Seminar 2020 Read-Ahead | Lieutenant Colonel Heren (JAPCC) – Inconceivable! MDO Expanded

Lt Col Henry Heren of the Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) addresses in the Seminar 2020 Read Ahead article 'Inconceivable! MDO Expanded' two issues: the subordination of Information Age Capabilities as mere utilities within Industrial Age Bureaucracies, and the perversion of lexicon which hinders clear communication amongst interested parties. The lexicon section of this paper will examine the term Multi-Domain Operations, including its origins, current understanding and uses, and how might be defined and utilized in the future.

'As we move more and more into the Information Age, we will require a military force with “agility in all warfare domains” which will necessarily include domains beyond Air, Land, and Sea. Indeed, “the issue, then, is less the specific balance of air, sea and land power at any given time, but rather the establishment of institutions with sufficient flexibility to manage the various strategic challenges…and take advantage of technological, social and economic opportunities."'