USNA Following the Art of War

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The Art of War, supposedly written by man called Master Sun, is basically a step by step instruction on how to be victorious in war. There are many scenarios and methods given that all work together and allow for a victory. Here, at the United States Naval Academy, we are taught many things that are supposed to prepare us for our lives as Navy or Marine Corps officers. We have to learn the basics of chemistry, physics, high levels of mathematics, english, seamanship, and leadership. We are supposed to be well rounded so that we will have the basic knowledge we need to help ourselves navigate any situation we may find ourselves in. The Art of War just reiterates and adds to some of the things we need to know as officers. Our profession is to fight against anyone who wants to harm the United States. By taking everything we have learned and following some of the advice given by Master Sun, we should be well prepared to take on our role as leaders in the United States Military. Master Sun talks about five “Fundamentals”. These are the Way, Heaven, Earth, Command, and Discipline. Now we don’t necessarily use all of these fundamentals and we may interpret these a little differently than they would have originally been interpreted, but we still follow the same basic principles. Master Sun says“The Way causes men to be of one mind with their rulers, to live or die with them, and never to waver” (Sun-tzu 4). As Americans, we don’t have a ruler. We pledge our lives to the United States, but we do train our military members to be of one mind so that they work together when the time comes for them to fight. The bonds formed in a training environment are stronger than any friendships I have ever experienced. He also says, “Command is wisdom, integrity, compassion, courage, severity” and “Discipline is organization, chain of command, control of expenditure.” (Sun-tzu 4). We do live by these principles.

The Academy is training us to be in command by giving us bits of wisdom through experience. This is one of the reasons we have our summer trainings

We have an honor concept because integrity is a huge deal when leading others. You can’t be trusted to lead others into harm’s way if you can’t even be trusted to do your own work at school.

We need to have compassion for those we are leading, which is something I learned during Plebe Summer. I understand what it’s like to be on the bottom of the totem pole, so I can have compassion for those in that position.

When put in stressful situations, we need to be able to have the courage to persevere, no matter how intimidating it may be. I think this is why we have Sea Trials. There were a lot of nerves building up to that time, but we banded together as a class and pushed through. Nobody gave up.

The Academy is all about enforcing standards because discipline is very important in the life of an officer. There are many things that need to be taken care of, so having the discipline to do things that you may not want to do is the only way to succeed.

A chain of command is vital to running any large organization. By following the chain of command, hierarchy is preserved and power stays organized.

The Art of War may be an ancient text, but it still applies to our everyday lives here at the Naval Academy.

Word Count- 595

Sun-tzu, The Art of War. trans. John Minford. London: Penguin, 2009.

Star Wars: The Empire is Roman

The mind of George Lucas is a brilliant one, but he sure didn’t completely make up the underlying story of his Star Wars films. Being a huge Star Wars fan as a kid, I have seen many similarities between the films and the history of different civilizations that I have learned about in class. Sure, from the Prequels to the end of the original saga, the story is set up to follow the lives of a young Jedi Anakin Skywalker who later goes down the rabbit hole, converts to the dark side and becomes a powerful Sith lord, and has a son Luke Skywalker who eventually becomes a Jedi himself and saves the galaxy from his father’s rule, but it story of the two political systems that collide and eventually give in to the other, that most closely represents history and what gets me thinking, George Lucas stole the idea of a Republic and an Empire from the Romans.

The prequel films served a purpose of not only introducing the eventual Darth Vader in Anakin Skywalker, but also showcasing the Republic that governs over the galaxy. This Republic in many ways resembles the Roman Republic which began around 509 B.C.E. There were a couple scenes in particular that most closely represented the Roman Republic. In the third prequel, “Revenge of the Sith”, there is a scene where there is a council meeting in a large auditorium filled with government officials and representatives from different parts of the galaxy. This closely represents the council meetings that would take place in Rome with officials elected by the people of Rome. The other scene or really plot twist in Revenge of the Sith that caught my attention was when Chancellor Palpatine reveals his true plan of taking over the Republic for the Sith and establishing an empire to rule the galaxy. Sounds a lot like Julius Caesar to me. Like Palpatine, Julius Caesar was already an established figure in the Roman Republic, but Caesar wanted more and more power and territory eventually establishing the Roman Empire.

In original trilogy, the “Empire” closely resembles the Roman Empire as they enforce their rule across the galaxy much like how Rome had a dominant rule over a large part of the civilized world at the time. This rule by the empire is eventually ended by the “Rebels” (aka. Barbarians and everyone else who wanted a taste of Roman blood).

The next time you watch the SciFi classic, take a moment to look at it as if the “Republic” and the “Empire” were the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It’ll be clear that George Lucas isn’t as clever as you might think.

-Jacob Ramos

Word Count: 446

Sun Tzu or Dant?

The Art of War, written by Sun Tzu, is easily one of the most influential strategy texts in military warfare. For centuries, people have been referring to this text that is composed of thirteen chapters for military tactics, business strategies, legal thinking, and a course for better habits. The teachings of Sun Tzu have been widely accepted, even in modern days, because they focus on finding the easiest way to achieve a goal. After reading chapters one, three, and seven most knowledge passed down all seems like common sense. I feel like in a state of uncertainty, people’s minds start fog up on simple strategies practiced day by day. Sun Tzu reminds his audience that their years of preparation have led all to this important moment, and victory is not as unachievable as most think.

This 2,500+ year old book still connects with a 21^st century audience because of its over-arching philosophy- great preparation leads to great victory. The Five Essentials for victory will ground success in every battle: “know the enemy, know yourself, and the victory in never in doubt.” (Sun Tzu, 19) Preparation is one of the greatest things that is stressed upon a midshipmen in the United States Naval Academy. As you step foot in Bancroft Hall after swearing in, plebes have to endure through six straight weeks of discipline because “discipline is organization, chain of command, control of expenditure.” (Sun Tzu, 5) Discipline teaches plebes how to be a proper midshipmen, and a future Naval or Marine Officer. We are taught to study every battle- rates, academics, and physical missions- ahead of time to prepare for our success. We are taught to choose our own battles. For example, before choosing a major, underclassmen are told to choose a major you would willingly stay up at two in the morning doing. Knowing chemistry was not my strong suit, I did not major in this because an A seemed unachievable based on my previous performances in Chem I and II. I enjoy doing problems that I can apply to the real world, so I chose an applied math major. Sun Tzu stresses that it is important to know your battles, so choose carefully and you will strive for supremacy.

The Naval Academy and The Art of War share similar ideas on victory. We were forced to learn Roosevelt’s quote: “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.” Much like this quote, Tzu writes “victory belongs to the man who can master the stratagem of the crooked and the straight.” (Tzu, 43) Both share the idea that victory is rewarded to the man that does, not the one who sat around unprepared.

Lessons at the Naval Academy align close to lessons given by The Art of War, both have an effective mindset of knowing your battles, preparation, and discipline.

Word Count: 505

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/the-art-of-war

http://mentalfloss.com/article/63389/roosevelts-man-arena

https://jamesclear.com/sun-tzu-habits

USNA Leadership Can Dunk on Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu’s Art of War, focuses on how to win conflicts with the enemy. The Naval Academy has a different focus, how to be a good leader. However, Sun Tzu admits that one of the 5 constant factors of war is The Commander and his/her leadership. Sun Tzu believes that all that truly matters to leadership is intelligence. Ability to plan well, deceive the enemy, and use the environment to their advantage. Sun Tzu spends little time discussing the relationship between leadership and the soldiers. USNA tries to imbue its students with values and principles which it believes to be valuable in leadership. The Naval Academy focuses less on how to win wars, but more on how to better develop and maintain relationships within a unit. Essentially, Sun Tzu believes that leadership is not the most important factor in winning a conflict, while the Naval Academy believes that leadership is the only factor.

Sun Tzu’s entire treatise laid out in The Art of War, talks about discipline, knowledge of the enemy, deception, etc., but spend very little time talking about leadership. This means that Sun Tzu sees leadership as either not critical to the success in armed conflict or as not needing development. This is because of the basis upon which The Art of War was crafted: Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. Confucianism defines the 5 major relationships: ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, elder to younger, and friend to friend. This means that according to Sun Tzu, leadership was already defined and did need to be talked about in The Art of War. Essentially, if Confucian teachings are followed, leadership will be good enough to ensure the success of all grand strategy imposed by the state.

USNA has a much different philosophy on warfighting. They believe that there is no rulebook to leadership. Confucianism is not the end all be all to good leadership and one needs to spend more time and thought in developing leadership skills. Essentially, without good leadership, no task can be accomplished. This means that leadership is central to accomplish a grand strategy or winning an armed conflict. For this reason, USNA spends much more time defining the components to good leadership: morality, ethics, values, professionalism, etc.

I believe that USNA’s philosophy on warfighting is most effective. Sun Tzu lays out principles of tactics and warfighting, all of which is taught to military officials regardless. What USNA focuses on is good leadership, which is critical to any action a leader wishes to take.

Sun-Tzu, and Samuel B. Griffith. 1964. The art of war. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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First born or Third?

In accordance with the teachings of Confucius, the successor of the emperor must be his first-born son. This aligns with multiple written Confucian beliefs that argue the importance of order and tradition in a stable empire. The Wan-li emperor brought instability and much discomfort throughout his empire with his refusal to designate his first-born son, Changluo, as his successor. Rather than appoint the son of his hated wife, he opted to eventually name Changxun, his third-born son of his favorite concubine instead. Many members of the Grand Secretariat supported the emperor’s decision, while others saw it as a violation of ancient tradition and Confucian teachings. Had the emperor gone through with his decision to appoint Changxun as his successor, it is likely that an unsettling distrust of the emperor’s authority would continue to spread, along with signs of instability throughout the empire.

In his teachings, Confucian dictates that “if your promises conform to what is right, you will be able to keep your word. If your manners conform to the ritual, you will be able to keep shame and disgrace at bay“ (Confucius 4). Those against emperor Wan-li’s refusal to appoint Changluo because of his dislike of his wife, Lady Wang, argued that the stability of the empire depends on the belief that sex and age both dictate certain privileges (Charles 6). In other words, “a man who respects his parents and his elders would hardly be inclined to defy his superiors. A man who is not inclined to defy his superiors will never foment a rebellion” (Confucius 3). Priority should be given to those who rank higher and are elders to the community. The first-born son of emperor Wan-li, according to Confucius, will obey his superiors as his younger brother, Changxun, should obey him as the next heir to the empire.

Those in support of emperor Wan-li’s decision argue that “he who by revising the old knows the new” and is thus “fit to be a teacher” (Confucius 6). The emperor should be able to decide who will be his own successor. After all, the “judgement of the emperor, virtuous father and mother of all under heaven, [can not] be readily called into question without destabilizing the entire political order” (Carnes 7). This argument puts all trust into the actions and decisions of the emperor alone, ignoring the guidance of ancient teachings and tradition. This belief disregards the traditions and ceremonies that the people of the empire have respected and practiced all their lives, and will eventually cause a rift in the empire. Selfish motives of the emperor in power, as described in Confucian teachings, will ultimately collapse the stability of the empire.

Word Count: 444

Carnes, Mark; Gardner, Daniel, Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor. “Reacting to the Past” Series. Barnard.

Confucius, The Analects. Translated by Simon Leys; edited by Michael Nylan. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.

Sun Tzu and the United States

By: Jonathan Gabriel

Though there is not a lot of talk about tactics of war at the Naval Academy, we do get a lot of information about past wars and important battles in America’s history. Using these past battles, it is possible to understand the general thought process of our military, and how they make decisions about the wars that we are involved in. It is then possible to compare Sun Tzu’s Art of War to our own tactics. Comparing the basic ideas behind the two and which of the two tactics or more effective in certain situations.

The key ideas in Art of War revolve around preparation, and deception. Sun Tzu focuses on knowing who to fight, and how to deceive them into believe you are something you are not, such as strong or weak or far away or nearby when you are the opposite. He also focuses on knowing your own strengths and weaknesses as well as your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses and planning accordingly. Looking at the American military, particularly in the recent past, it is clear to see that we see ourselves as more powerful than almost anyone and like to make sure everyone knows that fact. When in war, we tend to focus only on our own strengths and simply over powering everyone that we are fighting.

Determining which strategy is better depends on a couple of factors, such as the intent of the country, the power of the country in question, and the goals of the country at war. Sun Tzu focuses on actual war and the thought process one should have when in that situation, but American is not currently looking for war, but is instead trying to stay away from war. In this case, it is smarter and more effective for us to portray our power across the world to deter others from attempting to attack us. The second factor is the actual strength of the country. For smaller, less powerful countries, it is more effective to seem powerful when they are weak to make it appear to the enemy as if they are in danger of being defeated. However, for a country like America, it is not necessary to seem weak when we are strong. Being a powerful country and looking powerful helps to deter the offensive attacks of others. Finally, the goals of the country at war play a small factor in determining the effectiveness of the two tactics. If the country is trying to win the war with the least amount of bloodshed and is not worried about the overall time of the war, using the ideas in Art of War will make that possible. However, if the goal of the country is to destroy the enemy in the least amount of time possible it is smarter to portray the strength of the military and attack head on, using the full force of the military to win every battle and eventually the war.

Word Count: 491

Mongols vs Vietnam

Philip Dalke

Ibn Al-Athir’s writings depict the horrors of the Mongol hordes. He writes from the perspective of the Muslims who were invaded during the Mongol conquests. Al-Athir describes the brutal killings of men, women, and even children. He makes a comparison of the Mongols to the Antichrist but says, “For even the Antichrist will spare such as follow him, though he destroy those who oppose him; but [the Mongols] spared none, slaying women and men and children, ripping open pregnant women and killing unborn babes,” (Al-Athir 219-220). In this comparison Al-Athir is saying that the invaders are worse than the Antichrist, which is supposed to be the figure of pure evil. Later in the text Al-Athir describes all the territories that the Mongols conquered and noted the swiftness of their success. At the end of the text he tells the story of 17 prisoners that are under the command of one horsemen. One of the prisoners pledes to the others to overpower the man but they are afraid, even though they could easily do it. The Mongols struck such fear into their opposition that even with outstanding odds, some people refused to fight back.

This account of the Mongols invasion reminds me of stories from the Vietnam War, specifically the My Lai Massacre. The Massacre took place in a small village in Vietnam. U.S. soldiers entered the village and proceeded to kill and mutilate the occupants. The number of deaths range from 340-500. The soldiers rounded up and killed innocent civilians. Most claimed they were simply following orders but the killing only stopped when a helicopter crew flying by landed and became involved. This incident reminded me of the Mongol invasion simply because of the brutality of both events. Today, society generally recognizes that killing is a part of war but there are specific guidelines that both sides should follow. During the Mongols times there were not such rules. This resulted in the horrific acts. In both cases, soldiers were bloodthirsty and wanted to destroy every aspect of their enemy. The American soldiers and Mongol horsemen both took to killing all members of the opposition, not simply the warriors. Examining the My Lai Massacre from the perspective of a survivor would likely give you a similar view as Ibn Al-Athir. The members of the village would likely feel helpless against the strength of the US soldiers. They would develop a hatred of America and think of them as a foreign devil, similarly to how the Muslims viewed the Mongols.

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The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise

If you are up to date on meme culture, hopefully you will have a pretty good chuckle while reading the title of this post. If not, (go look it up for your own situational awareness) it has almost nothing to do with the post itself anyway, so you are at no disadvantage for not knowing. However, a more accurate title would be something along the lines of, “The Galactic Empire in America”, but again, I had to choose the current title for sake of the meme…

Although the popular movie franchise, Star Wars, created by George Lucas takes place “in a galaxy far, far away”, the Galactic Empire, the antagonist government depicted in the films, bears a striking resemblance to the United States of America. Going back to some of the earliest pieces of Star Wars history, a true fan may recall the genocide of the Jedi Order. During their rise to power, the Empire conducted a purge, attempting to kill the entirety of the Jedi in order to take complete control of the galaxy (Order 66). Going back to the colonization of North America and the early expansion of the United States, it is hard to ignore the terrible acts that were committed against Native Americans. Millions of Native Americans were displaced and outright murdered in the development of the United States, not unlike the Empire’s destruction of the Jedi during their own rise.

In addition to sharing a dark history, the Galactic Empire shares a very similar military structure with the United States of America. First and foremost, Darth Vader is the commander of the Imperial Naval Command, the most powerful branch of the Empire’s military. Additionally, Darth Vader juggles an additional role as being second in command to Emperor Palpatine, or Darth Sidious. Similar to the President of the United States, Darth Vader essentially acts as the Commander-in-Chief of the Empire’s naval forces and has a substantial amount of political power just below that of the Emperor’s (Galactic Empire). Additionally, according to the Galactic Empire’s Wikipedia page, the Empire is known for using a tactic described as, “fear of force rather than force itself”. Though the Empire uses far more aggressive language parallels the United States’ military strategy of power projection across the globe as well as deterrence of enemy nations. Another similarity regarding the breakdown of Empirical forces is the affiliation between the Storm Trooper Corps and the Imperial Naval Command. Much like the relationship between the United States Navy and Marine Corps, the Storm Trooper Corps is the major ground element of the Imperial Navy (Galactic Empire). Despite the Star Wars franchise being a work of fiction, some aspects of the Galactic Empire resemble modern America.

Galactic Empire.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Empire_(Star_Wars).

“Order 66.” Wookieepedia, Fandom, starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Order_66/Legends.

The Art of War v. USNA

The philosophy behind Sun Tzu Art of War is that a great leader can make the best out every situation if he or she knows himself or herself and the enemies. With good self-awareness, and some good intelligence about the enemy, a general can pick his battle: he will decide to fight if the enemy is weaker and he will evade if the enemy is stronger. If he decides to fight, he will know the areas where the enemy is weak and he will attack the enemy in these areas. A good general, according to Sun Tzu will hide his strengths and weaknesses to fool his enemies and catch them by surprise.

The Academy does a good job teaching us how to self-reflect to become aware of our strengths and weaknesses. In addition, we are aware of the importance of gathering the right amount of intelligence on the enemy. However, the academy, or the U.S. military in general, uses a different strategy than Sun Tzu: we prefer letting the enemy know how strong we are, as opposed to hiding our strengths. The deterrence tactic that the U.S. military uses consists of displaying our strengths so that the enemy will be afraid to attack us. When discussing current events at the Naval Academy, we talk about events like the 14 bombers who dropped live bombs near North Korea in order to make them fear us. Furthermore, looking at our history, we never backed down even when the enemy appeared to be stronger. During the battle of Iwo Jima, our troops were clearly outnumbered. The Japanese leader stated that a million men could not take this island in a hundred years. Nevertheless, the Marines still fought with the little bit that they had and they made the best out of it.

I think our current military tactics are a lot better than the tactics proposed by Sun Tzu. While it is still important to know ourselves as well as the enemy, showing the enemy how strong we are deter many conflicts. Our deterrence technique is advantageous because no life is taken that way and less money is spent. In addition, our history shows the benefits of our tactics; we fought most battles where the enemy outnumbered us. Our perseverance and our desire to be free led us to victory throughout history. We won battles that we were never expected to win because the war veterans before us did not quit in the face of adversity. We owe it to them to take chances and stand up against any enemy. The right strategy is to use the tools we have and make the best out of it.

Reference :

Dimovski, Vlado, et al. “Sun Tzu’s “the Art of War” and Implications for Leadership: Theoretical Discussion.” Organizacija, vol. 45, no. 4, 2012, pp. 151-158.

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The Art of War vs. USNA

Sun Tzu’s Art of War contains thirteen chapters all discussing different aspects of war and how these aspects pertain to the overall strategy. The Art of War has played a very influential role in warfare in both the East and the West. The big over-arching philosophy of Sun Tzu’s work seems to be the fact that war is very complicated and it is essential that it is studied with very close detail because the outcomes of war can have a huge impact on people and their way of life. He stresses that knowing the nuances of war could be the difference between victory and defeat.

One of these details includes having a plan. Throughout the Art of War, there are many lists revealing how methodical and deliberate war must be. For example, one of the most important lists present includes the fundamental factors of creating a plan. These five factors include: “The way, Heaven, Earth, Command, and Discipline” (Sun-Tzu 3). These factors examine the relationship between a commander and his subordinates, the conditions in which the troops may face, the reputation of the commander, and the organization of the troops in order to maximize the chances of victory. Sun Tzu stresses the importance of situational awareness and the ability to change the plan based on the current conditions. This ability to remain responsive and adaptable allows the commander to predict the chances of victory.

Another essential detail of being victorious in war is the ability to acknowledge the strength in unity. This strength in unity is rooted in the commander knowing both himself and his troops as well as he knows his enemies. In order to gain this knowledge, it is recommended that the commander takes into account the physical, moral, and mental circumstances that surround him.

As mentioned before, the Art of War has played a key role in the development of warfare all over the world. Its influence is evident here at the Naval Academy through the techniques and tactics that we are taught. Ever since plebe summer, we have been taught that we are stronger together. We will get farther in all aspects together rather than individually. This is evident in the use of group punishments plebe year, meaning if one person messed up, everyone messed up because it is everyone’s responsibility to hold each other accountable. The Academy also promotes unity by encouraging us to learn about our peers through signature sheets and having actual conversations. These group tasks are used to stress the importance of working together and how it is essential for mission effectiveness.

In addition, the Academy is constantly testing our ability to adjust to our surroundings. Our daily schedules are packed and it is not uncommon to get an email adding another thing to our to-do lists because of this it is essential to remain flexible. My involvement with the sailing team has emphasized the importance of situational awareness and being able to react to my surroundings. The weather and conditions on the water are constantly changing and if we do not adapt to meet them it could be dangerous for the crew onboard. These experiences at the Academy have taught me the importance of remaining aware of my surroundings and working together.

It is evident that the Naval Academy has taken notes from the Art of War and Sun Tzu’s philosophy on warfare. However, one difference that I have seen here at the Academy is the emphasis placed on the development of the person as a whole rather than just teaching tactical strategy. This difference is what I believe makes the Naval Academy’s approach to the Art of War more effective. The Academy wants its graduates to be able to make these monumental decisions that could impact the lives of every American and the only way to do that is to develop them both personally and professionally.

Word Count: 646

Sun-tzu. The Art of War. Penguin, 2009.