April 5, 2019

Colloquium Topic: Fighting by Minutes: Time and the Art of War

Veteran author Colonel Robert Leonhard argues that time is the primary dimension in war and that to win, the warrior must fight by minutes. From his experience as an infantry officer and war planner, Leonhard lays out the important time dimensions of warfighting: duration, frequency, sequence, and opportunity. He shows how the great captains of history turned the enemy’s time flanks, preempted defenses, or manipulated the frequency of operations to their advantage.

Leonhard likewise dissects the phenomenon of surprise in war, explaining how combat forces delay detection and hasten contact to overturn the enemy’s perception of the fight. He shows how nations and armed forces can create revolutionary new ways to fight by altering the time factors that bound the violence of war.

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Colloquium Speaker: Robert R. Leonhard

Bob Leonhard spent 24 years in the Army as an infantry officer and war planner. He is the author of The Art of Maneuver: Maneuver Warfare Theory and AirLand Battle and The Principles of War for the Information Age. He is the primary author of "Little Green Men: a primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013-14." He earned a Ph.D. in History, specializing in early American history. He has been with JHUAPL since 2004.