THE SCIENCE AND ART OF TACTICS
Tactics are the employment of units in combat. It includes the ordered arrangement and manoeuvre of units in relation to each other, the ground or terrain and the enemy to translate potential combat power into victorious battles and engagements.Tactics always require judgement and adaptation to the unique circumstances of a specific situation. Techniques and procedures are established patterns that can be applied repeatedly with little or no judgement in a variety of circumstances. Tactics, techniques and procedures provide the tactician with a set of tools to use in developing the solution to a tactical problem. The solution to any specific problem is a unique combination of these tactics, techniques and procedures or the creation of new ones based on critical evaluation of the situation.
The tactician determines his solution by a thorough mastery of doctrine and existing tactics, techniques and procedures, tempered and honed by experience gained through training and operations. He uses his creativity to develop solutions for which the enemy is neither prepared nor able to cope.
The differences between tactics, techniques and procedures are as follows:
- Tactics are the employment of units in combat.
- Techniques are the general and detailed methods used by troops and commanders to perform assigned missions and functions, specifically the methods of using equipment and personnel.
- Procedures are standard and detailed courses of action that describe how to perform tasks.
A tactician is an individual who masters the science and the art of tactics, two distinctly different yet inseparable concepts. Commanders and leaders at all levels, commissioned and non-commissioned officers must be tacticians to lead their soldiers in the conduct of full spectrum operations.
The science of tactics encompasses the understanding of those military aspects of tactics - capabilities, techniques and procedures - that can be measured and codified. The science of tactics includes the physical capabilities of friendly and enemy organisations and systems, such as determining how long it takes a division to move a certain distance. It also includes techniques and procedures used to accomplish specific tasks, such as the tactical terms and control graphics that comprise the language of tactics.
The art of tactics consists of three interrelated aspects: the creative and flexible array of means to accomplish assigned missions, decision making under conditions of uncertainty when faced with an intelligent enemy and understanding the human dimension - the effects of combat on soldiers.
An art, as opposed to a science, requires exercising intuitive faculties that cannot be learned solely by study. The tactician must temper his study and evolve his skill through a variety of relevant and practical experiences. The more experience the tactician gains from practice under a variety of circumstances, the greater his mastery of the art of tactics.