other capabilities, particularly the Fleet submarine, were applied as a major adaptation.
The author establishes a theory called Organizational Learning Capacity that captures the transition of experience and knowledge from individuals into larger and higher levels of each military service through four major steps. The learning/change cycle is influenced, he argues, by four institutional attributes (leadership, organizational culture, learning mechanisms, and dissemination mechanisms). The dynamic interplay of these institutional enablers shaped their ability to perceive and change appropriately.
Colloquium Speaker: Frank Hoffman
Dr. Frank Hoffman holds an appointment as a Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, DC where he has served since 2011. He is a retired U.S. Marine Reserve infantry officer with service in the 2d and 3rd Marine Divisions. His 43 years in the U.S. defense establishment includes 30 years with the U.S. Marines as an analyst and concept developer, two senior political appointments at the Department of Navy and DOD, and service on two Congressional commissions. He was selected and confirmed to the Senior Executive Service in 2009. During 2017, Dr. Hoffman was the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and worked on the National Defense Strategy.
His research portfolio at INSS includes national and defense strategy, joint warfighting theory and concepts, future warfare, and military innovation. He also serves on the Board of Advisors at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and on the editorial board of its journal. He is a contributing editor at War on the Rocks.
Dr. Hoffman is an award winning author and published over 200 articles and reviews in the Orbis, Joint Force Quarterly, RUSI Journal, Journal for Strategic Studies, Marine Corps Gazette, Parameters, War on the Rocks, and the Naval Institute Proceedings. He has authored/edited several books and numerous book chapters. His new book, Mars Adapting: Military Change During War, was published in 2021 by Naval Institute Press.
His decorations include the Marine Corps Civilian Service Commendation Medal, a Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Department of the Navy, and the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from OSD.
Dr. Hoffman graduated from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978. He holds Master’s degrees from George Mason University in (M.Ed.) and the U.S. Naval War College (M.A. in National Security Studies). He earned his Ph.D. in War Studies from King’s College, London.