Teaching Multi-Domain Operations: The Case of British Field Marshal William Slim |...

"In the operations designed to drive the Japanese from Burma, Slim added aerial insertion, maneuver, and sustainment of entire large units designed to unhinge Japanese command and control, logistics, and defensive dispositions. He also relied on riverine operations for sustainment and maneuver. First with the Chindits and then with the 5307th Composite Unit, also known as Merrill’s Marauders, the 14th Army in the China-Burma-India Theater extended their operational reach deep into Japanese-controlled territory, again demonstrating utilization of military forces in ways never seen before. Slim’s coordination of his conventional forces with airpower-supported special operations forces, and the unconventional warfare capabilities of Office of Strategic Services Detachment 101 operating with the Kachin tribesmen of northern Burma, demonstrated his ability to confront the Japanese with multiple simultaneous dilemmas throughout the breadth and depth of the battlespace.[3] All these operations were planned and executed in a manner that capitalized on understanding the possibilities inherent in erasing boundaries and distinctions between previously understood modes of operation. By removing barriers and facilitating actions across and through multiple domains, Slim's re-conceptualization of traditional applications of the joint functions (command and control, movement and maneuver, fires, sustainment, intelligence, protection, and information) marks something of a revolution in the way modern warfare is conducted."