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The Concept Of A Decisive Battle And The Key Takeaways For The Singapore Armed Forces

LTC Tan Wee Heng, Melvyn
Articles
The essay argues that a decisive battle, that is, a battle that allows for a swift and decisive victory, does not, in itself, decide the outcome of war but, it can provide the operational advantage over the adversaries to accelerate the end of the war. This is illustrated through Commanding General Ulysses S. Grant’s strategies inthe American Civil War. In addition, decisive battles are no longer confined to the traditional battle space and are not solely dependent on the use of hard power, as illustrated by the Battle of Fallujah. The author concludes that in order to astutely apply the concept of decisive battles in its strategies, the Singapore Armed Forces needs to be clear on our nation’s concept of victory, continue honing our information operations capability andensure that our professional military education syllabi are designed to groom military professionals who can think, reflect and analyse.Keywords: Modern Warfare; Victory; Art of War; Strategy; Power
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