Summary: Speed Of Incremental Learning

30. Speed of Incremental Learning. An examination of the minesweeping attempts of the Dardanelles shows the Allies tried to change their tactics based on lessons learned: they switched from sweeping upstream to downstream; they attempted sweeping at night to better protect the trawlers; and they replaced the civilian fishermen crews of the trawlers with navy volunteers when the former proved unwilling to sweep under fire. It took many sweeping attempts to learn these lessons, during which time the Turks could observe the repeat tactics and adjust to them. At the operational level, this could also be attributed to poor analysis and understanding of the problem at hand, and/or poor planning to address it.

31. Decisive Points. Carden's plan for the Dardanelles consisted of several stages, the first of which was the destruction of the outer forts. Once this was accomplished, the War Council was enthusiastic about the next stage. However, when it became clear the second stage would be more difficult to accomplish than originally thought, the War Council did not deliberate on what to do next; rather, the decision to halt the naval assault and wait for the army was made at the operational level by de Robeck and Hamilton. Had a deliberate decision point been included in the plan, the War Council might have

Joint Operations. The fact that Seventy Five percent of the world’s population live in littoral and Eighty percent of world’s capital cities and nearly all centres of international trade and economic power are located on coast indicates that future warfare will be predominantly waged in the littorals. Hence, Joint Operations are the way forward, especially considering the shrinking resources. Synergy of resources and efforts along with joint planning will be game changing factor in such scenarios. Indian Armed Forces should invest considerable efforts to strengthen the jointness and prepare for future joint scenarios with the same zeal as it does