Scarborough's Network Centric - Warfare Meets the Laws of the Navy

Scarborough's Network Centric

Warfare Meets the Laws of the Navy

Scarborough intends to persuade the reader that "Network-Centric Warfare (NCW)

Or, in other words, the use of information technology in the Navy gives the appearance

that a technological revolution and its cyberspace tools will improve friendly awareness

on the battlefield.

The opening sentence of the article grabs your attention with a calculated negative

tone inferring that the author's opinion is one that will attempt to disprove the validity

and the ability of the Navy and its leaders to effectively adopt NCW.

The Commander contends the issues are: 1) networking forces, 2) information

technology and 3) all the high tech devices providing information to all ranks. NCW will

force a major shift in leadership abilities and the traditional military "do as you are told

culture" will no longer be effective in future Naval operations. This further indicates that

the evolving paradigm will cause the current Navy structural hierarchy to flatten as it

continues to develop momentum. In addition, it will create deference to military

authority and a cultural and organizational upheaval throughout the Navy.

The problem is clearly defined: Will leadership in the Navy be able to develop and

contend with the technological advances rapidly enough as we continue to advance

through the 21st century.

The reader is now set up to understand the author's goal of the article along with the

potential implications of a transition that will be difficult at best to achieve for the Navy

and its leadership.

The thesis is, "will the Navy be prepared for this disruption in its operations?"

Scarborough adamantly believes rejection is imminent by the Navy and its leaders.

In my opinion, her point is valid in that some will not be ready, willing or

prepared to essentially share power with junior personnel.

I can state my experience with Navy personnel and its culture is very

limited; however I also know that American military personnel are very flexible

and have risen to the challenges and technological revolutions in our armed forces since

the beginning of our military's infancy.

It has s always been tough to change, but we have managed to grow, develop and

mature to become the mightiest military force in the world. We could not have achieved

that status without our leaders and subordinates stepping up to the myriad of challenges.

The commander without hesitation strongly believes that once the complex

implications are understood Navy leadership will reject the technological advances of

information technology. Again, she emphasizes the concept will be a difficult

transformation.

The commander obviously has many years of military education and experience she

can reflect upon to make her assessments. However, it is probably noteworthy to state

that the military has prided itself on rapid change and adapting to new ways of getting

the mission accomplished with the fast and furious technology that presents itself daily.

Our military has always moved in the direction of change and flexibility. The major

divergence now is that it will come drastically faster then the past. We will adapt and

over come those challenges. There will always be different leadership styles, it seems

there is another one fast approaching that will need to be learned.

and used as we transform our armed services.

I viewed a television program called NCIS, I believe its Navy Criminal Investigation

Service. As I watched the program I definitely saw NCW at work and the leader was

completely in charge yet the folks around him were the high tech investigators and

analysts that brought the information to the commander who made the decisions. At

times he used the "do as you are told" mentality we see in our military today and had

ability to handle his subordinates and share the power that led to meeting their mission.

Moreover, throughout the article I did not identify real sources that I could use to

support her point. What I found was numerous quotes that were interesting at best which

contributed to my thoughts of wisdom, but other than that I didn't really see any

supporting