On Technology and Courage

The development and use of cutting-edge autonomous technologies have had both direct and indirect influences on the strategic and operational environment of the IDF. Brig. Gen. (res.) Asaf Agmon in an opinion column on the importance of the human factorThe Importance of the Human Factor

On Technology and Courage

The battlefield of the 21st century has changed dramatically compared to what it was just a few years ago. The evolution of the battlefield and the strategic and operational environment of the State of Israel has not stopped, on the contrary – it is accelerating and changing from one day to the next.

I would like to sound the alarm with regard to a dangerous trend that evolves and spreads within the ranks of the IDF, as well as in other armed forces around the world.

The challenges of the battlefield intensify the need to develop and use cutting-edge technologies in order to find solutions that are superior to what we have today – in the field of weapon systems as well as in the field of command, control and training.

The development and use of cutting-edge technologies, unmanned vehicles and the initial development of autonomous systems have had both direct and indirect influences.

The "friction" of warfighters on the battlefield has evolved into "stand-off precision fire". The physical contact of the battlefield has given way to a duel between command and control trailers whose occupants see their enemy through sensors from extremely long ranges.

A way of thinking based on technological performance is replacing operational thinking. Technological capabilities that enable real-time remote command through an extensive range of sensors have solidified the concept of centralism and the recognition that the "supreme" commander sees everything and is the only one who knows and understands the battlefield and the campaign at the tactical level and certainly at the levels above it.

This insight has established a firm hold among senior commanders. Moreover – even intermediate and junior rank commanders situated on the battlefield do not question it.

In this way we are developing a command hierarchy which becomes accustomed, during the routine security operations in which it participates and the war between wars that takes place every day, to a very short chain of command where orders are issued directly by the supreme commander. All that remains for the elements of this command hierarchy to do is execute, mainly by operating the systems and employing fire according to detailed orders.

Regardless of these developments, owing to the recent budget constraints and even more acutely owing to the unrestrained struggle over the distribution of the remaining budgets, the status and image of regular servicepersons sustained a dramatic depreciation.

The irresponsible criticism voiced against the regular service personnel is eliminating the value of the regular servicemen's altruism and service and leads to a process of a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

Fewer and fewer talented individuals wish to develop their future careers in an organization that is the subject of uninhibited criticism and lack of appreciation.

Moreover, the budget cuts lead to more widespread redundancy and many regular servicepersons realize that they may be up for dismissal or that the fate of their future career is obscure at best. Similarly, the reserve elements of the military are undergoing dramatic cuts and whole brigades are being dissolved. Reservist hardly participate in routine security operations and their specific contribution decreases.

The percentage of reservists in mixed military units such as flight squadrons is decreasing and even those who still serve feel that their active service days are numbered. The recent raising of the retirement age has caused more and more reservists to become redundant and their contribution through command and control roles, where they can actually contribute from their experience, is becoming increasingly scarce.

The reservists have always brought with them their maturity and experience as well as their willingness to contribute to the joint effort without expecting any reward. Consequently, they were always the ones who stood up and voiced their professional, operational and civic opinions, with no attempt to please anyone and with no expectation of promotion in rank or function. The combined vectors of the depreciated status of the regular serviceperson on the one hand, and the decrease in the volume and importance of the contribution made by the reservist on the other hand have given us a military where the operational, professional, ethical and even personal discourse ranges from shallow to nonexistent.

These days, when you walk through the military and civilian technological organs, you realize that young people are the ones possessing the knowledge. In view of the staggering rates at which things change these days, anyone who fails to realize this also fails to understand how irrelevant he has become.

On the other hand, in today's IDF, as well as in some of the major defense industries, young people do not have channels through which they may influence, voice their opinions, initiate and attempt to realize their vision.

For this reason, it is self-explanatory why the more talented, bolder and more creative individuals find their way out of those organizations – to the Israeli start-up projects as well as to projects and employers overseas.

Public opinion, too, is demanding and unforgiving. If you erred – you must have been negligent, so you would have lost your right to belong among those to whose responsibility Israeli mothers can entrust their children.

Similarly, senior commanders realize, based on the experience of their predecessors, that any attempt to back up their subordinates, even if they had erred, might cause them to pay a hefty price both publicly and with regard to their future promotion.

The political echelon has always distanced itself from failures, and so we are left with a sizeable organization, made up of humans who know that they must never be wrong in utterance, in deed or in taking risks under conditions of uncertainty. In short: they must constantly and continuously minimize the risk to themselves.

As far back as 2010, Colonel Amir Abulafiya, then commander of the IDF Nahal brigade, published an article in the periodical Maarachot titled "The Courage to Voice an Independent Opinion". In that article he elaborated on the phenomenon of the lack of courage spreading through all sectors of our military, where commanders in all of the various forums, who take part in all of the decision-making processes are afraid to voice their professional, operational and ethical opinions.

A military of "yes-men" would not be able to win even if it had the most sophisticated systems, and no technology can replace courage, which is the fundamental prerequisite for any attempt to cope with existential challenges.

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