Comments on: Towards a general xGW framework

By: Recent Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Stuff on the Internet « PurpleSlog

Recent Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Stuff on the Internet « PurpleSlog — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:49:20 +0000

[...] Anarchy’s Younghusband has a post on visualization of XGW as a step to eventually improve XGW. I like his idea of going back to Boyd’s trio of [...]

By: Recent Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Stuff on the Internet « PurpleSlog

Recent Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) Stuff on the Internet « PurpleSlog — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:49:19 +0000

[...] Anarchy’s Younghusband has a post on visualization of XGW as a step to eventually improve XGW. I like his idea of going back to Boyd’s trio of [...]

By: Gathering dimensions of conflict into a unified model

Gathering dimensions of conflict into a unified model — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:54:19 +0000

[...] as a tool of categorizing the types or scopes of conflict a few things are exposed rather rapidly. At ComingAnarchy.Com YounghusbandÂ identifies several of the same issues I did in attempting to bring the discussion forward. I [...]

By: tdaxp

tdaxp — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:49:39 +0000

In an email conversation a while back, Chet Richards pointed out that Boyd never argued that the attrition/maneuver/moral categorization was exhaustive or universal. It may be just three categories that came to mind in an effort to argue a larger point.

By: Selil

Selil — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:35:13 +0000

Interesting consideration Mr. Walthrop,

To gather dimensional analysis deeper than the three we’ve covered here it might be interesting to brainstorm and categorize the specific relationships. We can easily model X,Y, Z, t (time) but then v (volume) and N (value) would be interesting. Then there are the trinitarian factors that could also help a model be very much applicable to the real world.

By: Benjamin Walthrop

Benjamin Walthrop — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:49:12 +0000

Selil’s diagrams are distinctly mor linear in my mind than the Venn Diagram construct here at CA. The Venn Diagram construct captures the grade of warfare, and Selil’s linear model seems to capture the time component. Both of these approaches are at most 3 dimensional models. It occurs to me that these apporaches are being limited to describing the problem in 3 dimensions because of their 2D rendering (the third dimension is captured by the varying shade of the colors in the Venn Diagram models). A Matlab guru might want to take a crack at defining a model in 4 dimensions using a 3D construct with color (or some other indication) representing the fourth dimension. The dimensions that I propose for this model would be: (1) Tactical Time (2) Intensity (3) Category and (4)Geological Time. The mathmatical relationships of the metrics could them be derived to draw a surface that may better illustrate the xGW framework.

By: Ralph Hitchens

Ralph Hitchens — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:23:01 +0000

It’s true that attaching the term “generation,” with its “temps perdu” context, to an otherwise useful taxonomy of warfare often leads to wrong assumptions and bad analysis. The US and many other nations still equip and train large segments of their military establishments for what must be characterized as third generation warfare, even as we grapple with this elusive fourth generation. In any event we should utilize taxonomies while not becoming their prisoner.