The Strategic Corporal, the Tactical General, and the Digital Coup d’oeil – Military Decision-Making and Organizational Competences in Future Military Operations

The article describes how digitalization and the wide diffusion of knowledge technologies such as the Internet of (battlefield) things, big data, and artificial intelligence, are transforming military organization and practice, deeply affecting military practitioners and command at all levels. It considers how this transformation may affect Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) through a profound alteration in the ways in which data, information, and knowledge are generated, analysed, and applied. The relation between these technologies, Multi-Domain Operations, and mission command is also explored. It is argued that this transformation presents both possibilities and challenges; these are discussed using the concepts of the strategic corporal and the tactical general. Further, the article proposes two new concepts, digital mission command and digital coup d’oeil, derived from two traditionally well-known military concepts. The article discusses the practical implications of these two new concepts and suggests ways for the military organization to move ahead when navigating future technological landscapes in which data plays a significant role.